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Roy's Redemption in SFLA is Sweepy.
Looking for the sweep in South Florida today, and for a little bit of redemption from his debut, Roy Oswalt leads the Phils against the Marlins. Every game from here on out is extremely important for all teams in division races as the dog days are upon us and the summer stretches into August. The Phils have recovered 5 games in the past two weeks, going 11-2 in their last 13 games, whittling the Brave lead to just two games. The Braves won last night, in a must win to keep the Phils at arms length.
So today, the Phils are looking for their third straight win in Florida, which is impressive to say the least considering the Marlins’ success on their recent west coast swing and the Phils’ newest string of impact players on the DL. The Phillies scored 7 in game 2 and 6 runs in game one, still without Utley, and the services of the premier power guy in baseball. The bench fellows have stepped in nicely, with Francisco and Gload getting hits and driving in runs. Ibanez has stayed red hot, going 2/3 in game 2, scoring twice. And the top of the lineup (Rollins, Polanco, then Raul) has set the table marvelously. They combined 6/11, scored 5 runs and walked 4 times. They will need some more production like that today to finalize the sweep in Florida. The Phils are on a roll right now, and will give the ball to Oswalt today to finish the job.
Oswalt has struggled in his last handful of outings, and there have been sprinkles of failure all throughout his 2010 campaign. But, clearly, he has shown signs of brilliance as his ERA and K:BB numbers are all-star caliber once again. The Phils have hopes that the change of scenery and presence within a pennant race will re-energize Roy and get him to finish really strong this season, leading the Phils to their 4th straight NL East title and hopefully their third straight NL pennant.
Oswalt better pitch well today if the Phils have their eyes on a sweep, because it’s only a matter of time before this lineup stuffed with bench players fails to score just as they have done all season. Oswalt needs to pitch well today and hope for some more magic from his offense.
PHI -130 (Oswalt) @ FLA +110 (Volstad)
The Phillies get a very serviceable line here as favorites, are on a ridiculous tear, won as dogs last night and once again find themselves in a must win game with hopes of dwindling the division lead to just one game.
Chris Volstad (6-13, 4.71) gets the ball for the Marlins to put a stop to the sweep. The Marlins have won Volstad’s last two starts, but both were nail biters. Volstad pitched pretty well in each outing, allowing 3 earned in 6 innings in a 5-4 home win over the Braves on July 25th and allowed 2 earned and 7 hits in 5 innings at Petco in San Diego in a 4-2 Florida victory. He has, however, walked 3 batters in each of those last two starts, and hasn’t been striking out many batters. If he struggles throwing strikes today, the Phils will get him for at least one crooked number inning. The Phils seem to have success when they face pitchers who struggle to throw strikes, by taking pitches and driving up the pitch count, and lately have been getting big hits with RISP.
With the line as it is today, the smokin’ Phils are the play here. Oswalt has now had a little time to get settled into the Phils’ swing of things. He ought to pitch well this time out. Sweeps are certainly hard to come by in the majors, but here is a spot where it seems like a real possibility. I love the line and I love the Phils’ new sense of purpose as they chase down the dudes from Atlanta.
Atlata watch:
ATL -103 (Jurrjens) v SFO -117 (Lincecum): It doesn’t get any easier for the Braves this weekend as they start a four game set versus the amazing Giants from the bay area. They get Lincecum. I think they lose here today and hope the Marlins finally get one from the Phils.
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Originally Posted by J-Ro11
