Thank the baseball gods for the Miami Marlins. If it weren't for them, the Phillies would be sitting at the bottom of the NL East. The Fightins will have a chance to make up some divisional ground this evening in South Philadelphia when the New York Mets come to town for the first time this season. Roy Halladay will attempt to prove to the world that his spring and first start of the season were both flukes and that he's still got the stuff to be a dominant pitcher.
The most interesting note from today's pregame is that Halladay will have a new battery mate. Humberto Quintero gets the nod behind the plate and will bat eighth.
You may recall Halladay mentioned not being on the same page with Erik Kratz after his ugly outing in Atlanta.
From Jim Salisbury's recap of Doc's first loss:
The Upton home run came on a 1-2 pitch that he was “not fully committed
to.” Catcher Erik Kratz set up down and in on Upton. In retrospect,
Halladay said he should have come up and in on Upton to set him up for
something away. Kratz is filling in for starting catcher Carlos Ruiz, a
Halladay favorite. Ruiz is serving a 25-game suspension for testing
positive for a PED.
Kratz told reporters today that Halladay never spoke to him about his work behind the plate since their last outing together. Charlie Manuel told reporters that Doc did not ask to have Quintero behind the dish this evening.
How prophetic those video game commercials were, eh?
If there's a team Halladay can be glad to see in town tonight while trying to turn it around, it's the Mets. From Beerleauger:
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
Coming off a poor performance in his first start, Roy Halladay
faces the best possible situation he could be placed in -- he faces the
Mets, a team he's 7-0 against with a 1.78 ERA as a Phillie.David Wright, Ike Davis, Lucas Duda and Ruben Tejada are a combined
9-for-63 off Halladay with 21 strikeouts. The Mets have struck out 53
times against Halladay with just six walks.
Charlie's going with Laynce Nix in right tonight: 1. Revere, 2. Rollins, 3. Utley, 4. Howard, 5. Young, 6. Brown, 7. Nix, 8. Quintero, 9. Halladay.
7:05 start time. Get down there with a cheap ticket and get your free t-shirt.