Phillies Take The Day Off To Work

GAME RECAP: No Game Yesterday!

The Phillies actually seem like they are earning their days off so far this season.

PHILS PHACT:

• Left-hander James Russell cleared waivers and has been outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He had an 18.69 ERA in seven appearances with the Phillies.

NEXT GAME:

Philadelphia gets its first day off since April 5, the day after Opening Day in Cincinnati, on Thursday before beginning a three-game weekend set in Milwaukee on Friday at 8:10 p.m. ET. Aaron Nola will pitch, looking to get back on track after allowing seven runs in five innings to the Nationals on Saturday.

PHILS PHACTS:

Working On A Few Things – Phillies outfielder Peter Bourjos had a big night Wednesday in a victory over the Mets, but he might be hard to find this weekend at Miller Park. Darin Ruf should be easier to spot. "This whole series, I might play Ruf, while Peter is kind of working on a different approach at the plate," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. Bourjos, who had game-tying and game-winning hits Wednesday against the Mets at Citizens Bank Park, entered the series against the Brewers hitting .191 (9-for-47) with five doubles, three RBIs and a .506 OPS in 15 games. "We're trying to get him moving to the ball instead of rotating around the ball," Mackanin said. "So we're going to work on that for maybe two or three days, because Ruf can help us offensively. But I can't afford to wait for a lefty, because we haven't seen really many lefties. I'm kind of forcing the issue." Ruf entered the series hitting .111 (3-for-18) with one double, one RBI and a .317 OPS in 12 games.

Today In Phils History – First, let us start with the most important celebration of the day as we wish former Phillies second baseman Mickey Morandini a happy 50^th birthday! The rest of the moments from this day in Phllies history all come down to the number 1… In 1905, a one on one between Giants' captain Dan McGann and Phillies catcher Fred Abbott leads to a riot at the Baker Bowl. Five years later, Earl Moore and Bert Humphries combine to 1-hit the Braves. Moore would repeat the feat by himself exactly 1 year later against the Giants. Slugger Gavvy Cravath hits his first home run of the 1914 season on this his way to a then record 19 homeruns all of which he hit at the Baker Bowl. In 1957, John Kennedy became the first African-American to play for the Phillies. Six year later, Art Mahaffey became the first Phillie to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. And, finally, just three years ago Jonathan Pettibone made his major league debut becoming the first player born in the 1990s to play for the Phillies.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 7-9 this season putting them on pace to meet most preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the Phillies are 46-40-1 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record. Let the rebuild begin!