Series Preview: Phillies at Twins, June 11-13

The road trip continues for the Phillies (31-33) as they head to Minnesota to take on the Twins (27-33).

Losers of three straight games after a streak of five wins that gave them a winning record for the first time all year, the Phils will look to return to their winning ways against the American League Central's last place Twins.

Minnesota will send right-hander P.J. Walters to the mound in the series opener. The 28-year-old replaced former Phillie hurler Vance Worley, when he was demoted to Triple-A Rochester last month. The Phils will counter with lefty Cole Hamels, who broke a six-game losing streak with his last start, allowing one run over seven innings against the Marlins.

The Twins dropped two of three contests against the Phillies at Target Field last year.

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

Tuesday, 8:10 PM. Cole Hamels (2-9, 4.56 ERA) vs. P.J. Walters (2-1, 3.00 ERA). Hamels is 1-0 with a 6.23 ERA in two career starts against Minnesota. In six road starts this season, Hamels is 1-4 with a 3.57 ERA. Joe Mauer is 0-for-6 in his career against the lefty Hamels. The Walters will be making his 4th big league start of the year. Walters faced off against Hamels in Minnesota last June...he allowed four earned runs in that game without recording an out. Also in that game, Hamels gave up six earned runs in six innings.

Wednesday, 8:10 PM. Tyler Cloyd (2-2, 3.68 ERA) vs. Mike Pelfrey (3-6, 6.40 ERA). In four road starts this season Cloyd has a 2-1 record with a 4.03 ERA. Cloyd has a 1.32 ERA in two starts this month after posting a 5.74 ERA in three May starts. In 20 career starts against the Phils, Pelfrey has a 7-7 record with a 5.16 ERA. In six home starts this year, Pelfrey has a 2-3 record with a 5.93 ERA. Ryan Howard is 16-for-43 (.372 avg) with three HR in his career against the right-handed Pelfrey.

Thursday, 8:10 PM. Cliff Lee (7.2, 2.55 ERA) vs. Kevin Correia (5-4, 4.11 ERA). In 19 career starts against the Twins, Lee has an 8-4 record along with a 3.64 ERA. Lee has a 5-0 record and a 1.85 ERA over his past seven starts. In eight starts on the road this season, Lee has a 5-1 record with a 1.80 ERA. In six home starts this year, Correia has a 3-1 record with a 2.95 ERA. Correia has a 1-3 record with an 8.64 ERA in 11 career outings against the Phils.

Catcher Steve Lerud, who joined the Phillies this week when Erik Kratz was placed on the disabled list with a knee ligament tear, was batting .221 with two homers and 14 RBI in 31 games for Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season.

Ryan Howard is 6-for-14 (.429 avg) with a double, a triple and three homers in three career games against the Twins. Howard is batting .231 in 32 road games this year.

In 37 career games against Minnesota, Delmon Young has a .274 average with seven homers and 23 RBI. Young, who played with the Twins for four years, has a .298 average with eight homers and 79 RBI in 126 games at Target Field.

Ben Revere will be facing his former team for the first time in regular season play. Revere is a .261 hitter with 37 steals in 133 career games at Target Field.

In 23 home games this year, Justin Morneau has a .340 average with two homers and 15 RBI.

Joe Mauer is batting .382 with two home runs and 12 RBI in 26 home games this season. Mauer is a .343 hitter in nine career games against the Phillies.

Lefty reliever Glen Perkins has a 4.15 ERA in nine home outings this season. Perkins has thrown two scoreless innings against the Phils in his career.

Phillies team home runs- 66 (13th in MLB)
Twins team home runs- 54 (23rd in MLB)

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