Series Preview: Marlins vs. Phillies, 8/3-8/5

The Phillies have been hot at home, but much cooler on the road. The defending National League champions haven't won a series away from Citizens Bank Park since June 15-17 at Yankee Stadium.

Philadelphia (57-48) hopes to win their first road series opener since a series in Florida that began on May 28th. The Phillies will send the ace, Roy Halladay, to the mound. Halladay threw a perfect game the last time he pitched in Miami. The Marlins (53-52) will counter with lefty Sean West, who will be making his first start of the season.

Ryan Howard, who injured his ankle in the first inning of Sunday's contest against the Nationals, has returned to Philadelphia to be further examined by team physicians. He is expected to miss some time, but whether he spends time on the disabled list remains to be seen.

Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and other key information on this series.

Tuesday, 7:10pm. Roy Halladay (12-8, 2.21 ERA) vs. Sean West (N/A). Halladay is 2-2 with a 2.12 ERA in 5 career starts against the Marlins. In 9 road starts this season, Halladay is 4-4 with a 3.07 ERA. Cody Ross is 2-for-13 (.154 avg) in his career against Halladay. West started 20 games for Florida and posted an 8-6 record and a 4.79 ERA in 2009. West was 4-3 with a 3.12 ERA for Triple A New Orleans this season.

Wednesday, 7:10pm. Kyle Kendrick (6-4, 4.44 ERA) vs. Anibal Sanchez (8-6, 3.33 ERA). In 11 games against the Marlins, Kendrick has a 3-2 record with a 5.83 ERA. In his last 5 starts, Kendrick has posted a 3.44 ERA. Sanchez is 3-5 with a 4.93 ERA in 9 starts against the Phillies in his career. In 10 home starts this season, Sanchez has posted a 3-2 record with a 2.60 ERA. In his past 5 outings, Sanchez is 1-2 with a 3.77 ERA.

Thursday, 7:10pm. Roy Oswalt (6-13, 3.53 ERA) vs. Chris Volstad (5-8, 4.71 ERA). Oswalt allowed 4 earned runs over 6 innings against the Nationals in his debut with the Phillies, taking the loss. In his last 5 starts, Oswalt is 1-3 with a 3.48 ERA. Hanley Ramirez is 10-for-22 (.455 avg) with 3 doubles and 2 homers against Oswalt in his career. In 10 home starts this season, Volstad is 2-4 with a 3.65 ERA. In 2 starts against the Phillies this year, Volstad is 0-1 with a 6.97 ERA. Ryan Howard is 9-for-20 (.450 avg) with 5 homeruns against Volstad.

Jayson Werth is a combined 3-for-32 (.094) in his career against West, Sanchez and Volstad.

Placido Polanco leads the Phils with a .317 batting average this season, but in 5 games against the Marlins, he has posted a .190 batting average. Polanco is batting .337 against right-handed pitchers this season.

In 78 games against the Phils, Dan Uggla is a .233 hitter. At home this season, Uggla is hitting .250 while he has posted a .302 average on the road.

In 13 games against the Phillies, Leo Nunez is 7-for-7 in save opportunities with a 2.03 ERA.

Phillies team ERA- 3.99

Marlins team ERA- 4.01

_____________________________________

Follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter HERE.

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'...

Michael Taylor Q&A

Michael Taylor is currently leading the Reading Phillies' offense and is near the top of the Eastern League in most stat categories (3rd in batting avg- .342, 3rd in HR- 14, tied for second in RBI- 55, 2nd in OPS.- .994, tied for 1st in runs scored- 49, tied for 1st in hits...). The 23 year old Taylor is 6 feet 6 inches tall and has quickly grabbed the attention of phans and media alike as a top prospect to watch. I spoke with Mike Taylor over the weekend, and here is that interview. With all the big stats and being among the league leaders in so many categories, do you think you're ready for the next step? It's kind of a difficult question. Do you have anything left to prove here? There's always something to prove. There's stuff to prove every game. I mean that's one thing that's very interesting about this game. It's such a numbers oriented game. You're only as good as your last "whatever statistical category that someone's valuing". ...

Q&A with Justin De Fratus

Justin De Fratus is a 21 year old right handed relief pitcher with the Lakewood BlueClaws. An 11th round draft choice in 2007, Justin had been a starter in his first two seasons in the Phillies organization. Informed this spring that he'd be switched from the rotation to the bullpen, Justin has excelled and become one of the most reliable pitchers on the Lakewood staff. In 19 games this season, Justin is 2-0, with a 1.83 ERA and 0.89 WHIP over 39 1/3 innings pitched. PhoulBallz.com spoke with Justin De Fratus just last night. Here's how that went down... Justin, South Atlantic League all star selections were announced this week, and you were named to the team. Can I get your reaction to that? How excited were you? Very excited about it. Well, especially this year because I just got moved to the bullpen, so this is a new role for me. So, if anything, it's reassuring that I'm doing my job. It's the first time in my pro career that I've been selected as an all star...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog