Phillies at Mets: July 28th to July 30th

Monday and Tuesday 7:10, Wednesday 12:10
Citi Field - Flushing, NY

Phillies 46-59, 5th Place in the N.L. East, 12 1/2 games behind the Nationals
Mets 50-55, 4th Place in the N.L. East, 8 1/2 games behind the Nationals

Phillies Probables:  A. J. Burnett (6-9, 3.86), Cole Hamels (5-5, 2.72), Kyle Kendrick (5-10, 4.87)
Mets Probables:  Bartolo Colon (9-8, 4.03), Dillon Gee (4-3, 3.49), Zack Wheeler (5-8, 3.64)

At the Ballpark:  There are a bunch of ticket deals for various groups for these three games, but there are no give-aways scheduled.

Phillies Leaders

Average:  Ben Revere - .295

Runs:  Chase Utley - 54

Home Runs:  Marlon Byrd - 20

RBIs:  Ryan Howard - 62

Stolen Bases:  Ben Revere - 28

Wins:  A.J. Burnett - 6

ERA:  Cole Hamels - 2.72

Strikeouts:  Cole Hamels - 125

Saves:  Jonathan Papelbon - 25

1988 Topps #30

1988 Topps Appreciation:  Before looking at Sid Fernandez's career stats, I would have sworn he only played for the Phillies for a part of one season.  But the records don't lie.  El Sid signed with the Phillies on July 13, 1995, three days after being released by the Orioles.  In eleven starts, he went a respectable 6-1 with a 3.34 ERA for the Phillies during their forgettable 1995 season.

He hit free agency following the season, but the Phillies decided to bring him back again to start the 1996 season.  He was the club's opening day starter that year (!) in a rotation that consisted of El Sid, Mike Grace, Terry Mulholland (back with the club for his second stint), Mike Williams and rookie Rich Hunter.  All of the sudden, the team's projected 2015 starting pitching rotation doesn't look so bad.

Injuries limited Hernandez to just eleven starts in 1996, and the Phillies cut ties with him following the season.  He'd pitch in one game for the Astros in 1997 before calling it a career.