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Series Preview: Astros vs. Phillies, 8/23-8/26


Former Philadelphia general manager Ed Wade's collection of former Phillies, and their Houston teammates, visit Philadelphia to begin a 4-game series on Monday night.

The Astros (54-69) are in 4th place in the NL Central and hope to disrupt the Phillies' (70-53) efforts to win their 4th straight NL East title, by sending Brett Myers to the mound to face his former team for the first time. Myers was a 1st round draft pick of the Phillies in 1999 and played 8 seasons with Philadelphia. The Phillies will counter with right-hander Joe Blanton

After a rash of injuries, the Phillies hope to have their 8 positional opening day starters in the lineup for the first time in 3 months. Phillies players Jimmy Rollins, Carlos Ruiz, Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco, Chase Utley and most recently Ryan Howard have all missed significant time with injuries this season.

The Phillies and Astros split four games played at Citizens Bank Park last season.

Continue reading for details on the pitching match ups and more information on this series.


Monday, 7:05pm. Brett Myers (8-7, 3.11 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (5-6, 5.54 ERA).
In 13 road starts this season, Myers is 2-7 with a 3.96 ERA. In his career at Citizens Bank Park, Myers has a 27-27 regular season record with 10 saves, a 4.17 ERA and 5 complete games. Myers has pitched at least 6 innings in all 25 of his starts this season. In 7 starts since the All-star break, Myers has a 2.36 ERA. In 11 home starts this season, Blanton is 4-2 with a 4.72 ERA. Blanton in his last 5 starts is 2-0 with a 4.06 ERA.

Tuesday, 7:05pm. Bud Norris (6-7, 5.23 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (7-10, 3.51 ERA). In his last 5 starts, the righty hurler Norris is 4-0 with a 3.31 ERA. In 8 road starts this season, Norris is 3-3 with a 5.24 ERA. In his last 7 starts, Hamels is 0-3 with a 2.87 ERA. In his career against Houston, Hamels is 4-5 with a 3.52 ERA.

Wednesday, 7:05pm. "Jay" Happ (3-2, 3.54 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (16-8, 2.16 ERA). In 5 starts with Houston, Happ is 2-2 with a 4.62 ERA. In 26 career games at Citizens Bank Park, Happ's ERA is 4.42. Happ, a lefty, has a 7.50 ERA on the road this year. Halladay has won 6 straight starts and has posted a 1.37 ERA over that stretch. Carlos Lee is 7-for-23 (.304 avg) with 3 homers against Halladay in his career. In 15 home starts this season, Halladay is 10-4 with a 1.84 ERA.

Thursday, 1:05pm. Wandy Rodriguez (9-12, 4.00 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (8-6, 4.58 ERA). In 12 road starts this season, Rodriguez has posted a 3-7 record with a 5.30 ERA. In his last 5 starts, Rodriguez is 1-1 with a 1.31 ERA. Jimmy Rollins is 4-for-9 (.444 avg) with a homerun against Rodriguez in his career. In his last 6 starts, Kendrick is 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA. Kendrick has a 5.48 ERA in 12 home starts this season.


Jason Michaels is a .323 hitter with 2 homeruns and 8 RBI in 13 career games against his former team, the Phillies. In 125 games at Citizens Bank Park, Michaels is a .305 hitter.

Another former Phillie, Mike Bourn leads the National League with 40 stolen bases. Bourn is batting .224 in 30 games since the All-star break.

Brandon Lyon, who is closing for the Astros while Matt Lindstrom is on the disabled list, has a career 9.82 ERA against the Phillies in 12 games.

Placido Polanco's .318 batting average is tied for 2nd in the National League, behind Joey Votto, who is batting .323.

Jayson Werth is batting .329 with a 1.024 OPS in 63 home games this year. Werth is batting .159 with runners in scoring position this season.

Ryan Howard has 10 homeruns in 36 career games against Houston.

Astros team ERA- 4.30
Phillies team ERA- 3.88

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