Byrd back in lineup for series finale

Jul 25, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia Phillies right fielder Marlon Byrd (3) hits a double during the seventh inning of a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies won 9-5. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Marlon Byrd was kept out of Tuesday’s 6-0 Phillies win after fouling a pitch off his foot Monday, leaving a lot of speculation if he was on his way to a new team.  It turns out Tuesday was indeed a rest day and Byrd will be a Phillie for at least the start of Wednesday’s rubber game against the Mets.

In his career against the Mets, Byrd is a .318 hitter with four home runs.  Three of those have come this season.  In three at bats against Wednesday’s opposing starter, Zack Wheeler, he is 1-for-3 with a home run and a strikeout.

In two big-league seasons, the 24-year-old Wheeler (5-8) has just under 40 games to his name.  On May 29th this season he struck out nine Phillies while giving up an earned run on four hits in 6.1 innings of work.

Kyle Kendrick (5-10) gets the ball for the Phillies and he hasn’t gone more than 5.2 innings in his last four starts.  He did win his last start which came with nine runs of support.  Mets hitters have a .267 average against the right-hander in two games this season.

Grady Sizemore gets another start in the Phillies outfield after hitting his first home run with the team in Tuesday night’s trouncing of the Mets.  Sizemore has 16 hits in just 14 games with Philadelphia and an OPS of .803.  Manager Ryne Sandberg says he is impressed with Sizemore’s contributions and he seems to favor having him in the lineup.

Shortstop Jimmy Rollins has a home run in nine at bats against Wheeler.

Starting Lineups 7/30/2014:

Phillies

Ben Revere CF, Grady Sizemore LF, Chase Utley 2B, Ryan Howard 1B, Marlon Byrd RF, Cody Asche 3B, Wil Nieves C, Andres Blanco SS, (Kyle Kendrick P)

Mets

Curtis Granderson RF, Daniel Murphy 2B, David Wright 3B, Lucas Duda 1B, Travis d’Arnaud C, Chris Young LF, Juan Lagares CF, Ruben Tejada SS, (Zack Wheeler P)