Apr 07 2009
Busy night for Philly sports teams
There’s a full slate of games for Philly sports fans tonight and all of them are pretty important. Down at the Sports Complex, the 2008 World Series Champion Phillies will be gunning for their first win of the 2009 season when they host the Atlanta Braves in the second game of their three-game series. The crafty left-hander Jamie Moyer will go up against Atlanta’s Jair Jurrjens. Moyer went 1-2 with an 8.27 in 20 2/3 innings in the Grapefruit League. Last season versus the Braves , Moyer posted a 6.55 ERA with two no decisions, and is only 3-8 with a 5.56 ERA in 14 career appearances against Atlanta. In addition, Garrett Anderson has faced Moyer more than any other player in his career and he is 33-for-104 (i.e. .317 batting average) with five home runs, nine doubles and 15 strikeouts against him. Jeff Francoeur (7-for-24), Brian McCann (8-for-18, six RBI), Chipper Jones (5-for-13) and Martin Prado (6-for-14) have all had success against Moyer in their careers. On the other hand, Jurrjens went 1-2 with a 3.33 ERA in four starts against the Phillies last year and for the most part, managed to shut down Philadelphia’s big bats. Rollins was 3-for-12 against Jurrjens, Utley went 2-for-10 with a homer and Howard was 2-for-11 with a home run. However, the Phillies did not homer against him in either of his starts at Citizens Bank Park. This has all the makings of another loss for the Phightins.
While the Phillies game is going on, the Flyers will be looking to clinch a playoff spot and remain in fourth place in the Eastern Conference when they host the Florida Panthers. The Orange and Black have struggled against the Panthers recently, including a 4-2 loss on March 26th. Florida is currently with the New York Rangers for eighth place, so they’re definitely going to be ready to play. Hopefully, the Flyers will play with the same kind of effort that they did in their second game against the Toronto Maple Leafs, but also play much better defense.
Finally, the Sixers will be looking to at least keep pace or potentially move up in the Eastern Conference standings when they hit the road to battle the pesky Charlotte Bobcats. Philly needs to bounce back from a horrendous 96-67 loss to the New Jersey Nets, but Charlotte has played them tough. The Bobcats beat the Sixers 100-95 on March 27th. Even though Charlotte is pretty much out of the playoff picture, and thus has nothing to play for, Philly cannot afford to take them lightly. The Sixers need to use these final six games to get ready for the playoffs and this would be a pretty awful time to go into a slump.
By the way, it’s also pretty interesting that all three of the Philly teams will be playing teams from the South.
Go Phillies!
Let’s Go Flyers!
Go Sixers!
