Series Preview - Phillies at Rangers: May 16th to May 18th

Tuesday and Wednesday 8:05,  Thursday 2:05
Globe Life Park - Arlington, TX

Phillies 14-21, Tied for 3rd Place in the N.L. East, 9 games behind the Nationals
Rangers 19-20, Tied for 2nd Place in the A.L. West, 8 games behind the Astros

Phillies Probables:  Jerad Eickhoff (0-3, 4.76), Zach Eflin (0-0, 2.81), Nick Pivetta (0-2, 6.14)
Rangers Probables:  Yu Darvis (3-2, 2.96), Andrew Cashner (0-3, 2.43), Martin Perez (1-5, 3.89)

It's a shame Cole Hamels is on the disabled list right now with an oblique injury.  A Hamels-Eickhoff match-up tonight would have been really cool.

At the Ballpark:  On Thursday afternoon, the first 10,000 fans will receive a Papa John's Texas Rangers Throwback Thursday Collector Pin.

Phillies Leaders
Average:  Cesar Hernandez - .311
Runs:  Cesar Hernandez - 30
Home Runs:  Aaron Altherr - 8
RBIs:  Maikel Franco - 25
Stolen Bases:  Cesar Hernandez - 6

Wins:  Jeremy Hellickson - 4
ERA:  Zach Eflin - 3.71
Strikeouts:  Vince Velasquez - 39
Saves:  Hector Neris - 4

Rangers Leaders
Average:  Elvis Andrus - .289
Runs:  Joey Gallo - 26
Home Runs:  Joey Gallo - 12
RBIs:  Joey Gallo - 27
Stolen Bases:  Elvis Andrus and Delino DeShields - 7

Wins:  A.J. Griffin - 4
ERA:  Yu Darvish - 2.96
Strikeouts:  Yu Darvish - 52
Saves:  Matt Bush - 4

1982 Topps #16

1982 Topps #463

1982 Topps #590

1982 Topps #624

1982 Topps Appreciation:  Similar to what I did with the weekend series with the Nationals, here are four 1982 Topps cards with connections to both teams in this Phillies series.  Steve Comer and Jim Kern featured prominently in my Phillies Missing Links custom set, with Comer's custom Phillies card here and Kern's custom Phillies card here.

Al Oliver and Fergie Jenkins received actual Phillies baseball cards to commemorate their time in Philadelphia.  Oliver hit the trifecta with Phillies cards in the 1985 Donruss, Fleer and Topps sets. I added Jenkins' 1966 Topps rookie card to my collection a few Christmases ago and this card has had a number of reprinted versions over the years.