Series Preview: Phillies at Nationals, May 24-26

The Phillies (23-24) continue their road trip and visit division rival Washington (24-23) to begin a three-game series on Friday evening.

Righty starter Jordan Zimmermann, who celebrated his 27th birthday on Thursday, will try to become the National League's first eight-game winner as he takes the mound in the series opener for the Nats. The Phils will counter with right-hander Kyle Kendrick, who will try to get the Phillies back to .500 for the first time since they were 6-6 this season.

The two teams split 18 games against one another last season.

Read ahead for full reviews of the pitching match ups and other key statistics from this series.

Friday, 7:05 PM. Kyle Kendrick (4-2, 2.82 ERA) vs. Jordan Zimmermann (7-2, 1.62 ERA). Kendrick has a 2-0 record along with a 1.20 ERA in four road games this season. In 19 career outings against the Nats, Kendrick has a 4-5 record with a 4.68 ERA. Bryce Harper is 6-for-12 (.500 avg) with three doubles and a HR against Kendrick in his career. In six career starts against the Phillies, Zimmermann has a 1-4 record with a 5.06 ERA. Zimmermann has a 4-0 record with a 1.24 ERA in four home starts this season. Ryan Howard is 2-for-9 (.222 avg) with a homer against Zimmermann.

Saturday, 7:15 PM. Jonathan Pettibone (3-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Dan Haren (4-5, 5.54 ERA). Pettibone has a 5.06 ERA in two road starts. Pettibone has held opponents to a .175 average with runners on base. Haren is 0-3 with a 6.14 ERA in four career starts against the Phillies. In four home starts this season, Haren has a 3-1 record with a 4.91 ERA and a .337 batting average against. Michael Young is 19-for-58 (.328 avg) in his career against Haren.

Sunday, 1:35 PM. Cole Hamels (1-7, 4.45 ERA) vs. Ross Detwiler (2-4, 2.76 ERA). Hamels is 13-5 with a 2.57 ERA in 24 career starts against the Nationals. In six career starts at National Park, Hamels is 3-1 with a 1.96 ERA. Adam LaRoche is 8-for-25 with a double and four home runs and eight RBI in his career against Hamels. In four home starts this season, Detwiler is 1-2 with a 2.92 ERA. Detwiler is 2-4 with a 4.24 ERA in eight career games against the Phils. Domonic Brown is 0-for-7 in his career against Detwiler.

In 15 road games this year, Freddy Galvis has a .324 batting average with two homers and four RBI. Galvis is a .222 hitter in six games against the Nats.

Ryan Howard is a .265 hitter with 36 home runs and 110 RBI in 128 games against the Nationals in his career. Howard is batting .236 with two home runs and 15 RBI in 23 road games this season.

Domonic Brown is a .203 hitter with two home runs in 23 career games against the Nats.

Phils second baseman Chase Utley was placed on the disabled list with an oblique strain. Michael Martinez was recalled to fill his void on the roster.

Bryce Harper is a career .313 hitter with two homers and eight RBI in 18 games against the Phillies. Harper is batting .174 in 15 May games.

Denard Span is 9-for-25 (.360 avg) with two homers and four RBI in six career games against the Phils. Span is batting .300 in 21 home games this season.

In 11 career games against the Phillies, Kurt Suzuki has a .314 average with a home run and three RBI.

Phillies team OPS- .690 (26th in MLB)
Nationals team OPS- .653 (29th in MLB)

Justin De Fratus Interview Excerpts- May, 2011

Armed with a 2-0 record, 3 saves and a 2.95 ERA in 15 games this season for the Double A Reading Phillies, Justin De Fratus continues to make strides toward his goal of reaching the Major Leagues. Ranked as a top 10 prospect within the Phillies system last off-season, the 23-year-old De Fratus was in camp with the Phillies during big league spring training. In 3 games with the Phils during the Grapefruit League season, De Fratus allowed 4 earned runs in 4 innings and took a loss. He did strike out an impressive 5 batters in those 4 frames, however. Drafted in the 11th round of the 2007 amateur draft, De Fratus stood out as a force in relief last year for both the High A Clearwater Threshers and the R-Phils. In 49 combined games at the two levels, De Fratus posted a 3-0 record with 21 saves and a 1.94 ERA. De Fratus continued his excellent 2011 by pitching for Team USA in the Pan-American qualifiers held in Puerto Rico, helping the Americans finish with a 9-1 record. He also posted out...

Bubby Rossman's long awaited MLB debut

Eight years after he initially signed a professional contract with the Dodgers and a five-year stretch playing away from affiliated ball, Bubby Rossman became a major leaguer on Wednesday. Added as a substitute for pitcher Kyle Gibson, who is restricted from travel to Canada for the Phillies' series in Toronto, due to his medical inability to be vaccinated from COVID-19, Rossman took the mound for the first time in the majors. Rossman, who was a 22nd round draft selection in 2014 had pitched in 200 professional games before his one-inning outing in the Phillies' 8-2 loss to the Blue Jays. In 27 appearances with Double-A Reading this year, the 30-year-old right-hander has performed well, tallying a 2-2 record with a save, a 3.32 ERA and a .200 batting average against. The embedded video below features a media session with Rossman from prior to opening day this year, in which the California native discusses his journey through independent baseball and back to affiliated ball w...

Series Preview: Braves at Phillies, August 6-8

The Braves (62-46) travel to Philadelphia to begin a three-game series with the Phillies (49-59) on Monday night at Citizens Bank Park. In the past month, the two clubs have faced each other in two separate series, with the Braves winning all six of the contests. Atlanta’s recent dominance over the Phils is the opposite of how things went last season, when the Phillies handed the Braves six losses toward the end of the 2011 season. Those defeats shut the door on Atlanta’s postseason hopes. Read ahead for notes on the pitching the match ups and additional statistical information on this series. Monday, 7:05 PM. Ben Sheets (3-1, 1.46 ERA) vs. Vance Worley (6-6, 3.63 ERA). In 9 career starts against the Phillies, Sheets has a 3-4 record with a 4.50 ERA. Ty Wigginton is 12-for-36 (.333 avg) with 2 doubles and 2 HR in his career against Sheets. The righty Sheets was the Brewers' 1st round draft pick in 1999. In his last 5 starts, Worley has a 2-1 record with a 4.06 ERA. In 9 home s...

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