Philadelphia has won Roy Oswalt’s last six starting assignments.
There is no rest for the weary.
The Philadelphia Phillies don’t seem to mind, though, having played 20 games in a row going into Monday’s doubleheader at home against Florida.
The Phillies have won eight of their last nine games going into Sunday. They’ve had one day off since Aug. 16.
Philadelphia opened its current homestand this past Friday after a seven-day, three-team road trip to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Colorado.
At press time the starting pitchers for Monday’s Game 1 were a pair of rookie right-handers – Adalberto Mendez for Florida and Vance Worley for Philadelphia.
The starting pitchers listed for Game 2 are Anibal Sanchez versus veteran Roy Oswalt.
This series really is the season for Florida. The Marlins just finished playing the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves and now they take on the Phillies, hot in pursuit of the Braves.
The Marlins are playing a lot of youth, but they need to keep within double-digit games of the Braves and Phillies to not totally bag the season.
It’s almost like the Mendez-Worley is a junior varsity matchup since both will be making their first big-league start.
The 28-year-old Mendez was 5-4 with a 5.14 ERA in the minors, pitching mainly for Triple-A New Orleans. Worley was 1-3 with a 3.77 ERA in eight starts for Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
The Sanchez-Oswalt matchup figures to have far fewer runs. Sanchez has stepped up since the All-Star break going 4-2 with a 2.21 ERA and 55 strikeouts in 57 innings.
Sanchez was sharp in his last outing, holding Washington scoreless over seven innings while yielding three hits. Sanchez didn’t factor in the decision, which was a 1-0 win. The 26-year-old right-hander was a 150 MLB odds home favorite against Jordan Zimmerman with the total at 8 ½.
Sanchez threw a season-high 126 pitches, however, against the Nationals. He is 11-8 on the season with a 3.14 ERA, but on the road is 7-5 with a 3.84 road. Sanchez is 1-2 against Philadelphia this year with a 5.09 ERA.
Oswalt is 10-13 on the season, but has won his last six starts and has a 3.01 ERA. Since joining the Phillies from Houston in a July 29 deal, Oswalt is 4-1 with a 1.89 ERA in seven starts.
Oswalt defeated Los Angeles this past Wednesday, 5-1, as a 105 road ‘dog to Clayton Kershaw. The combined six runs dipped ‘under’ the 6 ½-run baseball betting total.
The 33-year-old righty held the Dodgers to no runs on one hit in 6 1/3 innings with six strikeouts and six walks while throwing 115 pitches his highest amount since July 8.
Oswalt had a 21-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio in his three previous outings before facing the Dodgers. Oswalt is 5-4 with a 3.66 ERA versus Florida during the past 10 years.
The Phillies had won 21 of their last 29 games at Citizens Band Park through Saturday. They also were 37-15 in their last 52 games versus right-handed starters.
The ‘under’ has cashed in six of the Phillies’ past seven home contests going into Sunday. The ‘under’ was 16-5 in Philadelphia’s last 21 overall games.
Florida, by contrast, has been an ‘over’ club lately going above the total in 11 of its last 17 contests through Saturday.
Dan Uggla is one home run shy of becoming the first second baseman in Major League Baseball history to notch four 30-homer seasons.
Logan Morrison has reached base safely in 24 consecutive games for Florida entering Sunday.
All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez has been hot, too, for the Marlins riding an 11-game hitting streak through Saturday going 20-for-40 during this span with 15 runs scored.
The early weather forecast is for temperatures to be in the low 80s with the wind blowing out six mph and only a three percent chance of rain.