My Fellow Phans,
I know many of the media are hyping this Red Soxs series to be the “World Series Preview”. Well, once again the media seems to be jumping the gun on these things. No, this is not a World Series preview, and I will not declare it as such until the World Series begins and both teams have solidified their spots in it.
Aren’t we being a little hasty here?
Neither team has proven anything thus far this year. Yes, both teams have gaudy records and are amongst the best teams in baseball, but I see nowhere that is labeled “World Series Lock”. If that was the case, why would we play the remaining 80-some games left on the schedule. Sadly, that is not the case so we need not hype this series up more than it should be.
Remember last year when everyone was predicting a World Series rematch between the Phillies and Yankees. How’d that turn out? I’m not saying this series doesn’t mean anything, as it would great to see the Phillies pound Boston into the ground this week, but it is nothing more than an interleague series between two of the best in the game.
Yes, this could be a measuring stick for the Phillies. The Red Soxs, outside of their series with the Brewers, are the best team that the Phillies will face thus far this season. I’m curious to see how our pitchers stack up against the explosive offense that Boston has had after they overcame their slow start.
I guess the one strong point of playing in our own ballpark is that we wont have to face David Ortiz in the lineup since obviously he won’t be playing first base with Adrian Gonzalez thriving there.
Now that my little rant is over, here are the pitching matchups for this upcoming series:
Tuesday: Cliff Lee (8-5 2.87) vs. Josh Beckett (6-2 1.86)
Wednesday: Vance Worley (2-1 2.83) vs. John Lackey (5-6 7.36)
Thursday: Cole Hamels (9-4 2.49) vs. Jon Lester (9-4 3.66)
----> Well, it looks like we have one heck of a series on our hands. We have two stellar pitching matchups in the opening and closing game of this series and a question mark in the middle. Lester has not been good for the Red Soxs this year and it’ll be interesting to see how Worley pitches against a ferocious lineup.
Offensively we are well overmatched in this series. Our pitching has held us afloat this year and it will need to continue to do so this series. We can beat Josh Beckett. Collectively our hitters are hitting .250 against him. Although the Phillies did beat Beckett the last time we faced him. Overall he is 8-4 with an ERA just under 4 against the Phillies in his career.
Against Lester, the Phillies are hitting a quiet .174. Well, like I said. The opener and closer of this series should be devilishly good pitching matchups.
Look for Citizens Bank Park to be packed this week with rowdy Phillies fans and Red Soxs fans. I have had the honor of attending a Red Soxs game in Philly and I will be quite honest with you guys, Soxs fans were worse in Philly than Yankees fans were when I saw the Phillies win at the new Yankee Stadium. Tough to imagine, I know, but that was the case…
To everyone attending these games this week, I ask you to bring it and bring it loud and most importantly…
BRING ON THE SOXS!
Until we meet again Phillies fans; Happy Readings and Go Phillies!
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