Come North Of The Border With Me—Series Preview: Phillies at Blue Jays, August 15 – 16
Photo via Getty Images
After celebrating the 1993 team this weekend, the Phillies (65-54) now head north of the border for a ’93 World Series rematch, as they take on the Blue Jays (66-54) in a quick, two-game series beginning Tuesday.
Earlier this season, the Phils swept a two-game series with Toronto at CBP, taking game one, 8-4, and game two, 2-1, in 10 innings. Despite the Jays being an American League opponent, this is still a big series for Philly after the AL Central-leading Twins left us all with a sour taste in our mouths this weekend.
The offense could only muster one run over the final two games of the Twins series after scoring 13 in the first game. The offensive outage also coincided with the Phillies facing two good pitchers in Pablo Lopez and Sonny Gray, something they will have to deal with again this series, going against Yusei Kikuchi and Kevin Gausman.
Against the Blue Jays, a split would be nice, but in a two-game series, a sweep should always be the goal. So how do the Phillies get back on track this week? Well, here are my keys:
Show That You Can Beat Good Pitching
Through the first 8 games of the homestand, the Phillies bats were on fire. During that time they faced the likes of Zack Greinke (5.55 ERA), Trevor Williams (5.22 ERA), and Dallas Keuchel (10.16 ERA), just to name a few. When they faced the likes of Lopez and Gray, both of whom were all-stars, the bats went cold.
Now, this might just be because they were finishing up a stretch of 17 games in 17 days, but it does make me wonder about this team’s capabilities against top-of-the-line starting pitching, which they will have to face in the playoffs and in this upcoming series.
Yusei Kikuchi and Kevin Gausman are no scrubs. Kikuchi sports a 3.05 ERA in his last 7 starts and Gausman leads the AL in strikeouts with 183. Gausman also held the Phillies scoreless through 6 innings earlier this season, allowing just three hits and striking out nine.
The Phils’ offense needs to wake back up this series because if they don’t, the question would then become can this team win in the postseason when every game features two solid starters.
Punch These Guys’ Tickets
The Blue Jays have struck out 1,121 times this season, the third most in MLB and the second most in the AL. The Phillies have Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola pitching in this series, who are ranked 8th and 9th in the National League in strikeouts, respectively.
When Wheeler and Nola are on their game, they are striking batters out, and against a team like Toronto, these guys have a chance of having good outings. It’s been a while since both Wheeler and Nola had consecutive good performances, and for the Phillies to get a couple of wins against the Jays, they will need them both to be on their games.
Game Times and Broadcasts
- Tuesday, August 15, at 7:07pm ET on NBC Sports Philadelphia, WTTM 1680 (Spanish), and 94.1 WIP
- Wednesday, August 16, 7:07pm ET on MLB Network, NBC Sports Philadelphia, WTTM 1680 (Spanish), and 94.1 WIP
Pitching Matchups
Game 1: Zack Wheeler (RHP, 9-5, 3.74 ERA) vs. Yusei Kikuchi (LHP, 9-4, 3.53 ERA)
Game 2: Aaron Nola (RHP, 9-8, 4.49 ERA) vs. Kevin Gausman (RHP, 9-6, 3.04 ERA)
By the Numbers
- Run Differential
- Phillies: 33
- Blue Jays: 59
- Runs Scored Per Game
- Phillies: 4.62
- Blue Jays: 4.5
- Runs Allowed Per Game
- Phillies: 4.34
- Blue Jays: 4.01
