St. Louis Cardinals (18-10) at Philadelphia Phillies (16-11)
Kyle Lohse (0-1, 5.28 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (5-1, 1.47 ERA)
Time: 1:05 p.m at Citizens Bank Park
TV: Comcast SportsNet, MLB Network
Weather: Partly cloudy, 80
Twitter: @philliesnation
UPDATE: 12:00pm, Sad news today that former Phillies great Robin Roberts passed away today at the age of 83. Our thoughts and condolences go out to his and the entire Phillies family.
In his first six starts wearing red and white, Roy Halladay has been everything Phillies fans could have hoped for, with three complete games, two shutouts and a 1.47 ERA. But as spine-tingling as those performances were, they were just a prelude of things to come.
Not to diminish what Halladay has done this season, but he hasn’t faced the kind of lineup that inspires fear – until today. The three most talented teams he has faced so far have been the Mets, Giants and Braves – teams that have their share of hitters but that aren’t loaded the way the Cardinals are from one to eight (or one to seven and nine, in Tony La Russa’s wacky mind).
Today, Halladay receives his most intriguing test of the season so far. It’s too early to call it an October preview or anything along those lines, but the result will give fans to consider as the early season unfurls itself.
After Juan Castro tweaked his hamstring Wednesday night, Wilson Valdez starts at shortstop today. Injuries have hit the Phils hard this season, whether through bad luck (Jimmy Rollins) or stupidity (Ryan Madson). While it still is in first place, if this team is really going to take off, it is going to have to get its best talent on the field at the same time. The bad news is that is certainly not going to happen for a while, at the very least.
Your gameday beer:
It’s the King of Beers, Budweiser.
Beechwood-aged, it’s your all-American lager, a little bitter and a lot of simple. We’ll drink a few on this beautiful afternoon in honor of our guest from St. Louis.
Enjoy the beer with a hamburger.
Go Phillies!
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