Categories: 2010 GamedayPosts

Gameday: Marlins (6-5) at Phillies (8-2)

Florida Marlins (6-5) at Philadelphia Phillies (8-2)

Ricky Nolasco (0-0, 5.68) vs. Jamie Moyer (1-0, 7.50)

Time: 7:05, Citizens Bank Park

Weather: Partly cloudy, 54 degrees

TV: Comcast SportsNet

Twitter: @philliesnation and below

Kyle Kendricks frightening first two starts of the season put pressure squarely on one other member of the Phillies rotation: Jamie Moyer. If Kendricks struggles continue but the 47-year-old Moyer pitches moderately well, the Phillies probably will be able to get by even if it means yanking Kendrick from the rotation and calling up a replacement from Triple-A Lehigh Valley until Joe Blanton returns. (Blanton is set to make his first rehab start for Single-A Lakewood on Tuesday, putting him on track to return to the Phils in early May.)

On the other hand, if Moyer also fails to pitch consistently, the Phillies have a problem. In his season debut last Saturday, Moyer had a subpar outing against the Astros at Minute Maid Park, allowing five two-out runs in the third inning but rebounding to last six innings and ride the Ryan Howard Express to victory.

For Moyers second start of the season, two opposing trends collide. On one hand, we have the crafty veterans hypnotic powers against the Marlins (13-4, 2.93 ERA), a perpetually young team whose lineup has never met a pitch it didnt think it could jack 450 feet into the upper deck. But last season the Fish seemed to finally figure out Moyer, beating him three times, including once each in August and September (to Moyers credit, the Phils scored a total of three runs in those games).

As pressing as the questions about the Phillies pitching staff are, their lineup has been a industrial-strength bottle of Wite-Out, erasing most of the crooked numbers put up by the teams pitchers speaking of which, does anyone use Wite-Out anymore? Well, considering his age and experience, if anyone on the Phillies roster knows the value of Wite-Out, its Jamie Moyer.

Your gameday beer: Truly one of the best beers in the world, Rodenbach Grand Cru, a Flanders red ale, is an absolute treat. Brewed with aged malt and yeast and then mixed with other old ales, its a fine collection of all-natural flavors — with a name befitting the Phillies roster. Has a distinct cherry taste. You can get it at Monks in Philly. I suggest it. Drink it with some smoked halibut.
— Timothy Malcolm

Go Phillies!

Jon Fogg

Jon joined Phillies Nation in April 2010 and is perpetually grateful that the World Wide Web came along, allowing him to write about the team he has followed since, well, as long as he can remember. At his first Phils game, in 1991 against the Pirates at the Vet, Jon watched wide-eyed from one of those plastic, spine-numbing seats as a lanky outfielder named Barry Bonds cracked a two-run homer off Tommy Greene and a game-winning RBI double off Mitch Williams in the ninth. In those halcyon days, he listened to most games on the radio because cable TV didn’t extend out into in the remote swamps of South Jersey. Most days, you’ll find Jon looking for misplaced commas and devising flashy headlines at a newspaper; these days his publication of choice is the Baltimore Sun; he’s also worked at The (Allentown) Morning Call and The Washington Times.