Series Previews: National at Phillies, 5/3-5/5

In the first series between the two teams since Jayson Werth departed Philadelphia for the big payday in Washington, Werth's former team won 2 of 3 games last month in his new home park.

While Werth called those initial meetings with his former team "business as usual", it could be a different scenario this week as Werth will be playing in front of his former home faithful, when the Nationals (14-14) travel to Philadelphia for a 3-game series against the 4-time defending National League East Division champions, the Phillies (18-9).

Werth signed a 7-year contract worth $126 million with the Nationals in December after playing with the Phillies for four seasons.

In the series opener, Werth and the Nats' lackluster offense will face 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels, who is 5-0 in his last 8 starts against Washington. The Nationals will counter with veteran right-hander Livan Hernandez, who allowed just 1 run in 6 2/3 innings against the Phillies when he faced them last month.

Read ahead, for more analysis on the pitching match ups and other statistics from this series.

Tuesday, 7:05PM. Livan Hernandez (302, 3.23 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (3-1, 3.13 ERA). Hernandez is 12-10 with a 3.52 ERA in 28 career starts against the Phillies. Hernandez has a 6.55 ERA in 2 road starts this season. In 7 career starts at Citizens Bank Park, Hernandez has posted a 2-4 record with a 6.21 ERA. Placido Polanco is 19-for-52 (.365 avg) in his career against Hernandez. In 18 career starts against the Nats, Hamels has a 9-3 record with a 2.73 ERA. In two home starts this season, Hamels has a 7.45 ERA. Adam LaRoche is 4-for-12 (.333 avg) with a double and 3 HR in his career against Hamels.

Wednesday, 7:05PM. Jason Marquis (3-0, 2.62 ERA) vs. Vance Worley (1-0, 0.00 ERA). Marquis is 5-7 with a 5.34 ERA in 24 career games against the Phillies. Marquis has started 6 games at CBP during his career...in those games he is 1-4 with a 7.88 ERA. In 6 career MLB games, Worley sports a 2-1 record with a 0.95 ERA. Worley held the Mets to just 2 hits through 6 innings of work in his season debut last week. Jimmy Rollins is 6-for-41 (.146 avg) in his career against Marquis.

Thursday, 7:05PM. John Lannan (2-3, 3.78 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (4-1, 2.14 ERA). In 12 career starts against the Phillies, Lannan is 0-9 with a 5.80 ERA. In 3 road starts this season, Lannan is 1-1 with a 5.17 ERA. Raul Ibanez is 10-for-18 (.556 avg) with a double, a triple and 2 homers in his career against Lannan. In 13 career games against Washington, Halladay has a 9-1 record with a 1.96 ERA. Halladay has a 2.51 ERA in 4 home starts this season.

Jayson Werth is a .303 career hitter in 10 games against the Phillies. In 276 career regular season games at Citizens Bank Park, Werth has a .293 average and a .913 OPS.

Ian Desmond's .245 batting average leads the Nationals' offense. In 11 career games at CBP, Desmond has a .349 batting average.

The Nat's first round draft pick from 2009 Drew Storen leads the team with six saves. The 23-year-old righty has allowed 1 earned run over 16 innings (0.56 ERA) and has held opponents to a .158 batting average this season.

Ryan Howard's 28 RBI lead the Major Leagues. Howard is batting .345 in 14 home games this season.

Lefty reliever Antonio Bastardo has a 1-0 record and a 0.82 ERA in 11 games this year. Bastardo has struck out 18 batters in 11 innings pitched this season.

In 14 home games this season, Placido Polanco is batting .383 with 15 RBI.

Nationals team batting average- .227
Phillies team batting average- .256

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