Interleague play starts as 1993 World Series opponent comes to town.
Interleague play starts tonight as the second place Phillies (23-19) begins the final three games series of their present six games home stand as they face the Toronto Blue Jays (21-22, 4th American League East). The game, unless rained out, will start at 7:05 pm Eastern in Citizens Bank Park. The Phils’ starting pitcher will be Jamie Moyer (2-3, 5.02), who is coming off of a bad outing where he got torched by the Giants on May 10, giving up six earned runs on nine hits while pitching only four innings, as he took the lost in the Phils’ 8-2 defeat. Moyer and the Phils hope that he will be able to redeem himself and even up his record with a win tonight. The Blue Jays will be opposing him with David Purcey (0-0, 2.08), who will be making only his second major league start after being called up from Triple-A Syracuse. In his previous start on April 18 against the Detroit Tigers, he would receive a no-decision as he goes four and a third innings, giving up one earned run on two hits, while walking seven in the Blue Jays’ 8-4 lost. He will be looking to gain his first major league win. With Pucey, the Phils will have faced five straight left handed starters, so far defeating two, losing to one and having a no-decision with the fifth.
Last year in 15 games against American League teams, the Phillies went 8-7, one of the few National League teams to actually end up with a winning record. In fact, the Phils faced the Blue Jays in interleague play last season, going 2-1.
The Phils look to win the series against their former World Series foe, while hoping that the Marlins will do not so well as they face the Kansas City Royals, and either regain the lead in the National League East, or tie for first with the fish. The Phils also hope that they can gain some ground on both the Mets and the Braves as they respectively face the New York Yankees and the Oakland Athletics.
Edit: It has just been announced that the Mets-Yankees game has been postponed due to rain, while the Royals have taken an early 2-0 lead over the Marlins in the first inning.