Phillies, Rockies open series Friday
The Philadelphia Phillies host the Colorado Rockies Friday night, opening up a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies finished their four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals Thursday with a 2-0 win. The Rockies finished a four-game set of their own in Florida, winning just one game against the Florida Marlins.
The Phillies are now 49-46 this season but are still seven games behind the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves. The Rockies slipped to 51-44 and fell to 4.5 behind the San Diego Padres in the NL West. The Rockies are only one game behind of the NL Wild Card and the Phillies are three behind, so even though they are not divisional opponents expect this series to have a playoff atmosphere.
Halladay looks to end slide
Philadelphia's projected starting pitcher for Friday is their ace Roy Halladay, who sits at 10-8 on the year and is a victim of poor run support. The Phillies haven't scored many runs recently, averaging just under three runs a game in their eight games to being the second half, so Halladay will have to be on point with his pitches to give himself a chance. He's ranked in the top 10 of seven statistics in the National league, including first in innings pitched with 154, first in complete games with seven, sixth in strikeouts with 131 and fifth in ERA at 2.40. Batters are hitting just .248 against him.
The Rockies are coming off another tough pitching performance Wednesday after facing NL Cy Young contender Josh Johnson. Johnson only gave up one run on five hits with 11 strikeouts in six and a third innings, and the Phillies are hoping for a similar outing from Halladay to keep the Rockies off balance. Halladay's last outing was ugly, as he went six innings but allowed five earned runs on only seven hits against the Cubs in an 11-6 loss, so the Phils are hoping Halladay will get back to finding the zone as he had in his previous 19 starts.
Both Rockies, Phillies are slumping
Neither team has benefited from the All-Star break: the Rockies are 2-5 to start the second half, the Phillies 2-6. Philadelphia's biggest loss was a 12-6 rout against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, and the hitters are hoping to turn the tide and start fresh at home. The Rockies' biggest loss came in an 8-1 loss against the Cincinnati Reds in Reds' starting pitcher Edinson Volquez's first start of the season. Their road trip is over after the Phillies' series, but they're poised to lose more ground in the Wild Card if they don't pick up the slack soon.
The Phillies win against the Cardinals on Thursday was a big boost, keeping them from being swept by the Cardinals behind a nearly perfect shutout performance by starting pitcher Cole Hamels, going eight innings strong with just one hit and seven strikeouts. Placido Polanco, leading off for the second straight game, hit the go-ahead home run in the top of the 11th to seal the 2-0 win for the Phillies. Aside from Polanco, who is hitting a team-high .319 this season, Ryan Howard has gotten hot in the second half with 10 hits in 27 at bats with five home runs and 10 RBI. Shane Victorino has knocked in some runs as well with five RBI on nine hits in 31 at bats.
The Rockies aren't getting much support from their offence since the break. No one on their roster has more than five hits, and the RBI leader is Melvin Mora with five RBI on three hits. Other than Ubaldo Jimenez's one for three average of .333, no everyday player is hitting above .278. The Rockies need a big start from their starting pitcher Aaron Cook to have a chance tomorrow against Halladay.
Meanwhile the Phillies will be trying hard to finally give Halladay some of the run support he deserves.
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