Series Preview: Metropolitans at Phillies, June 21-23

The Mets (28-41) visit Citizens Bank Park this weekend to begin a three-game series with the division rival Phillies (35-38).

In the series opener, New York righty Jeremy Hefner, who allowed seven earned runs without recording an out in a start against the Phils last September 20th, will take the mound for the visitors, while lefty Cole Hamels, who is tied for the big league lead in losses with 10, will try to get on the winning track.

Read ahead for full details on the pitching match ups and other key stats for this series.

Friday, 7:05 PM. Jeremy Hefner (1-6, 3.96 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (2-10, 4.40 ERA). In four career games against the Phils, Hefner is 1-2 with a 15.68 ERA and a .448 batting average against. Hefner has a 1-3 record along with a 5.14 ERA in seven road games this season. Ryan Howard is 3-for-3 in his career against Hefner. In 22 career games against the Mets, Hamels has a 6-10 record with a 4.20 ERA. One of Hamels' wins this season came in an outing against the Mets on April 28th, when he allowed one earned run in six innings. Lucas Duda is 1-for-12 (.083 avg) in his career against Hamels.

Saturday, 4:05 PM. Dillon Gee (5-7, 4.56 ERA) vs. Jonathan Pettibone (3-3, 4.40 ERA). In eight career games against the Phils, the right-hander Gee has a 2-3 record with a 7.49 ERA. Gee is 3-1 with a 1.53 ERA over his last four starts. Ryan Howard is 4-for-12 (.333 avg) with four homers in his career against Gee. Jimmy Rollins is 8-for-13 (.615 avg) in his career against Gee. Pettibone earned a win in his lone career start against the Mets on April 27th, when he allowed three earned runs in five innings of work. In his last six starts, Pettibone is 0-3 with a 5.29 ERA.

Sunday, 1:35 PM. Matt Harvey (5-1, 2.04 ERA) vs. John Lannan (0-1, 5.49 ERA). Harvey is 2-0 with a 1.77 ERA in three career starts against the Phillies. In six road starts this season, the righty Harvey has a 4-0 record with 2.72 ERA. In 12 career starts against the Mets, John Lannan has a 5-4 record with a 3.46 ERA. David Wright is 10-for-32 (.313 avg) with three doubles in his career against Lannan.

In 22 home games this season, Chase Utley, who is being activated from the disabled list for this series after missing several weeks with an oblique issue, is batting .244 with three homers and 10 RBI. Utley sports a .208 average in six games against the Mets this year.

Ryan Howard is batting .291 with six home runs and 17 RBI in 30 home games this year. Howard sports a .328/.425/.534 line in 18 games this month. Howard is batting .197 against lefty pitchers this year.

In 36 career games against the team that drafted him, former Phillie Marlon Byrd has a .229 average with two home runs and nine RBI. Byrd is batting .315 in 27 road games this season.

David Wright is batting .357 with four homers and eight RBI in 17 games this month. Wright is a .291 hitter with 16 homers and 55 RBI in 71 career games at Citizens Bank Park.

Mets team runs scored in June- 59 (28th in MLB)
Phillies team runs scored in June- 77 (12th in MLB)

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