Series Preview: Nationals at Phillies, Sept. 25-27

Primed to lock down their first division title, the Nationals (93-60) travel to Philadelphia to begin a three-game series against the five-time defending National League East division champion Phillies (77-76) on Tuesday night.

With just over a week left in the regular season, the Nats' magic number to clinch is 5, while the Phillies are 5 1/2 games out of the second NL Wild Card spot and are at risk of missing the postseason for the first time since 2006.

Read ahead to check out details on the pitching match ups and other key statistical notes from this series.

Tuesday, 7:05 PM. Ross Detwiler (10-6, 3.10 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (15-6, 3.05 ERA). Detwiler has posted a 3-0 record with a 2.43 ERA over his past 5 starts. In 14 road games this year, the lefty Detwiler is 2-4 with a 3.78 ERA. Jimmy Rollins is 6-for-18 (.333 avg) with 3 doubles against Detwiler. In his last 8 starts, Hamels has a 4-0 record with a 2.50 ERA. In 3 starts against the Nationals this season, Hamels is 2-1 with a 1.17 ERA. Adam LaRoche is 7-for-22 (.318 avg) with a double and 4 HR in his career against Hamels.

Wednesday, 7:05PM. John Lannan (3-0, 4.43 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (10-11, 3.89 ERA). In 17 career starts against the Phillies, the lefty Lannan is 2-12 with a 5.79 ERA. Chase Utley is 12-for-35 (.343 avg) with 2 HR in his career against Lannan. In 17 home games this year, Kendrick has a 6-6 record with a 4.09 ERA. Kendrick is 2-2 with a 3.28 ERA in his last 4 starts. Jayson Werth is 0-for-10 in his career against Kendrick.

Thursday, 7:05 PM. Gio Gonzalez (20-8, 2.84 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (10-8, 4.40 ERA). In 17 road starts this season, Gonzalez has an 11-4 record with a 3.24 ERA. Gonzalez is 4-1 with a 0.79 ERA in his last 5 starts. In 3 career starts against the Phillies, his former organization, the left-handed Gonzalez is 2-1 with a 1.89 ERA. Halladay, who recently dealt with shoulder spasms, struggled in his latest outing, serving up 7 earned runs in 1 2/3 innings on Saturday against the Braves. Halladay is 12-2 with a 2.55 ERA in 18 career games against the Nats.

In 13 career games against the Phillies, Nats closer Drew Storen has a 2-1 record with 4 saves, 1 blown save and a 4.76 ERA. Storen has a 3.09 ERA in 17 road games this year.

In 45 games since returning from a broken wrist, Jayson Werth has posted a .319 average with 2 HR and 15 RBI. Werth is batting .397 against left-handed pitchers this season, while he sports a .270 mark against righties.

Bryce Harper is batting .234 in 66 games since the All-Star break. The Phils are the only division rival that Harper has not homered against.

Carlos Ruiz has posted a .268 batting average with 2 homers and 16 RBI in 28 games played since the All-Star break.

In 21 September games, Chase Utley has a .293 average with 2 HR and 15 RBI.

Lefty reliever Jake Diekman has a 1-0 record, a 0.56 ERA and a .109 batting average against in 16 home games this season. Diekman was the Phillies' 30th round draft pick in 2007.

Nationals team OPS in September- .749 (8th in MLB)
Phillies team OPS in September- .718 (17th in MLB)
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