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)

Stats to Ponder: Jimmy Rollins Edition

J-Roll has batted under .200 for a calendar month twice in his career. In April 2004, Rollins went 13-for-71, for a .183 average. The following month, Rollins went 30-for-107, which is a .280 average. And in August 2005, Rollins went 22-for-117, for a .188 average. The month that followed saw Rollins go 49-for-122 for a .402 average. Rollins is batting .171 so far in May 2009. Improvement is not far away for Jimmy. The Phillies are 10-2 in games this year which Rollins scores at least 1 run. The Phillies are 4-12 in games which Rollins does not score. Jimmy Rollins in 6 games against the Braves this year is batting .071 (2-for-28). In 2008 Rollins batted .284 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2007 Rollins batted .347 against the Braves in 18 games. In 2006 Rollins batted .367 against the Braves in 18 games. Jimmy Milestone Watch: 6 more RBI and Rollins will tie Scott Rolen for 25th all time in Phillies RBI leaders. 7 more triples and Rollins will tie Richie Ashburn for 4th all time i...

Crawford's Chronicles: JP Crawford talks Spring Training

JP Crawford, image- Jay Floyd Entering this year as the widely regarded top prospect in the Phillies organization, J.P. Crawford will be taking time each week to provide insight directly from inside spring training in Clearwater, FL, right here on PhilliesNation.com. Crawford, 20, was named the top positional prospect in two leagues (Class A South Atlantic League and Class A Advanced Florida State League) last year, when he combined, in 123 games, to post a .285 average, 11 homers, 48 RBI and 24 stolen bases. He also represented the Phils organization in the MLB All-Star Futures Game last season. As the 2015 campaign approaches, the six-foot-two 180-pound lefty batter is expected to reach the Double-A level and continue to prove why the Phillies selected him in the first round of the 2013 draft. In this initial installment of our weekly check-in with J.P., he shares thoughts on a variety of topics, including his exclusion from big league camp, which member of the big leagu...

Former Player Proposes Marriage on the Field in Lakewood

Three's a crowd, Buster...Image- Jay Floyd For one New Jersey couple a unique meeting at the ballpark led to a new meaning for the term baseball diamond. Brian Parker spotted the woman of his dreams from the bullpen bench at Lakewood, NJ's FirstEnergy Park on July 9th, 2010. The right-handed reliever for the Orioles affiliate Delmarva Shorebirds wasn't summoned to pitch that night, but it didn't stop him from getting up and going through his usual warm up and stretching routines to inch closer to a young blonde Brick Township native that he felt drawn toward. "I was acting like I was staying hot, but really I was just trying to talk to her," Parker, a 19th round draft choice by Baltimore in 2007, stated. "I ended up putting my (phone) number on a baseball and we decided to hang out and throughout that whole next year it was back and forth trips between the both of us." The lady that caught Parker's eye was Kristin VanDeventer, who was ...

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