After the depressing loss to the Giants last night, the Phillies will look to rebound tonight and collect a win. The pitching matchup tonight will be Kris Medlen (7-10 3.74 ERA) for the Braves, and Ethan Martin (0-0 0.00 ERA) for the Phillies. Ethan Martin is making his major league debut. Ethan Martin had an 11-5 record with an ERA of 4.12 in AAA, so he will look to carry his success into the major leagues. The Phillies got Martin from the Dodgers last year when they traded Shane Victorino.
I am expecting a really good start from Martin tonight, because in AAA, he averaged 8.3 strikeouts 9 innings, and the Braves are leading the league in strikeouts, so that sounds like the recipe for success. The thing that I am worried about though, is that Martin averaged over 5 walks per 9 innings. Let’s hope that doesn’t translate into the majors. Walks seem to always come back to bite the Phillies pitchers, but Martin May be able to work around that. I am predicting 5 innings pitched, 2 earned runs and 6 strikeouts for Ethan Martin tonight.
Kris Medlen came in to the 2013 season with high expectations. I even predicted him to win the Cy Young award, but he is having what is far from a Cy Young season. He has been really shaky this season, so I expect the Phillies to hit him hard tonight. I am predicting 6 innings pitched, 4 earned runs and 4 strikeouts for Medlen tonight.
With a good start from Ethan Martin tonight, and some good offense from the Phillies, I think the Phillies could pull off a win in the first game of this three game series with the Braves!
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