Series Preview: Phillies at Marlins, Sept. 28-30

Fresh off their first back-to-back series losses since the All-Star break, the Phillies (78-78) travel south to take on the division rival Marlins (66-90) in a three-game series.

Both teams have had disappointing seasons, as the Phillies are set to miss the postseason for the first time since 2006 and the Marlins, who increased their team payroll by near $54 million this year, are in last place in the National League East division.

The Phillies have won 8 of 15 meetings with the Marlins this season.

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


Friday, 7:10 PM.  Cliff Lee (6-8, 3.18 ERA) vs. Mark Buehrle (13-13, 3.84 ERA).  In 14 road starts this season, Lee has a 4-2 record with a 2.84 ERA.  Lee has a 5-3 record with a 2.41 ERA in 14 starts since the All-Star break.  Carlos Lee is 11-for-27 (.407 avg) with 3 HR in his career against Lee.  In 7 career starts against the Phillies, Buehrle has a 5-2 record with a 4.44 ERA.  Buehrle has an 8-5 record with a 3.29 ERA in 15 home starts this season.  Ty Wigginton is 9-for-30 (.300 avg) with 2 doubles and 3 HR in his career against Buehrle.

Saturday, 7:10 PM.  Roy Halladay (10-8, 4.40 ERA) vs. Ricky Nolasco (12-12, 4.35 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.  In 12 road starts this year, Halladay is 4-4 with a 4.24 ERA.  Greg Dobbs is 8-for-15 (.533 avg) with 2 doubles and a HR in his career against Halladay.  In 17 career games against the Phillies, Nolasco has a 8-4 with a 3.59 ERA.  In his past 5 starts, Nolasco has a 3-0 record with a 1.46 ERA and 2 complete games.  Carlos Ruiz is 3-for-20 (.150 avg) in his career against Nolasco.

Sunday, 1:10 PM.  Cole Hamels (16-6, 3.11 ERA) vs. Nathan Eovaldi (4-12, 4.29 ERA).  In his past 9 starts, Hamels has posted a 5-0 record with a 2.72 ERA.  In 4 starts against the Marlins this year, Hamels is 1-3 with a 3.54 ERA.  Jose Reyes is 20-for-53 (.377 avg) with 5 doubles in his career against Hamels.  The right-hander Eovaldi is 0-3 with a 6.43 ERA in 3 career starts against the Phillies.  In 9 home starts this year, Eovaldi has a 1-6 record with a 3.19 ERA.  Juan Pierre is 6-for-8 (.750 avg) with a double and a triple against Eovaldi.


Lefty hitting Domonic Brown is batting .156 against left-handed pitchers this season.  In 17 career games against the Marlins, Brown is a .271 hitter with 3 HR and 9 RBI.

 In 75 road games this season, Jimmy Rollins has posted a .230 average with 12 homers and 30 RBI.  Rollins is batting .270 with runners in scoring position this year.

Juan Pierre is batting .391 with 17 steals in 51 road games this season.  In 50 career games against his former team the Marlins, Pierre has a .314 batting average.

Giancarlo Stanton is a .247 hitter with 9 HR and 18 RBI in 42 career games against the Phillies.  Stanton is batting .237 in 15 September games.

Marlins closer Steve Cishek has 1 save and a 0.93 ERA in 11 career games against the Phils.  In 9 games this month, Cischek has posted an 8.59 ERA.

In 70 games since the All-Star break, Jose Reyes has a .312 average with 8 homers and 34 RBI.  Additionally, Reyes' OPS is 143 points higher since the mid-summer classic than it was prior to the All-Star game.

Phillies team ERA in September- 3.23 ERA (6th in MLB)
Marlins team ERA in September- 4.08 (16th in MLB)

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