Series Preview: Phillies at Marlins, May 6-8

Fresh off a series loss on the road in St. Louis that saw the cruising Phillies (16-13) drop three of four, the team heads south to take on the division rival Marlins (15-12) in the three-game set this weekend.

The Phils had been winners of 15 of their last 21 games prior to visiting the Cardinals. Now, they'll look to get back on the winning track in Miami.

This will be the first meeting between the two clubs this season.

Friday, 7:10 PM. RHP Vince Velasquez (4-1, 1.44 ERA) vs. LHP Wei-Yin Chen (2-1, 4.26 ERA). In two road starts this season, Velasquez has a 2-0 record with a 2.25 ERA. Velasquez's .164 batting average against ranks 6th best in MLB so far this season. He has not allowed a run in three of his five outings this season. Chen threw eight shutout innings in his lone career start against the Phillies last June. Chen sports a 4.91 ERA in three home starts this season.

Saturday, 7:10 PM. RHP Jeremy Hellickson (2-2, 4.88 ERA) vs. RHP Tom Koehler (2-3, 7.25 ERA). In four career starts against the Marlin, the 29-year-old Hellickson has a 0-1 record with a 3.97 ERA. Hellickson sports a 3.00 ERA in four road starts this season. Ichiro Suzuki is 2-for-19 (.105 avg) in his career against Hellickson. Koehler, 29, has a 2-3 record with a 4.53 ERA in 11 games against the Phillies. Koehler has a 3.72 ERA in 50 career games at Marlins Park. Odubel Herrera is 3-for-8 (.375 avg) against Koehler.

Sunday, 1:10 PM. RHP Aaron Nola (2-2, 2.93 ERA) vs. LHP Justin Nicolino (2-0, 2.70 ERA). Nola tossed eight shutout innings in his lone career start against the Marlins. Nola, 22, has a 2-0 record and a 0.64 ERA in four road starts this season. Nicolino, 24, was a 2nd round draft pick (by Toronto) in 2010. He is 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA in two starts against the Phillies.

Maikel Franco is batting .314 with four homers in 14 road games this year. Franco is 1-for-17 (.059 avg) in his last five games.

Odubel Herrera's .447 OBP is tied for second best in the majors. The 24-year-old lefty batter has a .368 batting average in 19 career games against the Marlins.

In 10 games against the Marlins, Phillies closer Jeanmar Gomez has a 2-0 record with a 0.95 ERA and a .203 batting average against.

In 70 career games against the Phils, outfielder Giancarlo Stanton has a .266 batting average with 17 home runs and 38 RBI. The righty batting slugger is hitting .400 with six home runs over his last 10 games.

Shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria has a .284 batting average with a homer and 19 RBI in 43 games against the Phils. The righty hitting Cuban has a .184 average in 11 home games this year.

The Phillies' team batting average against left-handers is .166, worst in the majors.

Marlins' bullpen ERA- 3.29 (12th in MLB)
Phillies' bullpen ERA- 4.32 (22nd 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...

Kendrick & LaGrossa- Second Phils/Survivor Marriage

On Saturday, Phillies pitcher Kyle Kendrick married 3-time Survivor contestant and former Flyers employee Stephenie LaGrossa. The couple exchanged vows in front of 105 guests at the Silverado Resort in Napa, California. Their special day featured many personalized aspects, including cocktail hour snacks modeled in the fashion of mini Philly cheesesteaks, as well as the couple's two dogs, Bebe and Champ, serving as flower girl and ring bearer during the ceremony. The pets wore a white dress and a tuxedo, respectively. Kendrick is now the second Phillies pitcher to marry a former contestant of the CBS reality competition program, as lefty Cole Hamels wedded Heidi Strobel, who appeared on the sixth season of Survivor, in 2007. _________________________________________________________________ Be sure to follow PhoulBallz.com on Twitter, for updates, stats and info, by clicking HERE . Photos- People.com

The PhoulBallz Questionnaire

This week I came up with a quick questionnaire and asked 10 Phillies phans, 9 of which are Phils partial season ticket holders, 10 questions ranging from survey type inquiries to statistical trivia. My goal was to survey both genders in varying age groups. I spoke with 3 season ticket holding 50-something males. I spoke with 2 season ticket holding 30-something females. I spoke with 2 teenage males whose father is a season ticket holder (for the purpose of this small project, they've been counted as season ticket holders in the 9 out of 10 total). I asked a 25 year old male season ticket holder and a 30-or-so year old male season ticket holder. And lastly, I asked a 28 year old non-season ticket holding die-hard Phils phan. The questions are mostly Phillies oriented, with some generalized baseball trivia mixed in. Have a look at the questionnaire. See how you do, but don't research the answers that you may have a hard time with. 1- Name a Phillie who wore #4. 2- Name a ...

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