PHI: 39-51, 5th in NL East; LAD: 48-42, 1st in NL West
When: July 16-18
Where: Dodgers Stadium (Los Angeles, CA)
Probable Pitchers
Monday: Joe Blanton (7-8, 4.98) vs Nathan Eovaldi (1-5, 4.21)
Tuesday: Roy Halladay (4-5, 3.98) vs TBA
Wednesday: Cliff Lee (1-6, 3.92) vs Clayton Kershaw (7-5, 2.84)
Broadcast Info
Monday, 10:10, CSN
Tuesday, 10:10, CSN
Wednesday, 3:10, CSN
All Games on 94.1 FM
Player to Watch – CF Matt Kemp: Well this should be the obvious choice. Kemp, returning from a series of hamstring injuries, is the catalyst to the Dodgers offense. In 38 games this season Kemp is hitting .369 with 12 homers and 28 RBIs, sick numbers if blown up to equal the 90 games played this season. Kemp is the type of hitter that only comes around once in a blue moon. With as special as he is, he’s extremely scary to face.
Series Overview: The Phillies go from playing the worst in the West to one of the best in the West. Traveling to LA, the Phillies will really see where they stand as far as their chances of getting back into the hunt.
The Phillies are riding off a series win to start the second half where as the Dodgers have been struggling a bit as of late. Falling into second place within the West division, the Dodgers will either bust out of the mini funk or be susceptible to the Phillies.
Tuesday will bring good news for the Philies, seeing the return of Roy Halladay to the Phillies rotation, which has been very good to start the second half so far.
The Dodgers also saw two of their stars return from injury and will have them in full swing for this series: Kemp and Andre Ethier. Kemp still leads the team with 12 homers despite missing over half the games. Ethier leads the team with 60 RBIs as well as adding 11 homers and a .297 average in 78 games.
The Phillies are still waiting for Ryan Howard and Chase Utley to come around. Utley is hitting .262 (11-for-42) and Howard has only two hits in 16 at-bats as well as an 0-for-13 run.
Carlos Ruiz pumped his average up to .353, tied for second in the NL with Melky Cabrera and second only to Andrew McCutchen with a .371 average. His 14 homers and 50 RBIs are second only to Hunter Pence’s 17 and 53 respectively.
Ruiz is also one of five players in the Majors with an OPS above 1.000 (fifth with a 1.007 OPS).
TTB 