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)

Rappers in Phillies Caps

Weekend greetings to you phine pholks out there. Today's post features pictures of rappers wearing Phillies caps. Why rappers in Phillies caps, you ask? Because... Any other questions? We will start things off properly by going with a highly recognizable hip hop star. 50 Cent stays constantly relavant by consistantly creating radio friendly material to help sell (G) units, while he "keeps it real" by still rapping about the thug life he lived before becoming the 2nd highest earning black entertainer in America. 50 is seen here in a recent interview rocking a throw-back Phillies cap. Next up we'll use a throw-back screen cap from what may be the very first major appearance by a rapper wearing Phillies gear. Chuck D, of legendary rap group Public Enemy, wore a Phillies cap in the music video for rap anthem Fight The Power in 1989. The song was the lead single from the soundtrack for Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing . Next up we'll go with some home grown tal...

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". ...

PhoulBallz Interview: Off-season check in with 1B Kyle Martin

Kyle Martin, image- Jay Floyd First base prospect Kyle Martin grew up in South Carolina as a Phillies fan, admiring slugger Jim Thome , so it was a dream come true for his entire family when the organization made him their 4th round draft choice this year. A lefty batting power threat, Martin quickly made his professional debut with Class A Lakewood. The transition to the minors seemed easy, as the 23-year-old tallied a .279 average with five home runs and 37 RBI in 65 games for the BlueClaws. I recently spoke with the University of South Carolina product about his remarkable 2015 as a whole and he ranked how playing in the Phillies organization ranks against playing for Team USA in this year's Premiere 12 tournament. Read ahead for that interview and click here for my previous feature on the six-foot-two 240-pounder. -Are you still enjoying downtime right now or have you reached the stage of your off-season where you are back to baseball activities and knocking the ru...

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