Phillies, Braves to play doubleheader after rainout
PHILADELPHIA -- Heavy rain battered the northeastern United States Tuesday, making baseball in Philadelphia impossible.
The Phillies (49-81) and Atlanta Braves (57-72) had their scheduled 7:05 p.m. game postponed until Wednesday, when they will play a doubleheader that is set to begin at 12:05 p.m., with the second game to follow shortly after the first's completion.
The teams were originally scheduled to play a 1:05 p.m. game Wednesday to finish their three-game series. The Phillies took the opener Monday with a 6-1 win.
The New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians were also rained out due to the weather up Interstate 95 in New York.
The postponement has caused a change in the pitching matchups in Philadelphia.
Tuesday night, RHP Mark Leiter Jr. (2-3, 3.86 ERA) was going to make his sixth start of 2017, having previously made 16 appearances out of the bullpen. The Braves were going with R.A. Dickey (8-8, 4.06). But Phillies manager Pete Mackanin decided for Wednesday he'll send RHP Jerad Eickhoff (4-7, 4.36) to the mound for the first game. He'll face Dickey.
Leiter, meanwhile, will face RHP Julio Teheran (8-11, 4.90) in the day's second game.
Eickhoff, after a shaky start to 2017, has been much better of late, including a win over the Braves on August 9. In that start, Eickhoff allowed two runs on nine hits in 6 2/3 innings while striking out six and walking none in a 3-2 Phillies win. Wednesday will be the fifth time Eickhoff starts against the Braves this season. He owns a 2.91 ERA in 21 2/3 innings and a 2.06 ERA in 56 2/3 career innings against Atlanta, the best career ERA Eickhoff has against a team he's pitched at least 24 innings against.
Dickey has faced the Phillies twice already this season, going 1-0 with a 0.64 ERA. The 42-year-old knuckleballer has a 2.76 ERA against the Phillies in almost 100 innings for his career.
Wednesday will be the first time Leiter faces the Braves. His opponent, Teheran, is making his third start of the year vs. the Phillies. Teheran allowed a combined 13 runs in 9 2/3 innings in his previous two starts against his NL East foe. Teheran is starting against the Phillies Wednesday for the 17th time in his career, one less than the amount of times he's faced the New York Mets, the team he's opposed most. Teheran sports a 3.66 ERA against the Phillies in 103 1/3 innings, including a 2.98 ERA in 45 1/3 innings at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies, who have been sparked lately thanks to the power surge of rookie Rhys Hoskins, have dominated the Braves in 2017. The win Monday upped their record to 12-2 against Atlanta this season.
"I wish we played them every night," Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp said. "I don't think our mentality is any different than when anybody else comes to town, but it seems like we have their number this year."
A few weeks ago, Braves manager Brian Snitker said the record against the Phillies was "just a baseball quirk or something."
His team, losers in seven of 10, will have two chances Wednesday to reverse the quirk.
