The Phillies will host the reigning American League champion Texas Rangers tonight as interleauge play begins in Major League Baseball. The big news for the Phillies tonight is the 2011 debut of top prospect Domonic Brown, who was called up when Shane Victorino was placed on the DL with a hamstring strain.
As of last night, Ruben Amaro jr was telling reporters that despite the fact that he was mashing AAA pitching, Brown wasn't ready to come up yet. 12 hours later the GM seems to have had a change of heart. The Phillies also made some moves with the pitching staff sending Joe Blanton to the DL, Scott Matheison to AAA and calling up David Herndon.
Blanton made only two starts after his first trip to the DL this season and told reporters last night that he had rushed back.
"I probably rushed back too quick the first time," Blanton said. "Every pitcher has to pitch through things at times. I thought I could manage it until it got better but it kept getting worse. It was my choice [to pitch]. It was my fault. I didn’t want to miss anything. I guess it wasn’t the best decision to make."
Roy Halladay will take the mound tonight against one of the few teams he's actually struggled against in his career.The Doc is 7-7 with a 5.36 ERA against the Rangers, the highest of any AL club.
While the Phillies are dealing with their share of injuries, so are the Rangers. They will be without their two outfield sluggers Nelson Cruz and Josh Hamilton. They also appear to have lost Endy Chavez last night. The Rangers will also probably be battling some fatigue from a rough patch in their schedule. They played a night game in Kansas City last night and will come to Philadelphia to face a Phillies team in the midst of 9 game homestand.