Phillies vs. Athletics June 24-26 Series Thread

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The Phillies again saw their share of ups and downs on the road, getting mostly solid pitching performances, mixed results on offense, and a couple injuries that appear to have shelved a pair of veteran pitchers indefinitely. The end result was a 3-3 mark that concluded with the Phils taking two of three against the Cardinals in St. Louis. Now it's back to the comforts of home for six days. The Phillies will look to keep cooking at Citizens Bank Park, where they've won 15 of their last 20 games

The first opponent on the homestand will be an old neighbor, as the Oakland Athletics visit Philadelphia for just the second time after leaving town following the 1954 season. The A's will be wrapping up a six-game road trip, the first half of which saw them lose two of three against the Mets in New York. The Phillies are 4-5 all-time against the Athletics, having won two of three at Veterans Stadium in 2003 while losing two of three in Oakland in 2005 and 2008. This visit by the A's leaves the Seattle Mariners as the only current MLB team to have never played at Citizens Bank Park

Pitching Matchups

Friday (7:05, Comcast SportsNet): Vance Worley vs. Guillermo Moscoso

Worley returned to the rotation against the Seattle Mariners in his last start, struggling with command at times but limiting the damage to a run on five hits over five innings. He got a no-decision in a game the Phillies won by a score of 5-1. Worley has never faced the A's

Moscoso lasted just 4.2 innings against the San Francisco Giants last time out, but allowed just two unearned runs on three hits. He got a no-decision in a game the A's won, 4-2. Moscoso has never faced the Phillies

Saturday (7:05, Comcast SportsNet): Cole Hamels vs. Trevor Cahill

Hamels was a tough-luck loser against the Mariners last time out, allowing two runs on seven hits over 6.1 innings in a 2-0 defeat, snapping a string of five consecutive winning decisions. He has never faced the A's

Cahill snapped a string of five straight losing decisions in his last start, limiting the Giants to a run on five hits over eight innings in a 2-1 victory. He'd won his first six decisions of the season prior to the losing streak. Cahill has never faced the Phillies

Sunday (1:35, PHL 17): Roy Halladay vs. Josh Outman

Halladay got his second straight no-decision in his last start, allowing a run on four hits over six innings against the Cardinals. He left with the game tied at 1-1 and was not around long enough to benefit from a nine-run eighth inning in a 10-2 Phillies victory. Halladay last faced the A's in 2008 as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays and is 6-4 with a 4.54 ERA in 13 career starts against them

Outman allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits over six innings in a 7-3 victory against the Mets last time out. He's won his last two starts, allowing just that one earned run on eight hits over 13 innings. Outman was selected by the Phillies in the 10th round of the 2005 Draft before being traded to the A's in 2008 as part of the deal that brought Joe Blanton to the Phillies. He has never faced the Phils

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Will be there tonight. Time to see how Worley does knowing he's probably going to be in the rotation for a while now

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Phillies walk off with a 1-0 victory, as Francisco's high chopper to third with two outs in the ninth goes over the head of Scott Sizemore for a base hit to score Victorino with the game's only run. Pitching was the big story, though, as both Worley and Moscoso took no-hitters into the sixth. Hideki Matsui broke up Worley's bid with two-out double in the top of the sixth, while Polanco singled with one out in the bottom half for the first Phils hit of the night

Worley labored with a high pitch count early on and didn't work past the sixth. Herndon came on to toss 1.2 innings of one-hit ball while Perez faced one batter and got Matsui to fly to right for the last out of the eighth. Stutes struck out two in a 1-2-3 ninth and ended up getting the win as the Phillies finally broke the deadlock in the bottom half. It was the third win for Stutes in the last six games, he has been the winning pitcher in three of the four Phils victories in that time. Hamels vs. Cahill tomorrow as the Phillies look for the series win

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Wow, just saw that Francisco is hitting .611 in his career against the A's. Might want to start him at least one of these next couple games

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Underway in the middle game

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Hamels working with a band-aid on his chin. Got a little pimple or something

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Ellis singles with one out in the first, but he's erased as Crisp grounds into a 5-4-3 double play to retire the side. Time to see what the offense can do against Cahill

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Phils go down in order in the first

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Three up, three down for Hamels in the second

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Howard walks to start the second

