Series Preview: Rockies at Phillies, June 19-21

Beginning on Tuesday night, the Phillies (31-37) and the Rockies (25-40) will begin a three-game series that will enable the remainder of Major League Baseball to continue inter-league play. The odd teams out will be the only teams not facing an opponent from the opposite league.

Last season the Phillies won 4 of 5 meetings with the Rockies. Overall, the Phils have also taken 20 of the past 24 meetings with Colorado.

For a review of the pitching match ups and other details on this series, read ahead.

Tuesday, 7:05 PM. Josh Outman (0-2, 8.44 ERA) Cole Hamels (9-3, 3.34 ERA). Outman, a former Phillies farm hand, has faced the Phils just once, taking a loss when he allowed 3 earned runs in 6 innings. Outman, a lefty, will be starting his 4th game of the season. Hamels has a 6.07 ERA over his last 4 starts. In 3 career regular season starts against Colorado, Hamels has a 1-1 record with a 5.09 ERA. In 7 home starts this season, Hamels has a 4-3 record with a 3.26 ERA.

Wednesday, 7:05 PM. Alex White (2-5, 5.56 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (6-6, 4.93 ERA). In 3 road starts this season, White is 1-2 with a 6.48 ERA. White was the Indians’ 1st round draft pick in 2009 and was acquired by the Rockies in the Ubaldo Jimenez trade last July. White has a 4.31 ERA in his last 3 starts. Blanton has a 3-2 record with a 4.46 ERA in 6 home starts this year. Will Nieves is 5-for-12 (.417 avg) in his career against Blanton. Opponents are batting .282 against Blanton this season.

Thursday, 7:05 PM. Jeff Francis (0-1, 12.46 ERA) vs. Vance Worley (3-3, 2.80 ERA). Francis was in the Reds system earlier this season, where he posted a 3-6 record with a 3.72 ERA in 12 starts for Louisville before opting out of his contract and returning to Colorado, the team that selected him in the 1st round of the 2002 draft. In 5 career regular season starts against the Phillies, Francis has a 1-1 record with a 6.84 ERA. Worley has a 1-1 record with a 4.30 ERA in 4 home starts this season. Comparatively, Worley has a 1.89 ERA in 6 road starts this season. Worley has no wins and a 2.12 ERA in 3 starts since returning from the disabled list.

Carlos Gonzalez has a .360 batting average with 3 doubles and an RBI in 8 regular season games at Citizens Bank Park. Gonzalez’s home splits- .382/.441/.733. Gonzalez’s road splits- .281/.339/.509.

Michael Cuddyer is 2-for-16 (.125 avg) in 4 career games against the Phillies.

In 84 career regular season games against the Phillies, Todd Helton has a .367 batting average with 17 HR and 62 RBI. Helton is batting .222 in 22 road games this year.

Chad Qualls has a 5.84 ERA in 17 home games this season. Qualls' ERA in 30 career games at Citizens Bank Park is 8.37 ERA.

Jim Thome is batting .111 in 7 home games this season. In 24 career games against the Rockies, Thome has a .183 batting average with 3 HR and 11 RBI.

In 16 games this month, Hunter Pence is batting .338 with 2 homers and 9 RBI. The righty hitting Pence is batting .207 against left-handed hurlers this season.

Rockies team OPS- .779
Phillies team OPS- .722

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