Jurrjens/Blanton on Mound for Rubber Match

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Atlanta Braves (68-61) at Philadelphia Phillies (74-53)
Jair Jurrjens (10-8, 2.91 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (8-6, 3.88 ERA)

Last night, the Braves slugged their way to a victory against Cliff Lee and the Phillies. The Phillies offense needs to step it up in the rubber match game of the series.

The Curacao native has had himself a fine year with a 2.91 ERA and 1.26 WHIP. Against the Phillies this season, Jurrjens allowed only two earned runs in 19.2 innings. In his career against Philly, he is 3-2 with a 2.31 ERA. The Phillies cumulative lineup is batting .188 against him. It will not be easy for the offense to get back on track with Jurrjens on the mound.

Joe Blanton will get the start for the Phillies tonight. After a slow start, Blanton has been dominant since mid-May. Blanton was hurt by the long ball in his last start. He has given up 24 home runs this season. Blanton has struggled against the Braves. In 26 innings, he is 0-1 with a 6.58 ERA. The Braves lineup is collectively batting .313 against him.

If Blanton pitches the way he has of late and the offense can get back on track, manufacturing runs via small ball with runners in scoring position, the Phillies should be in good shape under the national spotlight.

Horrendous Hamels Performance

As seen on Phillies Nation.

In the 2008 postseason, Cole Hamels gave up a total of seven runs in six games. In four innings against the Atlanta Braves, he matched that total.

Hamels had an easy first and second inning, but the wheels fell off in the third. Jair Jurrjens, the Braves starting pitcher, started with a soft hit to right field. Gregor Blanco and Martin Prado did serious damage to the Phillies pitching staff on Tuesday and continued today. Blanco followed Jurrjens with a single and Prado doubled them both in.

Cole Hamels was lifted in fifth inning, but not before Chipper Jones and Brain McCann each drove in runs. A couple inherited runners scored, finishing off an ugly performance by Hamels.

The only thing worse than Hamels' performance was the offense. The lone run came without a hit, on a sacrifice fly. It wasn't until the seventh inning that the Phillies recorded their first hit, a single by Paul Bako. Just days after a near no-hitter by the Blue Jay's Ricky Romero, Jurrjens threw 6.2 hitless innings.

The Phillies finished the night with only two hits, the same number of errors the Braves committed and seven times less hits than the Braves. The 11-1 loss was disgraceful, putting the Phillies in a deeper hole as their National League Eastern division lead is cut down to a half of a game.


Call of the Day: Pat Burrell homered in the NLCS against the Dodgers.

"Line drive to left.. It's gotta chance.. OUTTA HERE! Pat Burrell with a line
drive, home run!"

Middle Game Phils/Braves Preview

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The Philadelphia Phillies (39-35) will play the Atlanta Braves (36-40)

Cole Hamels (4-4, 4.44 ERA) wil start vs. Jair Jurrjens (5-6, 2.93 ERA) at Turner Field.

Cole Hamels looks to rebound from a rough outing against the Blue Jays. He hasn’t been consistent and right now would be the perfect time for him to get on a roll. In 12 career starts against the Atlanta Braves, Hamels is 7-3 with a 3.42 ERA.

The 23 year old, Jair Jurrjens has avoided the sophomore slump. His win-loss record is deceiving as he hasn’t always received run support from his teammates. In April, Jurrjens earned the win in 5.2 innings against the Phillies.

After an 0-for-5 night, Charlie Manuel says not to worry about Rollins. He said his timing was off and that “he’ll be OK.” Rollins needs to turn around his struggles, along with Ryan Madson. In his last six appearances he is 0-2 with a 9.53 ERA (six earned runs in 5.2 innings). He has also blown three games in that span.

The lineup will look a little different with Greg Dobbs starting his second straight game in left field and Paul Bako getting the start.

Runners Left On Base: A Phillies Tradition

The Atlanta Braves beat the Phillies 4-0, their second straight loss to start the season.

Kelly Johnson led off the game with a solo home run off Jamie Moyer. Chipper Jones later scored on an error by Chase Utley giving the Braves an early 2-0 lead.

Johnson later hit an RBI single and Jones eventually hit a solo home run of his own. The Braves had a total of five home runs this series, each by different players.

Moyer lasted five innings allowing the four earned runs on eight hits and two walks. The umpire wasn't giving him much of the corners, and he struck out just two.

The story once again was the Phillies offense, which was silenced by Jair Jurrjens, who pitched 5.2 scoreless innings. Charlie Manuel even changed the order of the lineup, moving Victorino second and splitting up the lefties with Jayson Werth, but to no avail.

The Phillies were able to manage seven baserunners, four hits and three walks, but were not able to get any runs in. The Phillies left 11 men on base, and in many innings with two outs.

The Phillies bullpen was superb once again, but so was the Braves. Unlike Sunday, the Phillies were unable to spark up a rally in the ninth and went down 1-2-3, putting the loss in the books.