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This afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, the 21-25 Phillies will try to win the rubber match against the 26-24 Los Angeles Dodgers, following yesterday's 5-3 win. The Phils lost the opener 2-0, and currently sit in 4th place in the NL East, five games back of Atlanta.
The pitching match-up for today features two old Marlins teammates, Josh Beckett and A.J. Burnett. Beckett is having a heckuva comeback season after missing most of last year with a rib cage injury. So far this year, he has a 2.89 ERA in 46 2/3 innings. In his career against the Phillies, he is 9-5 with a 3.98 ERA in 19 starts, although most of those were before he was traded to Boston. The only Phillie with more than five career plate appearances against him is Jimmy Rollins.
As for Burnett, he's cooled off since a red-hot start, but still has a solid 3.32 ERA. However, his last three starts have been an adventure, posting a 6.75 ERA.
After his four-hit game in the leadoff spot on Saturday, Ben Revere is back atop the lineup again today. By going 4-for-4 on Saturday, Revere raised his average from .269 to .289. Of course, he's going to need a substantial number of multi-hit games for him accumulate enough of an on-base percentage to warrant staying there. Even with that .289 average, his on-base percentage is still just .303.
Cody Asche gets another day off to rest his hamstring, Cesar Hernandez will take his place at bat 8th. Wil Nieves gets the start for Carlos Ruiz and will hit 7th. And Domonic Brown, despite leaving last night's game with back spasms, appears well enough to give it a go. He'll hit 6th.
Here are the lineups: