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Without much success away from home recently, having dropped 17 of their last 21 road contests, the Phillies (68-78) will hope to turn things around when they travel and kick off a three-game series against the division rival Washington Nationals (77-69) on Friday. The Nats, who are 5 1/2 games back in the National League Wild Card standings, are still clinging to some postseason hopes and will look to lock down their fifth straight victory against the Phillies at Nationals Park. For full details on the pitching match ups and other key notes from this series read ahead. Friday, 7:05 PM. Kyle Kendrick (10-12, 4.51 ERA) vs. Stephen Strasburg (7-9, 2.96 ERA). In his last six starts, Kendrick has a 0-4 record and a 5.13 ERA. Kendrick sports a 2-3 record and a 5.31 ERA in nine career games at Nationals Park. Bryce Harper is 8-for-20 (.400 avg) with a home run and two RBI in his career against Kendrick. Strasburg has a 5-4 record with a 1.55 ERA in 14 home games this se...

Here's an abbreviated version of the usual series preview, reviewing the match ups for this week's three-game series between the National League East division rival Nationals (34-34) and the Phillies (33-37) at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park.  Monday, 7:05 PM. Dan Haren (4-8, 5.70 ERA) vs. John Lannan (0-1, 6.14 ERA). In five career starts against the Phillies, Haren has a 0-3 record along with a 5.79 ERA. Haren is 0-3 with a 6.05 ERA in his last four starts. Ryan Howard is 1-for-9 (.111 avg) in his career against Haren. The left-handed Lannan will make his fourth big league start of the year after missing nearly two months with left knee issues. Adam LaRoche is 0-for-12 in his career against Lannan. The former Nats hurler has a 6.05 ERA in nine career starts at Citizens Bank Park. Tuesday, 7:05 PM. Ross Detwiler (2-4, 3.02 ERA) vs. Cliff Lee (8-2, 2.55 ERA). In five road starts this season, Detwiler is 1-2 with a 3.12 ERA and a .290 batting...

Pat Burrell is congratulated by manager Bruce Bochy following Burrell's HR on Friday vs. Oakland Pat Burrell in 7 games with his new club, the San Francisco Giants, has contributed with a .333 batting average. Burrell, who could never quite excel with his previous team the Tampa Bay Rays, has driven in 4 runs and slugged two doubles and a homerun in his short time thus far with San Francisco. Burrell smashed his first homerun as a Giant on Friday, against former Phillies prospect Gio Gonzalez, of the Athletics. The Giants won the contest 6-2. Gonzalez suffered his 4th loss to San Francisco on Friday, but he also has 6 wins and a 3.79 ERA through 13 starts thus far in 2010. Burrell's teammate Aaron Rowand is struggling on offense, as he's posted a .223 batting average and .654 OPS this season. Rowand is a .278 career batter and has a career OPS of .782, so surely his 2010 output is far below his typical level of contributions. Oakland has more players than Gonzalez with Phil...