Weekend Series Preview: Metropolitans @ Phillies

The division rivals meet again this weekend, with the division as tight as it's been all season. The top four teams in the NL East are separated by just 2 games. A loss in the opener for this series would give the Phillies their first 7 game home losing streak since the year Citizens Bank Park opened. The Phillies had a 7 game skid at home from August 12-19, 2004. That loss would also allow the Metropolitans to tie the Phillies in the standings. Below is a look at the pitching match ups and other notes on the series.

Friday, 7:05pm. Livan Hernandez (5-3, 4.04 ERA) vs. Rodrigo Lopez (triple A stats- 5-4, 3.91 ERA). Livan in his career against the Phillies is 10-8 with a 3.36 ERA in 24 games. Hernandez has not yet faced the Phillies while wearing a Metropolitans uniform. Lopez is a former two-time 15 game winner with the Orioles, but he also lead the American League with 18 losses in 2006. This will be Rodrigo's first ML start since having Tommy John surgery following his 2007 season. Lopez has never faced the Metropolitans.

Saturday, 4:10pm. Fernando Nieve (3-1, 2.25 ERA), Jamie Moyer (6-6, 6.05 ERA). Nieve has appeared in 5 games against the Phillies as a reliever. His stats against the Phils in those games- 1 1/3 innings pitched, 5 ER, 2 walks, 1 K, 33.75 ERA. Moyer against the Metropolitans this season is 0-1 with a 9.64 ERA over 14 innings pitched in 3 starts. Moyer has pitched more than 6 innings in only one start this season. Moyer has won his last two starts, after winning only 1 of his previous 9 starts.

Sunday, 1:35pm. Johan Santana (9-6, 3.34 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (4-4, 5.08 ERA). Johan against the Phils this season- 2-0, 3.21 ERA. Johan is undefeated in his career against the Phillies...4-0, 2.95 ERA in 8 starts. Pedro Feliez, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins are a combined 14-for-91 (.154 avg) with 4 homers and 6 RBI against Santana in their careers. Blanton has not faced the Metropolitans this season. In his career against the Metropolitans, Blanton is 1-0 with a 2.14 ERA and 0.95 WHIP in 3 starts.

Jimmy Rollins this season, against NL East opponents that are not the Nationals, is 13-for-92 (.141 avg.). Against the Mets, Rollins is 7-for-30 (.233 avg).

Carlos Ruiz is 0-for-15 with 2 walks in 5 games against the Metropolitans this season.

David Wright is hitting .542 (13-for-24) in 7 games against the Phillies this season with 2 homers and 5 RBI.

Metropolitans team batting average- .273
Phillies team batting average- .256

Metropolitans team ERA- 4.25
Phillies team ERA- 4.86

Comments

Jealous Ones Envy

Joe Blanton continues to excel and prove his worth in the Phillies pitching rotation. In his latest outing on Sunday, Blanton threw 8 strong innings, striking out 6, while walking just 1 and surrendering 2 earned runs, improving his record to 7-4. This season in July, Joe is 3-0 over four starts with 22 K's, 5 walks and a 1.21 ERA. Over his last 6 starts, Joe's ERA is 1.94. As a member of the Phillies, Blanton has a 3.84 ERA after the all star break with a 5-0 record. The Phillies are 20-12 (.625 winning percentage) in games that Blanton has started, since being acquired last July. Combined this season against other National League playoff contenders St. Louis, Chicago and Los Angeles, Blanton has a combined 1.67 ERA in 4 starts with a 2-0 record. Blanton is on such a sizzling run that the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a Tampa Bay Rays farm team, will host a Joe Blanton bobble head give away tomorrow. Bowling Green will host Joe's mother, father and sister for the event, as Joe...

Heroes- Fight of the Century

VS. It's a big day for your boy, Jay Ballz . No work, X-Men Origins: Wolverine premieres, our Phillies face the Metropolitans for the first time this season and tailgating for BOTH doesn't sound all that absurd to me. Anyway, I surveyed some qualified phans and got several opinions on how exactly a fight might go down if the mutant hero Wolverine faced off against Phillies hero Matt Stairs. Well known blogger, Chris, of I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake , kept it real and said the following- "Wolverine has adamantium ( indestructible metal substance) claws, so that's a great advantage. Stairs' Wonder Bat is neutralized there. See, the problem becomes Wolverine's ability to recover (he has a regenerative power) faster. Stairs is merely human. Sure, he has a goatee, and goatees are great, but they're great for saving sauce, not for defeating mutants. I think Wolverine takes it in a fight to the death in about 15 minutes because Stairs simply doesn'...

...Got My Learn On

The weekend is just about here, but it's not feeling great so far. My college hoops team lost, and my mail included a huge image of Mets star David Wright on the cover of The Sporting News. "All Wright"? Um, I don't really believe it is. Aside from the non-appealing cover, it's the MLB preview issue, so allow me to share some things I learned from this week's magazine. 1- Former Phillie, and regular Sporting News columnist, Todd Jones has gone insane. Jones predicts that Jamie Moyer will win the NL Cy Young Award, and that Manny Ramirez will run for governor of California after the Dodgers win the 2009 World Series. 2- Ichiro Suzuki rocks the party that rocks the body. Metropolitans reliever Francisco Rodriguez compares Jose Reyes to Ichiro, saying they do many of the same things. I must have missed Ichiro performing rehearsed celebratory hand jives after getting a hit or scoring a run in a losing effort. And I know I missed Ichiro getting caught cheating on...

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