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Victorino walks on four pitches and the Phillies have their first two aboard

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Ibanez and Brown go down swinging, but Ruiz picks them up with a single to score Howard, 1-0. Victorino to third

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Hamels sends one in the air to left, but Matsui tracks it down to end the inning. Phils get a run on the Ruiz single to lead 1-0 after two

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Rosales sends one the other way that clears the wall in right for a solo homer, 1-1 with one out in the third

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No further damage for the A's in the third after the Rosales homer ties it, 1-1

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With two outs in the third, Utley ropes one to the gap in right-center that is snared by a lunging Jackson to end the inning. A's are throwing some leather so far in this series. Phils go down in order in the third, 1-1 heading to the fourth

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Ellis is hit by a pitch to start the fourth

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Ellis takes off on a delayed steal with no outs and is a dead duck

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The caught stealing is large as Crisp follows with a walk

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Matsui singles, Crisp to second with one out

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Jackson flies to Victorino for the second out, Crisp hesitates to lull Victorino into easing up, then takes third

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Sizemore singles to score Crisp and the A's lead 2-1, Matsui to second

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Suzuki pops to Rollins to retire the side, A's get a run in the fourth to lead 2-1

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Phils go down in order in the fourth. On to the fifth with the A's up, 2-1

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Weeks singles with two outs in the fifth and moves up to second on a balk. Home plate ump Angel Hernandez called it, not really sure what he saw

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Ellis goes down swinging to retire the side

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Phils go down in order in the fifth, A's lead 2-1 heading to the sixth

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Crisp singles to start the sixth

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Crisp gets to third on a pair of grounders but is stranded there as the A's go down in the sixth

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No hurt for Cahill in the sixth after Utley singles with two outs. On to the seventh, A's lead 2-1

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Rosales walks with one out in the seventh, Weeks singles with two outs to give the A's a pair of baserunners

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Ellis grounds to Rollins to retire the side

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Phils go down in order in the seventh, still 2-1 heading to the eighth

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Crisp grounds one through Howard for an error to start the eighth

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Matsui singles, Crisp to second and the A's have their first two aboard

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Crisp steals third with one out, Matsui stays at second

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Sizemore taps back to Hamels for the second out, Crisp holds, Matsui to second

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Suzuki grounds to Rollins to retire the side

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Gload bats for Hamels with one out in the eighth and splits the gap in left-center for a double. Martinez will come in to run

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Martinez advances to third on a wild pitch with two outs

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Polanco walks to put runners at first and third. That'll be the last batter Cahill faces, Bailey will take over

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Utley grounds to first to end the inning. We go to the ninth with the A's up, 2-1

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Stutes now pitching

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Pennington walks, Weeks doubles, A's have two on with one out in the ninth

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Ellis punches one into center for a base hit to score Pennington, 3-1. Weeks holds at third

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Crisp skies one to right that Brown has at the track, but it's plenty deep enough to score Weeks to make it 4-1

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Matsui goes down looking to retire the side, but not before the A's get two insurance runs in the ninth to lead 4-1. Last chance for the Phils coming up

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Howard flies just shy of the wall in right-center, one away

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Victorino bangs one off the wall in right-center for a double with one out. He had ideas of going to third, but thought better of it with a three-run deficit

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Ibanez walks, two on with one out. Those two insurance runs for the A's and Howard just missing to start this inning loom large

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Brown grounds one up the middle, Weeks makes a backhand flip to Pennington, who fires to first for a double play to end the game, A's win it 4-1. Hamels allows two runs in eight innings, but takes the loss. Halladay vs. Outman in the rubber match tomorrow

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Jerk off the ball

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Underway in the series finale

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Weeks pops one foul leading off the game, nice running grab by Ruiz, who slips and falls on his backside after making the catch. He's ok, folks

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No hurt for Halladay in the first after Crisp doubles with two outs. Time to see what the offense can do against the former Phillies farmhand Outman

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Rollins singles to left on Outman's first pitch

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J-Roll is hitting something like .360 when swinging at the first pitch this season. Guess it's the outs that get noticed most

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Polanco one-hops the wall in left for a double, Rollins holds at third with no outs

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Victorino lines one past a diving Pennington for a base hit to score Rollins, 1-0. Polanco to third

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Howard smokes one, but right at Weeks on one hop and it's a 4-6-3 double play. Polanco scores to make it 2-0

