Houston begins their 2013 campaign against Philadelphia; personally I would call this the "Ed Ward Classic". Brandon Duckworth should throw out the first pitch and the game will end with another trade between the two teams. This game comes a day after the Astros inter-squad game coached by former Astros Morgan Ensberg and Adam Everett. Team Ensberg pulled out the late 5-4 win. On the other side, the Phillies will have both Chase Utley and Ryan Howard both in uniform at the same time for Grapefruit League play since 2010.

Houston at Philadelphia, 12:05 PM CT

TV: MLBN (Delay 5:00 AM CT)

MLB.TV: Live

Radio: KBME 790 AM

Astros Fan Favorite March Madness Tournament:

Don't forget to go vote in our TCB March Madness match-ups for today.

Pitching Matchup: RHP Lucas Harrell (11-11, 3.76 ERA in 2012) vs. RHP Cole Hamels (17-6, 3.05 ERA in 2012)

Astros Lineup:

1. Tyler Greene, SS
2. Marwin Gonzalez, 2B
3. Justin Maxwell, CF
4. Chris Carter, 1B
5. J.D. Martinez, LF
6. Nate Freiman, DH
7. Matt Dominguez, 3B
8. Carlos Corporan, C
9. Trevor Crowe, RF

Phillies Lineup:

1. Ben Revere, CF
2. Michael Young, 3B
3. Utley, 2B
4. Howard, 1B
5. Darin Ruf, LF
6. Domonic Brown, RF
7. Laynce Nix, DH
8. Yuniesky Betancourt, SS
9. Erik Kratz, C

This is long over due - let’s play ball!