Philadelphia @ New York preview
Citi Field
Last Meeting ( May 2, 2010 ) NY Mets 5, Philadelphia 11
The Philadelphia Phillies showed they couldn't do much with Tim Wakefield's knuckleball on Sunday.
Now, after taking a day off to decompress and eat a cheesesteak or two, the National League-leading Phillies (26-17) will get a chance to redeem themselves against fellow knuckleballer R.A. Dickey on Tuesday.
Philadelphia opens a three-game set against Dickey and the arch-rival New York Mets (22-23) at Citi Field. The Phillies took two of three from their NL East adversaries at Citizens Bank Park on April 30-May 2 - outscoring them, 21-5, in the latter two contests.
After winning 14 of 19 games in the month of May, Philadelphia saw its high-octane offense reduced to a crawl over the weekend after a pair of eight-inning gems by Boston hurlers Daisuke Matsuzaka and Wakefield. In Sunday's matinee, the 43-year-old veteran handcuffed the Phillies as the Red Sox cruised to an 8-3 victory.
Taken a step further, Philadelphia is batting a sluggish .193 and averaging just 2.5 runs in its last six contests. In addition, the team has just nine hits in the last two games.
Dickey (0-0, 3.00 ERA) would have been wise to have jotted down a few notes from Wakefield's outing - as he'll face the determined Phillies who saw their NL-East lead shrink to 3.5 games over the Atlanta Braves.
The 18th overall pick of the 1996 draft, Dickey allowed two runs and five hits in his lone start of the season - an eventual 5-3 loss to the Washington Nationals last Wednesday. The 35-year-old Tennessee native struggled with control - he walked four batters - but did not record a decision in that contest.
New York has recorded decisions in its last two contests - victories over the World Champion Yankees - and has seen its record at Citi Field balloon to a robust 16-9 this season.
The Phillies will counter with 47-year-old left-hander Jamie Moyer (5-3, 4.30 ERA), thereby ensuring that the game will not feature a pitch over 82 miles per hour.
The proven veteran has lasted six innings in each of his outings this season, which is all manager Charlie Manuel can ask from his southpaw.
Moyer, who has posted a career mark of 7-4 with a 4.20 ERA against the Mets, will need to cool the suddenly hot bat of Jason Bay. The free-swinging Canadian homered twice and reached base in all four plate appearances during Sunday's 6-4 triumph over the New York Yankees.
The 31-year-old British Columbia native has reached base safely in his last nine plate appearances, dating back to Friday's contest.
That's a far cry from the sub-par effort Bay produced thus far this season.
Signed to a four-year, $66 million deal during the offseason, Bay entered the weekend series against the Yankees batting .281 with one home run and 16 RBIs. That's not a lot of bang for your buck.