Amazing the feeling that one win after a long All-Star Break can give you. The Mets loss doesn't hurt either. Jamie Moyer continued his mastery of the Marlins, extending his run to an astounding 10-0. Moyer's been even better than we could have hoped for this year, and we'll need him to stay that way. Although he may surprise us, the safe bet is that Joe Blanton is here to strengthen the bottom of the rotation.
The highlight of last night's win was seeing that Ryan Howard stayed locked in over the break. He went deep in the 2nd inning, continuing to show why it's ridiculous that the league leader in HR and RBI wasn't an All-Star. Today at just before 4, the Phils will face the Marlins' Scott Olsen, who has been wearing Howard's ball gag in 21 career plate appearances. Howard is hitting .476 against Olsen, with 2 homers and 9 RBI.
Olsen is a punk, and he's publicly stated that he hates the Phillies, who have made it clear they don't think much of him either. But he can throw a little, and although the Phils have beat up on him over his career, he looked good when he last faced the Fightins in June (6 hits, 1 ER, 7 Ks, L). His career numbers versus Philly? In 10 starts, he's 3-5 with a 5.33 ERA, a 1.63 WHIP, and a .283 BAA. Just the kind of mark we need to keep the bats on track.
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Kyle Kendrick will handle the rubber for the Phils.