Series Preview: Nationals at Phillies, 8/12-8/14

Fresh off a franchise best 9-1 road trip, the Phillies (77-40) return home to begin a home stand with a three-game series against the Washington Nationals (56-61).

The Phillies, winners of 12 of their last 13 games, are proud owners of the best record in Major League Baseball, while the Nationals struggle to stay out of last place in the National League East division.

In the series opener, the Nationals will send veteran righty Livan Hernandez, who has lost his last three starts at Citizens Bank Park. Philadelphia will counter with All-star Cole Hamels, who has not lost against the Nationals since April 2nd, 2008.

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

Friday, 7:05 PM. Livan Hernandez (6-11, 4.41 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (13-6, 2.53 ERA). In 12 road starts this season, Hernandez is 1-8 with a 5.69 ERA. Hernandez is 1-3 with a 6.46 ERA in his last 5 starts. Chase Utley is 12-for-34 (.353 avg) in his career against Hernandez. In 19 career starts against the Nats, Hamels has a 10-3 record with a 2.63 ERA. Hamels is 2-1 with a 1.76 ERA in his last 4 starts. In 13 home starts this year, Hamels has a 7-4 record with a 2.29 ERA and a .199 batting average against.

Saturday, 7:05 PM. John Lannan (8-7, 3.56 ERA) vs. Roy Oswalt (4-7, 3.84 ERA). Lannan has a 1-10 record and a 5.96 ERA in 14 career starts against the Phillies. In his last 4 road starts, Lannan is 2-0 with a 2.66 ERA. Lannan is 0-4 with an 8.02 ERA in 5 career starts at Citizens Bank Park. Raul Ibanez is 12-for-23 (.522 avg) with 4 HR in his career against Lannan. In 5 home starts this season, Oswalt has a 2-2 record with a 3.38 ERA. Oswalt is 5-4 with a 3.12 ERA in 18 career games against the Nationals. Ian Desmond is 0-for-13 in his career against Oswalt.

Sunday, 1:35 PM. Chien-Ming Wang (1-2, 3.60 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (15-4, 2.51 ERA). The right-handed Wang will be making his 4th start of the season. Wang, who missed over two years with shoulder trouble, posted a 3.14 ERA in 6 minor league rehab appearances this year. In 15 career games against the Nats, Halladay is 11-1 with a 2.21 ERA. Halladay is 4-0 with a 2.22 ERA in his last 4 starts. In 13 games at Citizens Bank Park this season, Halladay has an 8-1 record with a 2.26 ERA.

In 16 career games against the Phillies, Jayson Werth has a .273 average with 4 homeruns. Although he is batting .227 on the season, Werth has posted a .270 batting average in 24 games since the All-star break.

Ryan Zimmerman is a .282 hitter with 12 HR in 88 career games against the Phillies. Zimmerman is batting .350 in 25 games since the All-star break and has hit successfully in 19 straight games.

Washington closer Drew Storen has a 7.20 ERA in 6 career games against the Phillies. Opponents are batting .199 against Storen this season.

In 31 home games this season Chase Utley is batting .297 with a .969 OPS. Utley is 1-for-10 in 3 games against the Nationals this year, although he posted a .327 average in 13 games against them last year.

Hunter Pence is batting .347 in 12 games as a Phillie. Pence is a .266 hitter in 28 career games against Washington.

Shane Victorino is batting .341 with a 1.035 OPS in 22 games since the All-star break. Victorino has 3 HR in 48 home games this season, compared to 9 HR in 42 road games.

Nationals team ERA- 3.76
Phillies team ERA- 3.09

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