Series Preview: Phillies at Rockies, 8/1-8/3

The Phillies, owners of Major League Baseball's best record at 68-39, travel out west to begin a three-game series on Monday night when they take on the under-performing Rockies (51-57) who sit in third place, 10 games behind San Francisco, in the National League West division.

In a brief two-game series at Citizens Bank Park in May, the two teams each prevailed with one win.

Cole Hamels will take the mound for Philadelphia in the series opener. The lefty Hamels last faced the Rockies when he took a loss in game 2 of the 2009 NL Division Series, allowing 4 earned runs in 5 innings pitched. The Rockies will counter with right-hander Jhoulys Chacin, who is winless in his last 7 starts.

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

Monday, 8:40PM. Cole Hamels (12-6, 2.61 ERA) vs. Jhoulys Chacin (8-8, 3.50 ERA). In his last 3 road starts, Hamels is 1-2 with a 5.93 ERA. Hamels has a 1-2 record with a 4.50 ERA since the All-star Break. In 4 career regular season games against the Phillies, Chacin is 1-0 with a 1.20 ERA. Chacin has a 0-4 record with a 5.82 ERA in his last 6 games. In 11 home starts, Chacin is 4-3 with a 3.33 ERA and a .196 batting average against.

Tuesday, 8:40PM. Kyle Kendrick (5-5, 3.52 ERA) vs. Aaron Cook (2-5, 5.05 ERA). In 7 career regular season starts against Colorado, Kendrick has a 2-2 record with a 5.79 ERA. In his last 5 games, Kendrick is 1-1 with a 2.88 ERA. Cook has a 0-3 record with a 4.03 ERA in 4 home starts this season. In his last 4 games, the righty Cook is 2-2 with a 5.64 ERA. Shane Victorino is 1-for-16 (.063 avg) in his career against Cook.

Wednesday, 3:10PM. Roy Halladay (13-4, 2.44 ERA) vs. Jason Hammel (6-10, 4.65 ERA). Halladay is 2-0 with a 0.77 ERA in 3 career starts against the Rockies. In 9 road starts this season, Halladay is 5-3 with a 2.70 ERA. In his last 4 road starts, Halladay is 2-1 with a 3.12 ERA. The right-handed Hammel has a 3-7 record with a 5.10 ERA in 11 home starts this year. In his last 5 starts, Hammel is 2-3 with a 7.00 ERA.

In 26 career games against the Rockies, Hunter Pence is a .311 hitter.

Ryan Howard is batting .229 in 47 road games this year. Howard is batting .221 with the bases empty this season.

In 48 career games against the Rockies, Placido Polanco is a .341 hitter. Polanco's last HR on the road came on July 22nd, 2010.

Todd Helton has a .370 average with 16 HR in 82 career regular season games against the Phillies. Helton has posted a .325 average and a .916 OPS in 48 home games this season.

After batting .268 in 86 games prior to the All-star Break, Troy Tulowitzki has posted a .369 average in 16 games since then.

In 27 career regular season games against the Phillies, Ryan Spilborghs is a .423 hitter. Batting .215 overall in 91 games this year, Spilborghs is considerably better at Coors Field, posting a .311 average at home.

Phillies team OPS- .716 (14th best in MLB)
Rockies team OPS- .732 (10th best in MLB)

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