Phillies look to top .500 for the first time in 2015 behind Cole Hamels

After an impressive 4-1 win against the World Series favorite Washington Nationals, the Phillies
look to ride Cole Hamels onto another big win today. Hamels looks to redeem himself after a rough start to the 2015 season against his top trade suitor, the Boston Red Sox, giving up four homeruns in five innings of work. Winning today not only places the Phils on top of their first series of the season, but improves their overall record to 3-2.

As a team that is supposed to finish with the least amount of wins in the entire MLB, the Phillies will be eager to challenge the highly regarded Washington Nationals club and rotation to the second game of this three-game series. The first pitch will be thrown at 7:05 p.m.

Starting Pitching Matchup

Cole Hamels looks for his first quality start and win of the season against a strong Washington Nationals team. Faced with many injuries including 2014 Silver Slugger Anthony Rendon, as well as outfielders Nate McLouth, Denard Span, and ex-phillie favorite, Jayson Werth, the Washington Nationals have lost three of their first four contests scoring three runs or less in each of them.

Doug Fister will be making his first start of the 2015 season after finishing a strong 2014 campaign. Fister has a reputation of being a great groundball pitcher, implying that he usually works fast against batters, keeping his defense involved in the game. He also led the Nats in wins last season, 16, and held the lowest ERA of the staff despite starting the season on the disabled list.

Starting Lineups

Washington Nationals                                                                    Philadelphia Phillies

CF Michael Taylor         R                                                                LF Ben Revere            L

3B Yunel Escobar          R                                                                SS Freddy Galvis        S

RF Bryce Harper            L                                                                2B Chase Utley           L

1B Ryan Zimmerman    R                                                                1B Ryan Howard        L

C  Wilson Ramos            R                                                                C  Carlos Ruiz             R

SS Ian Desmond             R                                                               RF Grady Sizemore    L 

LF Reed Johnson           R                                                                CF Odubel Herrera    L

2B Danny Espinosa       R                                                                3B Andres Blanco       S

P Doug Fister                  L                                                                 P  Cole Hamels           L

The Phillies are presenting a very left-handed heavy lineup to challenge the right-handed Doug Fister. Ryan Howard, after getting a rest last night against lefty Gio Gonzalez, replaces Darin Ruf at first base once again, Jeff Francoeur is replaced by Rule 5 pick Odubel Herrera, who is seeking his first major league base hit, and Carlos Ruiz returns behind the plate for Cole Hamels.

The Nationals are up against the wall with three starters on the disabled list, still, their lineup is not too shabby. Michael Taylor pulled a homerun to left field to start the game against Jerome Williams last night; each of the first six batters in their lineup racked up one hit. Bryce Harper also begins a good season, hitting .333 (5 for 15), even after striking out three times last night.

Game Notes

Phillies

• Right Fielder Grady Sizemore has had success against Doug Fister in his nine at bats, batting a .444 with a homerun and three RBIs.
• Left Fielder Ben Revere also has been successful against Fister, batting .320 in 25 at bats.
• Cody Asche misses second straight start.

Nationals

• Right Fielder Bryce Harper bats a .320 in 25 at bats against Hamels. Also, who could forget their first encounter back in 2012 when Harper stole home against Hamels after being hit by a pitch?
• Ryan Zimmerman, in his 75 at bats against Hamels, bats a .267 with three homeruns and six RBIs.

Game Time: 7:05 p.m. 

Weather: 63 degrees, sunny, 0% PoP

Location: Citizen's Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

TV: TCN

Radio: 1210 WPHT, SBP 1480 (Spanish), 94 WIP