T1B

Pitching matchups:

Monday:
Jair Jurrgens (7-6, 4.64 ERA)
vs.
Cole Hamels (11-10, 3.01 ERA)

Tuesday:
Mike Minor (3-1, 5.84 ERA)
vs.
Roy Halladay (19-10, 2.49 ERA)

Wednesday:
Tommy Hanson (10-11, 3.62 ERA)
vs.
Roy Oswalt (7-1 as a Philly, 1.94 ERA)


Phillies take 2/3 and pick up a game on the Braves.
Halladay gets his 20th victory.
Ruiz has a great series.

With a series like that...more so for the Braves...you can lose the series but a sweep can be disastrous. The hold on NL wild card is far from as safe as the Yanks/Rays hold on the AL wild card. The Padres and Rockies are just 2 and 3 games back respectively. A sweep for the Phillies would put the division race to bed and I like their chances with their three horses going in the series. Jurjjens was scratched from his start last night and Hamels threw 8 great innings...a nice start for the Phillies.

Phillies will come away from this series with at least a 4 game lead over the Braves and possibly 6 depending on tonight's game. Halladay gets his 20th and he did so without his best stuff. It's a close race but I think he's in the lead for the Cy Young at this point.

-Encouraging to see Brad Lidge having complete control of his slider again.
-Phillies are doing this without Jimmy Rollins whom they are not rushing back.

jiminphilly wrote:It's a close race but I think he's in the lead for the Cy Young at this point.

If the season ended today... it's a Halladay in runaway, actually. 1st in Wins, IP, K's, CG, and SO. 3rd in ERA. How could you not give it to him? If Jimenez throws 2 shutouts to end the year and Halladay gets blown the fuck out... maybe he loses it. I think Halladay will only pitch once more before the season ends so he can start game 1 of the playoffs, correct?

ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 wrote:

jiminphilly wrote:It's a close race but I think he's in the lead for the Cy Young at this point.

If the season ended today... it's a Halladay in runaway, actually. 1st in Wins, IP, K's, CG, and SO. 3rd in ERA. How could you not give it to him? If Jimenez throws 2 shutouts to end the year and Halladay gets blown the fuck out... maybe he loses it. I think Halladay will only pitch once more before the season ends so he can start game 1 of the playoffs, correct?

I didn't want to seem like too much of a homer and I assumed Jimenez's stats were better than they were and I thought Wainwright's were going to be worse based on bad St. Louis folded.

The pitcher that is going to get shafted in the Cy Young is Felix Hernandez. He's only 12-12 but in all of MLB he ranks:

2nd in ERA
1st in IP
1st in SO
4th in CG

jiminphilly wrote:The pitcher that is going to get shafted in the Cy Young is Felix Hernandez. He's only 12-12 but in all of MLB he ranks:
1st in ERA
1st in IP
1st in SO
T3rd in CG

ftfy. and 2nd in WHIP.

And yes, he may get fucked. He is hands down the best pitcher in the AL. Sabathia is going to get the Cy because he's on the Yanks. I have faith in the baseball writers though. I think Felix might get a fair shake in this thing. Wins are like 4-5 on the ranking of stats the voters look at.

jiminphilly wrote:I didn't want to seem like too much of a homer and I assumed Jimenez's stats were better than they were and I thought Wainwright's were going to be worse based on bad St. Louis folded.

The stat I may be most impressed by is Halladay's K/BB ratio (7:1) It's fucking redonkulous. He has 30 walks all year... or < 1 per start. You may see some homer picks for Wainright (who'll finish 2nd) and Jimenez (maybe 3rd), but unless you're a dumbfuck like Mikey, this should be a slam dunk.

ucantdoitdoggieSTyle2 wrote:

jiminphilly wrote:I didn't want to seem like too much of a homer and I assumed Jimenez's stats were better than they were and I thought Wainwright's were going to be worse based on bad St. Louis folded.

The stat I may be most impressed by is Halladay's K/BB ratio (7:1) It's fucking redonkulous. He has 30 walks all year... or < 1 per start. You may see some homer picks for Wainright (who'll finish 2nd) and Jimenez (maybe 3rd), but unless you're a dumbfuck like Mikey, this should be a slam dunk.

Even though it was the Nationals, the way Halladay clinched the East for the Phillies with a 2 hit, CG, SO in under 100 pitches was pretty much Roy slamming the door on the race. And yes his K/BB ratio is scary good. His mentality seems to be he either knows he doesn't have it and pitches to contact or he will mow you down like he did against the Nats.