Series Preview: Padres at Phillies, May 11-13

It's been a number of years since the Phillies (14-18) were 4 games under .500 at this stage of the season. That happened in 2007, to be precise, and that year marked the beginning of the club's streak of 5 consecutive National League East division titles. The Phillies hope to bounce back in the same way they did back then, as they take on the San Diego Padres, who, at 11-21, sport the worst record in the NL. The two teams begin a three-game series on Friday evening.

To open the series, the Padres will send lefty hurler Clayton Richard to the mound. Richard has lost his last 4 starts. The Phillies will counter with righty Vance Worley, who is fresh off his worst outing of the season when he surrendered 5 earned runs in 6 innings pitched against Washington last Saturday.

The Phillies won 3 of 4 meetings with San Diego at Citizens Bank Park last season.

Read ahead for more information on the pitching match ups for this series as well as plenty more statistical information.

Friday, 7:05 PM. Clayton Richard (1-4, 4.89 ERA) vs. Vance Worley (2-2, 2.84 ERA). In 3 road starts this season, Richard is 0-2 with a 7.85 ERA. Richard is 0-2 with a 2.40 ERA in 2 career starts against Philadelphia. Placido Polanco is 2-for-13 (.154 avg) in his career against Richard. Worley threw 7 scoreless innings in his only career appearance against the Padres. In 2 home starts this year, Worley is 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA. In 3 night starts this season, Worley is 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA.

Saturday, 7:05 PM. Edinson Volquez (1-2, 2.98 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (3-2, 3.28 ERA). In 3 career starts against the Phillies, the right-handed Volquez is 2-1 with a 1.96 ERA. Hunter Pence is 3-for-21 (.143 avg) in his career against Volquez. In 4 career starts against San Diego, Halladay has a 3-1 record with a 2.05 ERA. Halladay is 1-1 with a 2.57 ERA in 3 home starts this season.

Sunday, 1:35 PM. Jeff Suppan (2-0, 0.90 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (4-1, 2.45 ERA). Suppan is 3-7 with a 6.62 ERA and a .334 batting average against in 14 career games (13 starts) against the Phillies. In 4 career starts at Citizens Bank Park, Suppan has a 1-3 record with an 8.69 ERA. Hunter Pence is 7-for-17 (.412 avg) with a double and 3 HR in his career against Suppan. In 12 career starts against San Diego, Hamels has a 7-2 record with a 2.22 ERA. Hamels is 1-1 with a 3.65 ERA in 2 home starts this season.

In 28 career games against the Phillies, Chase Headley has a .253 average with 1 HR and 8 RBI. Headley is batting .303 in 9 road games this season.

Cameron Maybin is batting .133 in 8 road games thus far in 2012. In 13 career games at Citizens Bank Park, Maybin has posted a .367 batting average with 5 doubles, a triple and 2 HR.

Yonder Alonso is 3-for-23 (.130 avg) in 8 career games against Philadelphia. During his current 7-game hitting streak, Alonso is 12-for-29 (.413 average).

In 13 home games this season, Shane Victorino has posted a .222 batting average with 1 HR and 3 RBI.

Carlos Ruiz is a career .236 hitter in 29 games against the Padres. Ruiz has no extra base hits in 8 day games this season.

Juan Pierre is a .290 career hitter in 113 games against the Padres. In 42 career games at Citizens Bank Park, Pierre is a .308 hitter.

Padres team batting average- .222
Phillies team batting average- .257
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Image- AP

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Hockey Taking Over CBP

The takeover has begun. As the holiday season approaches and winter becomes more imminent, January 2nd, the date of this season's NHL Winter Classic draws nearer. In 2012, Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park will play host to the annual regular season hockey contest that is broadcast on national television. The ballpark is otherwise home to Major League Baseball's Phillies. In the upcoming game, the Flyers will take on New York Rangers. It will be New York's first Winter Classic appearance, while the Flyers, who lost at Boston in 2010, will be seeing action in the annual event for the second time. This will mark the fifth year for the NHL's premiere regular season contest, which first took place in 2008 at Buffalo's Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the NFL's Bills. The process to convert the baseball playing field into an ice rink, in time for the week of hockey events set to take place at CBP, began this week. In addition to the January 2nd regular season...

Division Lead Back to 3 Games

Six shut out innings by the bullpen, a diving catch by Jayson Werth and two homeruns by Chase Utley won the game for the Phillies and got their lead in the NL East back to 3 games over the Metropolitans. It was a surprising effort from the bullpen as Scott Eyre, JC Romero, Jack Taschner, Chad Durbin, Ryan Madson and even Chan Ho Park shut down the Mets lineup in the extra inning victory. It was a risky play by Werth, who could have allowed the winning run to score if he hadn't made the catch on the ball batted by David Wright. It was clutch hitting by Utley, who, with his second homerun of the game, gave the Phillies an 11th inning lead that they would not let up. Huge win for the Phillies! ------------------------- Stats to ponder- Jimmy Rollins in the lead off spot this season- 49 games, .208 avg (47-for-226), .244 OBP, 1 HR, 29 runs. Jimmy Rollins batting any place else in the lineup this season- 7 games, .409 avg (9-for-22), .440 OBP, 3 HR, 6 runs. Carlos Ruiz against the Mets ...

Ryan Madson is acting questionable

I've seen similar types of "poking fun" entries on other Phillies blogs. When this picture came across my desk today, I figured, "Why not...?" Ryan Madson was out on the town (Manayunk) over the weekend and was photographed acting pretty with a purse slung over his shoulder and being chummy with a friend of mine. Can I really call him a friend, if he's actually my friends' friend , and I only prank called him once? Sure, why the heck not?!

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