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Francisco walks with two outs

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Ruiz flies to center to end the inning, but not before the Phils score two in the first for the early 2-0 lead

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Jackson bloops one into no-man's land just fair out of the reach of Valdez and it's a double to start the second

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Sweeney pokes one in the hole, cut off by Rollins but there's no play. Jackson holds at second, A's have their first two aboard

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Sizemore chops to Polanco, who steps on third and fires to first for the 5-3 double play

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Powell hits a humpback liner up the middle, Valdez ranges over to make the grab and fires to first to retire the side

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Halladay singles with two outs in the second, Rollins bangs one off the top of the wall in left-center, but it takes a generous bounce to Crisp and Halladay has to hold at third

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Polanco grounds to short to end the inning, Phils lead 2-0 after two

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Phillies have two runs on five hits through two innings today. They had one run on four hits in each of the past two games

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Three up, three down for Halladay in the third

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Phils go down in order in the third, 2-0 heading to the fourth

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Crisp reaches on a bunt single to start the fourth

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Crisp advances to second on a Matsui grounder to Valdez, then stays there when Howard makes an over-the-shoulder grab of a Jackson pop fly down the line in right for the second out

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Sweeney bloops one to shallow center that ticks off the glove of a sliding Rollins, Crisp scores to make it a 2-1 game

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Sizemore flies to Ibanez to retire the side. A's get a run in the fourth to get within 2-1

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Phils go down in order in the fourth, they lead 2-1 as we move on to the fifth

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Halladay has a 1-2-3 fifth

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Rollins reaches on an infield single with one out in the fifth, his third hit today. He winces after crossing first, which isn't necessarily good but he stays in

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Polanco singles to left-center, Rollins to third. Rollins not running well at all there

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Victorino flies to shallow right, not deep enough for Rollins to tag

Sarge's analysis of that at-bat: "Not good"

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Howard walks to load the bases. Very close on a 3-2 checkswing. Phils got a call in the first inning when Matsui was called for going around with two strikes, wasn't even close to a swing

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Francisco chops one up the third base line, fielded by Outman who for some reason looks towards third, which in turn costs him the out at first. Infield single for Francisco scores Rollins, 3-1

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Ruiz sends one to the gap in right-center but Crisp glides over to make a basket catch to end the inning. Phils get a run in the fifth to lead 3-1 heading to the sixth

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Pennington rolls one in the hole leading off the sixth, Valdez ranges to his glove side to make the grab, spins and fires to first in time for the out

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Halladay sets the A's down in order in the sixth, needing five pitches to do so

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Phils go down in order in the sixth, they lead 3-1 as we move on to the seventh

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Jackson singles to start the seventh

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With one out, Sizemore doubles to right, Jackson was running on the pitch but holds at third

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Powell pops to Valdez on the next pitch for the second out

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DeJesus bats for Outman and takes a CALLED strike three to retire the side

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Ziegler now pitching for the A's

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Rollins singles to start the seventh, his fourth hit of the day

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Rollins advances to second on a wild pitch with no outs

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Rollins moves over to third as Polanco grounds to second for the first out

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Victorino pops to second for the second out. Wheels gives a longer analysis than Sarge of that at-bat, as you can imagine

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Howard will be walked intentionally with two outs to get to Francisco

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Howard steals second without a throw

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Francisco goes down swinging to end the inning, Phils lead 3-1 after seven

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Halladay retires the A's in order in the eighth

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Ziegler works around a one-out single by Ibanez in the eighth. We go to the ninth with the Phils on top, 3-1. Halladay will be back out there to start the inning

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Matsui hits a soft one-hopper to Howard, one away

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Jackson bloops one down the line in right that falls in a perfect spot for a base hit. Second time he's done that today

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BALLGAME! Sweeney chops to Rollins, who steps on second and fires to first for a 6-3 double play to end it, Phillies win 3-1 and take two of three from the Athletics. Halladay goes the distance for the fifth time this season and 63rd time in his career, picking up that elusive 10th win. Rollins had four hits and scored two runs. Off day tomorrow, then the Red Sox come in for three starting Tuesday

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Halladay's 10 wins match his All-Star break total from last season

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Phillies pick up their 49th win of the season. They did not reach that number last season until July 22