The athletics - phillies matchup on June 5 put Jeffrey Springs in front of a lineup that has not beaten a left-handed starter since last September. Zack Wheeler started for Philadelphia at the Bank, and the Phillies were trying to keep a four-game run going while building on an 8-2 stretch over their last 10 games.
Springs and Wheeler at the Bank
Springs entered at 3-2 with a 3.96 ERA, while Wheeler carried a 1-0 record and a 2.45 ERA into his third start of the season. The game was set for 6:40 pm ET, with NBCSP listed as the television channel.
The matchup mattered because the Phillies had already seen Springs once last season. Alec Bohm and Kyle Schwarber both homered off him in a 9-6 win that stretched 11 innings, one of the few recent data points Philadelphia had against this kind of starter.
Phillies Against Lefties
That earlier result sits against a longer stretch that has worked the other way. Excluding situational openers, the Phillies had not won a game against a left-handed starter since last September, which is the wrinkle hanging over this matchup even with the club playing better under Don Mattingly.
Mattingly had gone 7-1 as interim manager, and Philadelphia was trying to win its fourth consecutive game for the second time under him. The streak line gives the Phillies a cleaner recent read than the lefty split does, and it turns Wheeler's start into a chance to keep both trends moving in the same direction.
Athletics Road Numbers
The Athletics arrived with a road offense that had been held to 3.63 runs per game away from California and a.233 batting average as the visiting team. Those numbers leave Springs with a narrow margin if Philadelphia’s recent run of form carries over.
Philadelphia also had another starter-level marker to lean on: Cristopher Sanchez struck out 10 batters against the same lineup the night before. Wheeler gets the next turn, and the Phillies need the left-handed problem to stay buried while their current stretch keeps the pressure on the rest of the game.
