Could Pitching Duel Decide Phillies vs. Rays Showdown?

The Phillies are in a better spot currently than their opponent. Philadelphia comes into the season with a solid 19-15 record, but they are looking up at the Mets who have been playing outstanding baseball. At some point, the Phillies will need to try and make a run or become resigned to the fact that they will only have the Wild Card as a path to the playoffs. What’s going wrong for Philadelphia Their offense is fine with a team batting average of .255 and 159 runs. The pitching staff is doing pretty well overall with a 3.96 ERA, but the WHIP at 1.30 is a little high. It could just be a matter of when the team struggles with hitting so does the pitching, and vice versa. They have plenty of talent, and should have no problem racking up wins as the season progresses. Zack Wheeler takes the mound for the Phillies in hopes of getting them off to a good start for the series. Wheeler has been good, but not quite great yet with a 2-1 record, 3.48 ERA, and a 1.00 WHIP. He may be finding his groove as he has thrown three straight quality starts, allowing two earned runs in each. The biggest concern is that he has allowed one home run in each game (making it seven for the season in seven starts, compared to 20 in 32 starts last year). Wheeler has been hit fairly well by the Rays as they have a .279 average against him in 43 at-bats, and half of their hits have been for extra bases.

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