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NL East Series Preview 7-30-09 through 8-3-09
Filed Under (Series Preview) by mrose at 4:00 PM on 07-31-2009
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| The Philadelphia Phillies(58-41, 1st in NL East) made a big splash before the trade deadling, obtaining Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco from the Indians prior to the deadline. Both should be meeting up with the team in San Francisco this weekend with Lee expected to debut on either Friday or Saturday night, which will shape the rest of the rotation. The Phillies continue to win and took two of three from the Diamondbacks this week and now will face the wild card leading San Francisco Giants for four. Check out Phillies Phandom for more Philadelphia insight.
The San Francisco Giants(55-46, 2nd in NL West 7GB, 1st in WildCardl) were also players before the trade deadline. The Giants acquired infielder Freddy Sanchez from the Pirates for a minor league player, and he didn’t have to travel far as the Pirates were just swept out of San Francisco, Sanchez will simply extend his stay. They also got the news this week that Randy Johnson has a rotator cuff tear and will be out for an extended period of time. They hope that they can extend their wild card lead, and take some games from the leagues hottest team at the same time. Probable pitching matchups are below: |
| Thursday @ 10:15PM EST – Giants 7 Phillies 2 (WP – Sanchez LP – Lopez) |
| Friday @ 10:15PM EST – Lee,PHI(7-9,3.14 ERA) vs. Sadowski,SF(2-3,4.81 ERA) |
| Saturday @ 9:05PM EST – Blanton,PHI(7-4,4.11 ERA) vs. Lincecum,SF(11-3,2.30 ERA) |
| Sunday @ 4:05PM EST – Hamels,PHI(7-5,4.42 ERA) vs. Zito,SF(6-10,4.54 ERA) |
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| The Florida Marlines(53-49, 2nd in East 6GB, 3GB of wildcard) welcomed in the Braves to LandShark stadium this week for a three game set. The teams have no played eight games, with the Marlins winning five of the eight. The Marlins had a late heroic game from surprisingly solid pinch hitter Ross Glaud on Tuesday, a hitting pitcher on Wednesday, but couldn’t keep the same heroics on Thursday for the sweep. The Marlins are now winners of 7 out of 9, and hope to continue to march toward the wild card this weekend. In their way will be the Central Division leading Chicago Cubs. Check out FishGuts for more insight.
The Chicago Cubs(54-46, 1st in NL Central) had a fairly mediocre first half of the season, but since the All-Star break, they have really turned it on. The Cubs have now won eleven of fourteen games while only losing one series to the red hot Phillies. The Cubs have even made a trade with the division rival Pirates yesterday, acquiring reliever John Grabow and Tom Gorzelanny while sending Kevin Hart, Jose Ascanio and a minor leaguer back. They lead the Central division by a half a game and will look to extend it this weekend in Miami. The probable pitchers are shown below: |
| Friday @ 7:10PM EST – Harden,CHI(7-5,4.55 ERA) vs. Volstad,FLA(8-9.4.44 ERA) |
| Saturday @ 7:10PM EST – Zambrano,CHI(7-4,3.36 ERA) vs. TBA,FLA |
| Sunday @ 2:05PM EST – Dempster,CHI(5-5,4.31 ERA) vs. Nolasco,FLA(7-7,5.24ERA) |
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| The Atlanta Braves(52-50, 3rd in NL East 7GB, 4GB of wildcard) are still one of the hottest teams since the All-Star break, with nine wins against five losses since then, but they are off a tough series loss to division rival Florida Marlins this week. They went into the weekday series tied for second and now are one game behind the Marlins for both the wildcard and division lead, after losing a couple tough ones. One game, closer Soriano blew the save with a walk off home run for the Marlins and in the next, starter Kenshin Kawakami couldn’t keep Josh Johnson in the yard. They welcome in the Dodgers to Altanta, so it gets no easier for them. Check out The Braves Baseball Blog for more Braves news and info.
The Los Angeles Dodgers(63-39, 1st in NL West) had a very tough week, especially since we last talked about them in a series preview last weekend. They went only 2-5 against the Marlins in LA and then the Cardinals on the road. The Marlins were able to take two of three and the Cardinals crushed them in three of the four games. The Dodgers salvaged the final game yesterday and luckily they have such a large lead that this stretch did not effect them. They will hope to get back on a role this weekend in Atlanta. The probable pitchers are shown below: |
| Friday @ 7:30PM EST – Schmidt,LAD(1-1,7.88 ERA) vs. Hanson,ATL(5-1,2.95 ERA) |
| Saturday @ 4:00PM EST – Wolf,LAD(5-5,3.43) vs. Lowe,ATL(10-7,4.20 ERA) |
| Sunday @ 8:00PM EST – Billingsley,LAD(10-6,3.96 ERA) vs. Jurrjens,ATL(9-7,2.69 ERA) |
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| The New York Mets(49-52, 4th in NL East 9.5GB, 6.5GB of wildcard) finally had a good week to report here. The Mets went into Houston last weekend then finally returned home for the first time since the break to face the red hot Astros then Rockies. The result? The Mets won five of seven games, including all five of those being consecutive. They lost the bookends of the seven games, but in between they had great pitching, timely hitting and showed life while coming back in a number of games. They hope to continue their success with a four game wrap around set against the Arizona Diamondbacks from Friday to Monday. Check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for more Mets news.
The Arizona Diamondbacks(44-58, 4th in NL West 19GB) are now 6-7 since the break, and they only have won one series, against the lowly Pirates last weekend as they took three of four. They are coming off a series loss to the Phillies where they could salvage the finale, but even their ace, Danny Haren couldn’t win that one. The D’Backs did make a few trades earlier this month and have all but ended their season. The probable pitchers are shown below: |
| Friday @ 7:10PM EST – Davis,ARI(5-6,3.76 ERA) vs. Hernandez,NYM(7-5,4.87 ERA) |
| Saturday @ 7:10PM EST -Scherzer,ARI(6-6,3.61 ERA) vs. Perez,NYM(2-3, 7.42 ERA) |
| Sunday @ 1:10PM EST -Garland,ARI(5-10,4.42 ERA) vs. Pelfrey,NYM(8-6,4.72 ERA) |
| Monday @ 7:10PM EST – Haren,ARI(10-6,2.19 ERA) vs. TBA,NYM |
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| The Washington Nationals(32-70, 5th in NL East 27GB) are definitely on what they can consider a high. The Nationals had won two straight series heading into Milwaukee this week, where they won the first two to put together a four game winning streak. They did drop the final two, but all in all, it was one of the better weeks they have had in recent memory. This weekend they will welcome in the youngest team in baseball after this week’s trades, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Check out CenterfieldGate for more news, information and insight on the Nats.
The Pittsburgh Pirates(43-58, 6th in NL Central 11GB) are on a five game losing streak and this week completed trades to send more players away and rebuild. Like the post world series Marlins teams, the Pirates have traded away ten players from the opening day roster in exchange for many minor leaguers. You have to wonder what a Pirate fan must think. They will hope their young team can beat out another young team in the Nationals, and will welcome Lastings Milledge to the major league club. The probable pitchers are shown below: |
| Friday @ 7:05PM EST -Lannan,WAS(7-7,3.25 ERA) vs. Ohlendorf,PIT(8-8,4.51 ERA) |
| Friday @ 7:05PM EST-Stammen,WAS(3-5,4.46 ERA) vs. Vasquez,PIT(1-5,6.21 ERA) |
| Sunday @ 1:35PM EST – Balester,PIT(1-1,4.00 ERA) vs. Maholm,PIT(6-5,4.70 ERA) |
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