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We continue on in our week-long 7-game series of the 2012 Should Of Been Playoff Baseball Week as the high-flying Washington Strasburgs come in to Strasburg the Philadelphia Phillies. Perhaps even without Strasburg. You can't blame them for worrying. So far on this homestand of division leaders (oh, and the Mets), the third-place Phillies have split the first four games. So tonight we head into a pivotal game 5 matchup between two pitchers who are having breakthrough seasons of their own (wholly independent of Stephen Strasburg): Edwin Jackson and Kyle Kendrick.
Kendrick, as we're finding out, is getting into an intriguing habit of Doing Things for Us Lately. As for Edwin Jackson, he's managed to cut down his hits/9IP by about three (10.5 to 7.8), along with a .075 drop from last year's BABIP figure (.338 - where it was the past three seasons - to .263). Small sample sizes and all, but many of the Phillies regulars have handled him in the past.
Side note: Jayson Werth returns to Philadelphia tonight after promising to make us all howl after fracturing his wrist back before the seaon went in the crapper. For us, not so much for him. Werewolves of Bryn Mawr again. Draw blood! Then discuss the game below.
Werewolves Of London (via NinaC300)