Today's final game in this NL East series will bring Philadelphia with a 56-34 record and Atlanta with a 54-37 record together, each team looking for one more victory before the All Star Break. Hamels will get duty for Philadelphia and has a 10-4 record 2.40 ERA with 115 strikeouts. Maybe more importantly, Hamels in his last 8 outings has posted a 1.60 ERA and a .87 WHIP. Lowe will start for Atlanta and is 5-6 with a 4.21 ERA. Lowe has managed to post back to back wins after struggling in his past outings. Philadelpia will try and match a franchise record with 57 wins before the All Star Break today and are 6-4 their last 10 overall. Atlanta is 8-2 their last 10 and will be without Chipper Jones who is out with a knee injury. Utley, who had a hitting steak broken yesterday still has a .400 average against Lowe in his last 30 trips to the plate. Philadelphia has stranded 17 baserunners in the series including a base loaded extra inning yesterday. Will we see extra innings again today for a third straight time? Will the trend of the under continue? Will Philadelphia be able to match their franchise record? Can Atlanta generate enough offense with out Jones to be successful? Feel free to stop by, relax and chat about the game and the players. Source ESPN MLB Preview.
how's it going, the first two have been great games, Today I am on Philladelphia -1.5 +120 for game Philadelphia -.5 -135 for first 5. Atlanta really struggles against lefties this year. The only reason Atlanta was my play against Lee, was Tommy Hanson on the mound with +150....Today, Lowe can get rocked and think will, and Hamels has been great...GL in what ever you do!
One oft the major keys from my chair will be Lowe and not Hamels. Hamels will be solid as always. Lowe has to post trouble free innings out of the gate to enable Atlanta to try and generate some sort of offense against an extremley tough Hamels. He really does not have to over power his pitches as Atlanta has a solid defense to back him up, however if he give up those hits to the gaps, Philadelphia can score enough runs early to be in the driver's sat for the duration. Utley has a .400 average against Lowe and he has to be a prority out if Braves hope to be successful. Both bullpens have pitched well even though Philadelphia did give up the HR yesterday. The early innings may decide this one. I am going to ride the under trend today looking for Lowe and Hamels to hold their own.
6 runs in one inning will blow the living shit out of an under everytime. Great Job by the Philadelphia squad. Atlanta never seemed to get over that 3 run 3rd inning. Announcers said it was the third largest attendance at Citizen's Bank Park in regular season history at 45,000 +. WOW what a snag by Ibanez at the wall. Super Super play.
