Series Preview: Nationals vs Phillies, August 24-26

In the National League East division standings, a massive gap separates the Phillies (58-67) and the team they host for a three-game set beginning on Friday night, the first place Nationals (77-47). With the Nats ahead of the 3rd place Phillies by 19 1/2 games, heading into the weekend, it was just a year ago that things were nearly the exact opposite and the Phillies led the Nationals by 21 games.

Thus far in 2012, the Nationals have won 5 of 9 meetings with the Phillies.

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

Friday, 7:05 PM. Edwin Jackson (7-8, 3.69 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (6-9, 4.20 ERA). In 3 career starts against the Phillies, the righty Jackson has a 0-3 record with a 5.60 ERA. Jackson has a 4-3 record with a 3.94 ERA in 13 road starts this season. Placido Polanco is 0-for-10 in his career against Jackson. In his past 2 starts, Kendrick is 2-0 while throwing 15 shutout innings. In 13 home outings this season, Kendrick is 2-6 with a 5.01 ERA. Ian Desmond is 8-for-19 (.421 avg) with a homer and 4 RBI in his career against Kendrick.

Saturday, 7:05 PM. Gio Gonzalez (16-6, 3.23 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (7-7, 3.95 ERA). Gonzalez, a lefty, is 10-2 with a 3.26 ERA in 14 road starts this season. In his career against the Phils, Gonzalez, who once pitched in the Philadelphia organization, is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in 2 games. Opponents are batting .214 against Gonzalez this year. In 4 August starts, Halladay is 3-1 with a 2.79 ERA. Halladay is 4-3 with a 3.63 ERA in 9 home starts this season.

Sunday, 1:35 PM. Jordan Zimmermann (9-7, 2.54 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (2-7, 3.78 ERA). In 13 road starts this season, Zimmermann has posted a 7-4 record with a 1.96 ERA. The right-handed Zimmermann is 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA in 4 August starts. Lee has a 0-5 record and a 4.42 ERA in 10 home starts this season. In 6 career starts against Washington, Lee has a 4-2 record with a 2.44 ERA. Lee's last home win was on September 5, 2011.

Ian Desmond has a .308 average with 2 HR and 9 RBI in 23 career games at Citizens Bank Park.

In 79 career games against the Phillies, Adam LaRoche has a .300 average with 13 HR and 41 RBI. LaRoche is batting .278 with 15 HR and 43 RBI in 62 road games this year.

Jayson Werth is batting .373 with 8 doubles, a triple and 8 RBI in 19 August games. Werth has a .903 OPS in 282 career regular season games at Citizens Bank Park.

Domonic Brown has a .306 average with 1 homer and 7 RBI in 13 home games this season. Brown is batting .308 against right-handed pitchers and .211 against left-handed pitchers.

Since joining the Phillies, reliever Josh Lindblom has posted a 7.88 ERA in 9 appearances. Lindblom has not allowed a run in 3 appearances against Washington this season.

Ryan Howard has a .284 batting average with 7 homers and 20 RBI in 21 home games this season. Howard is batting .333 with runners in scoring position this season.

Nationals team ERA in August- 2.90 (3rd in MLB)
Phillies team ERA in August- 3.36 (8th in MLB)
__________________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

Also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.

Stats to Ponder: Jimmy Rollins Edition

J-Roll has batted under .200 for a calendar month twice in his career. In April 2004, Rollins went 13-for-71, for a .183 average. The following month, Rollins went 30-for-107, which is a .280 average. And in August 2005, Rollins went 22-for-117, for a .188 average. The month that followed saw Rollins go 49-for-122 for a .402 average. Rollins is batting .171 so far in May 2009. Improvement is not far away for Jimmy. The Phillies are 10-2 in games this year which Rollins scores at least 1 run. The Phillies are 4-12 in games which Rollins does not score. Jimmy Rollins in 6 games against the Braves this year is batting .071 (2-for-28). In 2008 Rollins batted .284 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2007 Rollins batted .347 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2006 Rollins batted .367 against the Braves in 18 games. Jimmy Milestone Watch: 6 more RBI and Rollins will tie Scott Rolen for 25th all time in Phillies RBI leaders. 7 more triples and Rollins will tie Richie Ashburn for 4th all time i...

Former Player Proposes Marriage on the Field in Lakewood

Three's a crowd, Buster...Image- Jay Floyd For one New Jersey couple a unique meeting at the ballpark led to a new meaning for the term baseball diamond. Brian Parker spotted the woman of his dreams from the bullpen bench at Lakewood, NJ's FirstEnergy Park on July 9th, 2010. The right-handed reliever for the Orioles affiliate Delmarva Shorebirds wasn't summoned to pitch that night, but it didn't stop him from getting up and going through his usual warm up and stretching routines to inch closer to a young blonde Brick Township native that he felt drawn toward. "I was acting like I was staying hot, but really I was just trying to talk to her," Parker, a 19th round draft choice by Baltimore in 2007, stated. "I ended up putting my (phone) number on a baseball and we decided to hang out and throughout that whole next year it was back and forth trips between the both of us." The lady that caught Parker's eye was Kristin VanDeventer, who was ...

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

PhoulBallz.com

Search This Blog