Cubs @ Phillies: Darvish vs. Smyly (Game 121)
CHC (65-56): RHP Yu Darvish (4-6, 4.43 ERA)
PHI (62-58): LHP Drew Smyly (2-6, 6.96 ERA)
First pitch 6:05pmCDT
Yu Darvish continued to get hurt by the long ball, allowing three homeruns in what seemed like it should have been a stellar start last time out. He struck out nine and walked none, but gave up three homeruns and four earned runs in Cincinnati. His strikeouts and walks have been trending in the ace direction for about two months. Citizen's Bank is not, however, a good place to hide out from the dinger. Harper is 0-2 with a walk against Darvish. Dickerson is 4-10 with a homerun, and Cesar Hernandez is 4-8 with a triple.Drew Smyly has made 13 starts and 17 total appearances this year, striking out more than a batter per inning but also allowing 4.92 walks per nine and 2.76 homeruns per nine. He's made four starts with the Phillies (since coming over from the Rangers), and he's had two good starts and two bad starts. His two most recent starts were the latter--he's allowed nine earned runs on eleven hits, four walks, and four homeruns in his last 10.2 innings pitched. Against Smyly, Castellanos is 3-8 with two doubles and Lucroy is 1-5 with a homerun. No other active Cubs have faced him.
Comments