I recall attending a 2004 game in which the Phillies visited US Cellular Field and Jim Thome hit 2 homeruns, had 6 RBI, and the White Sox still won. I don’t have any memories of the Sox playing the Phillies after that. Turns out they had a series in 2007 at Citizens Bank Park where the Sox got swept and in turn the series was swept from my memory. Like many of you, portions of the 2007 season have been stricken from my recall entirely. It’s been a long time since these two teams faced off. Gavin Floyd’s entire White Sox career (thanks, Phils) has come and gone since then! Tonight they meet again, in a season that is unfortunately reminiscent of 2007 for the Southsiders.
John Danks started the last game the two teams played and will start tonight. Danks has three consecutive games in which he went 7 or more innings and he’s allowed a total of 6 earned runs in those contests. The offense made sure that only one of those ended in victory, but hey, this is a whole new team we’re looking at here. Josh Phegley is always ready to rock, and Alexei Ramirez is always ready to throw down, you guys.
Jonathan Pettibone’s rookie campaign has been up and down. Overall it’s evened out to leave him at a roughly league average performance level. Most recently he’s pitched well against the Pirates and the Braves allowing just a run each in those starts. Young as he is, he’ll be 23 a week from today, the Phillies have been watching his workload enough that he’s made it through the 7th just once in 15 starts.
Today’s Lineup:
1.De Aza – CF
2.Alexei – SS
3.Rios – RF
4.Dunn – 1B
5.Viciedo – LF
6.Gillaspie – 3B
7.Phegley – C
8.Beckham – 2B
9.Danks – P
Philadelphia Phillies Lineup:
1.Ben Revere – CF
2.Jimmy Rollins – SS
3.Michael Young – 3B
4.Domonic Brown – LF
5.Delmon Young – RF
6.Kevin Frandsen – 2B
7.Darin Ruf – 1B
8.Carlos Ruiz – C
9.Jonathan Pettibone – P
Writing out the Phillies lineups caused me to smirk and shake my head an awful lot.
Where to Watch
Today’s game will be broadcast on CSN. 6:05 Central start time.