Preview: Phillies send Taijuan Walker to the mound vs. the Seattle Mariners at 6:40 EST

The Phillies will look to bounce back after a rough opening game against the Seattle Mariners last night, losing 5-3 in the series opener.

Tonight, they’ll be back on the field at 6:40EST with a rainy overcast over Citizens Bank Park looking to get a win with Taijuan Walker on the mound against Logan Gilbert.

Starting Pitchers

Taijuan Walker (2-1, 3.80 ERA)
Logan Gilbert (1-1, 3.57 ERA)

Last night’s loss was pretty ugly for the Fightins. While both starting pitchers cruised through the first four innings, Bailey Falter ran into some trouble in the top half of the fifth, allowing a homer by Jerred Kelenic and an infield single from J.P Crawford.

Edmundo Sosa cracked a no-doubter in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Mariners got right back on the board with a two-run bomb from Teoscar Hernandez. Falter finished his night after being stretched to nearly 100 pitches by Rob Thomson with six innings pitched, three earned runs allowed and seven strikeouts.

The Phillies attempted to chip away throughout the end of the game, but the attempt came up short thanks to baserunning mistakes and poor situational hitting.

Now 11-13 on the season, the Fightins look to get back in the win column after their second loss in two-dollar dog nights this season. To absolutely nobody’s surprise, idiotic fans were throwing hot dogs on the field in the last inning of last night’s game. Wasting a good hot dog at the ballpark is disgusting behavior.

While we’re on the dollar dog topic…how have the Phillies not figured out a better way to keep these lines down by now? I understand Citizens Bank Park is all card-only now, but the fact that you can’t walk up to a vendor with some cash for four hot dogs is the whole reason these lines are outrageous.

Something has to change >>

If you thought the Phillies were gonna figure out Dollar Dog Night lines you’re wrong. This is the line 20 minutes BEFORE the game. pic.twitter.com/MVM4na4vXq
— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) April 25, 2023

Taijuan Walker vs. Logan Gilbert

Taijuan Walker has been great over his last two starts after a tough start to the new season with a new team. Walker has logged 6+ innings in his last two starts, which both resulted in wins for the Phillies. Walker is down to a 3.80 ERA on the season with a 2-1 record and 17 strikeouts.

Logan Gilbert is coming off his worst start of the season vs. Milwaukee, allowing four earned runs and five hits in six innings in an extra-innings loss to the Brewers. Gilbert strikes out a lot of batters for Seattle, averaging seven over his last three games while totaling 28 on the season.

Phillies Starting Lineup

Bring on game day #RingTheBell

📺: @NBCSPhilly
📻: @SportsRadioWIP
📱: https://t.co/HhDxScbmEV // https://t.co/vgbMhIMsON pic.twitter.com/xtqS4dhO5F
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 26, 2023

Cristian Pache needs to be in right field. Not Jake Cave. Obviously.

Pache haș found his groove in Philadelphia and is now batting .421 with eight hits, a home run, and three RBI over his last 15 games. On the season, he’s hitting .348 in 23 at-bats.