Series Preview: Metropolitans at Phillies, September 20-22

The Phillies (71-81) will close out their home schedule this weekend as the division rival Mets (68-84) visit for a three-game series. Far removed from the playoff picture, the two teams will battle for third place in the National League East division.

In nine of the 16 meetings between the these clubs this year, the Phils have been victorious.

Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and loads more information from this series.

Friday, 7:05 PM. Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-3, 6.12 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (8-13, 3.48 ERA). Matsuzaka allowed four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings in his last start against the Phils on August 28th. Matsuzaka is 0-1 with a 7.27 ERA in two road starts this year. In his last nine starts, Hamels is 4-0 with a 2.18 ERA. Hamels is 7-12 with a 4.29 ERA in 25 career starts against the Mets. In 16 home starts this year, Hamels has a 3-6 record with a 3.55 ERA.

Saturday, 7:05 PM. Dillon Gee (11-10, 3.47 ERA) vs Tyler Cloyd (2-5, 5.06 ERA). Gee has a 2-3 record with a 7.66 ERA in nine career games against the Phillies. Gee, a right-hander, is 7-5 with a 4.32 ERA in 16 road games this season. In four home outings, Cloyd has a 0-3 record with a 5.73 ERA. Opponents are batting .306 against Cloyd in 10 big league outings this year.

Sunday, 1:35 PM. Zack Wheeler (7-5, 3.42 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (14-6, 2.95 ERA). Wheeler, a rookie right-hander, has posted a 1-3 record with a 3.26 ERA in his last five starts. In nine road starts this season, Wheeler is 5-1 with a 2.32 ERA and a .226 batting average against. Lee has a 6-2 record and a 2.40 ERA in 11 career games against the Mets. In his last six starts, Lee is 4-0 with a 2.04 ERA. Lucas Duda is 6-for-18 (.333 avg) with a home run and two RBI in his career against Lee.

Daniel Murphy is a career .305 hitter with three homers and 29 RBI in 67 games against the Phillies. Murphy is a .264 hitter in 32 career games at Citizens Bank Park.

Travis d'Arnaud, a former Phillies prospect, is batting .163 in 25 big league games this season. d'Arnaud went 1-for-10 (.100 avg) in three games against the Phils last month.

David Wright is expected to return to action after spending several weeks on the disabled list with a hamstring strain. Wright is batting .312 with 10 home runs and 31 RBI in 53 road games this season.

Jimmy Rollins is 16-for-49 (.327 avg) with a homer and four stolen bases in 15 games this month. Rollins is sporting a .286 batting average in 16 games against the Mets this year.

In 40 home games, Darin Ruf is batting .281 with 11 homers and 20 RBI compared to his .207 average and three home runs in 24 road games. Ruf is a .143 career hitter in six games against the Mets.

In his last 20 relief outings, lefty Jake Diekman has a 1-3 record with a 1.89 ERA while walking eight and striking out 24 batters. Diekman has a 1.43 ERA in 39 career outings at Citizens Bank Park.

Mets team ERA in September- 4.73 (27th in MLB)
Phillies team ERA in September- 4.44 (23rd in MLB)

Heroes- Fight of the Century

VS. It's a big day for your boy, Jay Ballz . No work, X-Men Origins: Wolverine premieres, our Phillies face the Metropolitans for the first time this season and tailgating for BOTH doesn't sound all that absurd to me. Anyway, I surveyed some qualified phans and got several opinions on how exactly a fight might go down if the mutant hero Wolverine faced off against Phillies hero Matt Stairs. Well known blogger, Chris, of I've Made a Huge Tiny Mistake , kept it real and said the following- "Wolverine has adamantium ( indestructible metal substance) claws, so that's a great advantage. Stairs' Wonder Bat is neutralized there. See, the problem becomes Wolverine's ability to recover (he has a regenerative power) faster. Stairs is merely human. Sure, he has a goatee, and goatees are great, but they're great for saving sauce, not for defeating mutants. I think Wolverine takes it in a fight to the death in about 15 minutes because Stairs simply doesn'...

Michael Taylor Q&A

Michael Taylor is currently leading the Reading Phillies' offense and is near the top of the Eastern League in most stat categories (3rd in batting avg- .342, 3rd in HR- 14, tied for second in RBI- 55, 2nd in OPS.- .994, tied for 1st in runs scored- 49, tied for 1st in hits...). The 23 year old Taylor is 6 feet 6 inches tall and has quickly grabbed the attention of phans and media alike as a top prospect to watch. I spoke with Mike Taylor over the weekend, and here is that interview. With all the big stats and being among the league leaders in so many categories, do you think you're ready for the next step? It's kind of a difficult question. Do you have anything left to prove here? There's always something to prove. There's stuff to prove every game. I mean that's one thing that's very interesting about this game. It's such a numbers oriented game. You're only as good as your last "whatever statistical category that someone's valuing". ...

Jealous Ones Envy

Joe Blanton continues to excel and prove his worth in the Phillies pitching rotation. In his latest outing on Sunday, Blanton threw 8 strong innings, striking out 6, while walking just 1 and surrendering 2 earned runs, improving his record to 7-4. This season in July, Joe is 3-0 over four starts with 22 K's, 5 walks and a 1.21 ERA. Over his last 6 starts, Joe's ERA is 1.94. As a member of the Phillies, Blanton has a 3.84 ERA after the all star break with a 5-0 record. The Phillies are 20-12 (.625 winning percentage) in games that Blanton has started, since being acquired last July. Combined this season against other National League playoff contenders St. Louis, Chicago and Los Angeles, Blanton has a combined 1.67 ERA in 4 starts with a 2-0 record. Blanton is on such a sizzling run that the Bowling Green Hot Rods, a Tampa Bay Rays farm team, will host a Joe Blanton bobble head give away tomorrow. Bowling Green will host Joe's mother, father and sister for the event, as Joe...

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