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Division rivals begin a 3-game series on the birthday of the country, as the Phillies (53-32) travel to Florida to take on the Marlins (38-46) on Independence Day. Florida went 3-22 to begin the month of June, but have gone 4-1 since then. The tough stretch set the Marlins back quite a bit. The club now sits 14 1/2 games behind the division leading Phillies, in last place in the National League East division. Details on the pitching match ups and loads more key stats from this series lie ahead. Monday, 6:10PM. Vance Worley (3-1, 2.57 ERA) vs. Ricky Nolasco (5-4, 4.08 ERA). In 2 career games against Florida, Worley is 0-1 with 3.38 ERA. Worley has a 0-1 record with a 5.25 ERA in 4 road appearances this season. Worley is 1-0 with a 1.00 ERA in his last 3 starts. In his last 4 starts, Nolasco is 1-3 with a 4.88 ERA. Nolasco is 6-3 with a 3.57 ERA in 13 career games against the Phillies. Shane Victorino is 4-for-26 (.154 avg) in his career against Nolasco. Tuesday, 7:10PM. Cole ...

With a double header on Wednesday (the afternoon game is a make up for a rain out back in April) breaking up the highly regarded Philadelphia pitching rotation, the Marlins (32-33) will still have to face the Phillies' (40-26) three strongest starting pitchers in this upcoming 4-game series at Citizens Bank Park. On consecutive days, the Marlins are set to face Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee, who, in their past 15 combined starts (5 from each hurler), have posted a 12-1 record and a 2.38 ERA. Florida will counter with a collection of three pitchers that have not had much success against the Phillies (17-19 combined record, 4.69 combined ERA) and a starter that has not been announced yet, in the series. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and loads more statistical information from this series. Tuesday, 7:05PM. Chris Volstad (2-6, 5.51 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (8-2, 2.58 ERA). In 10 career starts against the Phillies, Volstad has a 2-3 record with a 4.45 ERA. Vols...

Fresh off a pair of exceptional pitching outings in which Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee tossed the first back to back complete game for the Phillies (9-3) in 12 years, the 4-time defending National League East Division champions return home for a three-game series against the Florida Marlins (7-5). Against the Nationals on the road this week, Halladay and Lee were strong on the mound. The Marlins will be fortunate to miss each of those pitching stars, but will attempt to take down the balance of the Phillies' well regarded pitching rotation. In game one of the series, Roy Oswalt looks to remain undefeated in his career at Citizens Bank Park. He will face veteran hurler Javier Vazquez, who hasn't had the same sort of success in Philadelphia. Read ahead for details on that pitching match up and the others, as well as loads more statistics from this weekend match up. Friday, 7:05PM. Javier Vazquez (1-1, 8.64 ERA) vs. Roy Oswalt (2-0, 2.25 ERA). The righty Vazquez is 12-8 with a ...

For $1,000 in the category of Questionable Pro Athlete Photo Shoots, the answer is, "The former NL batting champ who appears in the latest edition of ESPN the Magazine naked and freshly manscaped, while coming off fruitier than Toucan Sam's favorite breakfast cereal (not that there's anything wrong with that)." Question: "Who is Hanley Ramirez? CORRECT! The Florida Marlins shortstop, Ramirez, is featured in ESPN's annual Body Issue, out this week, in a hairless, unclothed state, while ironing. Watch out for that steam setting, Hanley! The caption features a quote from Ramirez's agent, Andy Mota..."Sometimes Hanley tells me that he amazes himself- the even he can't believe the stuff his body can do." Neither can I. Who would have guessed Hanley moonlights as a naked maid in the offseason? This Hanley photo is the most suspect thing to pop up in the NL East since Ryan Madson was photographed out on the town in late 2008. _____________________...

The Phillies have been hot at home, but much cooler on the road. The defending National League champions haven't won a series away from Citizens Bank Park since June 15-17 at Yankee Stadium. Philadelphia (57-48) hopes to win their first road series opener since a series in Florida that began on May 28th. The Phillies will send the ace, Roy Halladay, to the mound. Halladay threw a perfect game the last time he pitched in Miami. The Marlins (53-52) will counter with lefty Sean West, who will be making his first start of the season. Ryan Howard, who injured his ankle in the first inning of Sunday's contest against the Nationals, has returned to Philadelphia to be further examined by team physicians. He is expected to miss some time, but whether he spends time on the disabled list remains to be seen. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and other key information on this series. Tuesday, 7:10pm. Roy Halladay (12-8, 2.21 ERA) vs. Sean West (N/A). Halladay is 2-2 with a 2...

The 2nd place Phillies (30-26) will play host to the 4th Marlins (26-28) for a 3-game series starting Tuesday night. Each team has won 3 times out of the previous 6 meetings this season. The Phillies have won just one of their last seven series played and hope to get things turned around as Kyle Kendrick takes the mound in the series opener. The Marlins will counter with Chris Volstad. The Phillies' struggles (11 losses over the last 15 games) could be pinned on the slumps that usual offensive stand outs like Jayson Werth and Chase Utley are dealing with. In that 15-game span, Werth is batting .125, while Utley has a .140 average. The Marlins are looking to get back over .500 by adding power hitting prospect Mike Stanton, who hit 21 homeruns in 52 games with Double-A level Jacksonville this season. Stanton is slated to make his Major League debut on Tuesday night. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups for this series, as well as loads of other stats. Tuesday, 7:05pm. Chr...

It will be too late for many people's liking, but it's really about time to NEVER USE BRAD LIDGE IN A SAVE SITUATION ON THE ROAD AGAIN. Lidge in 2009 road games- 0-6, 8.10 ERA, 15 saves, 10 blown saves. One of my favorite statistics that I regularly update here on PhoulBallz is the percentage of games that Brad Lidge has allowed earned runs in this season, compared to the 18% he allowed in 2008. This year, Lidge has allowed earned runs in 43% of his outings. And, as a reminder, in 2007 Brett Myers allowed earned runs in just 21% of his relief appearances. Considering Lidge's season-long struggles, what is the solution when Brett Myers is ailing with a back muscle/shoulder injury, when Chan Ho Park has an injured hamstring, when Ryan Madson looks just as inept in the 9th inning as Brad Lidge seems and when JC Romero is still unavailable to pitch due to a forearm injury? Well, on Wednesday night, with Hanley Ramirez batting with two outs and the tying run on 3rd base, your an...