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Ryan Howard, image- Jay Floyd In a series that will wrap up the fifth straight season in which the Phillies (70-89) have failed to reach the postseason, the host club will likely see a division rival clinch a playoff berth on their home turf. The Phils will host the Mets (85-74), who hold a magic number of two to lock down a National League Wild Card spot, for a three-game set beginning Friday night. With the Mets in the driver's seat to be able to punch their own ticket toward the postseason, the Phils will counter with something remarkable of their own, when they honor former NL Most Valuable Player and three-time All-Star Ryan Howard with a pre-game presentation on Sunday. The 36-year-old is playing his last days in a Phillies uniform as the team reportedly plans a buy out of their option on the veteran for next season. The lefty slugger has been in the Phils' organization since the team made him their 5th round draft choice back in 2001. The Mets have been vic...

Fresh off their first back-to-back series losses since the All-Star break, the Phillies (78-78) travel south to take on the division rival Marlins (66-90) in a three-game series. Both teams have had disappointing seasons, as the Phillies are set to miss the postseason for the first time since 2006 and the Marlins, who increased their team payroll by near $54 million this year, are in last place in the National League East division. The Phillies have won 8 of 15 meetings with the Marlins this season. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and other key statistical notes from this series. Friday, 7:10 PM.  Cliff Lee (6-8, 3.18 ERA) vs. Mark Buehrle (13-13, 3.84 ERA).   In 14 road starts this season, Lee has a 4-2 record with a 2.84 ERA.  Lee has a 5-3 record with a 2.41 ERA in 14 starts since the All-Star break.  Carlos Lee is 11-for-27 (.407 avg) with 3 HR in his career against Lee.  In 7 career starts against the Phillies, Buehrle has a ...

The Phillies will kick off their home schedule on Monday when they host a familiar division rival, the newly named Miami Marlins, in the opener of a three-game set. Led by lefty Cole Hamels , who will start on Monday afternoon, the Phillies will try to get back to the winning ways that brought their organization five straight division championships, after losing their last two contests in disappointing, walk-off fashion to Pittsburgh over the weekend. Hamels, who posted a 2.93 ERA in 7 spring training outings, begins a crucial season, with not only the Phillies' run of division dominance on the line, but perhaps his entire future on it too, as the 2008 World Series Most Valuable Player will have the opportunity to sign a hefty contract sometime in the next 10 months, or so. With a sluggish offense thus far in 2012, averaging 2 runs per contest, the Phillies have depended on their starting pitching to keep them in games. In the first three games the season, Philadelphia starters ...

The Phillies, losers of 6 straight games, travel to Citi Field this weekend to take on the division rival New York Metropolitans in a three-game series. During the Phillies' recent skid, the five-time National League East division champions have been without two big time contributors to their offense, as Ryan Howard and Hunter Pence have missed time with injuries. Howard has been resting his ailing left ankle this week, while Pence has been out since straining the patellar tendon in his left knee on Tuesday. Both stars are expected to play this weekend. In the series opener, the Phils will send lefty Cole Hamels, who hasn't been very successful against the Metropolitans throughout his career, to the mound, while New York counters with right-hander R.A. Dickey, who is typically strong against the Phillies. Philadelphia has won 10 of 15 meetings with the Metropolitans this season. Read ahead for more details on the pitching match ups and other key notes from this series. Frida...

The Phillies (81-60) have been on fire lately and have surged to take over the top spot in the National League East. However, CitiField has proven to be an obstacle the Phils can't handle this season, as they've managed to score just 7 runs in 6 games there in 2010. They travel north to take on the Metropolitans (69-71) there in a 3-game series that begins Friday night. The reigning NL champion Phillies have won three straight division crowns. New York, while out of the pennant race, still hopes to play some role in the final standings, and beating the teams near the top is surely a way to do just that. Hoping to prevent the host team from playing spoiler, Philadelphia will send ace hurler Roy Halladay to the mound in game 1. New York will counter with rookie right-hander Jenrry Mejia, who could have a hard time matching the All-star Halladay's efforts. New York will activate Jose Reyes from the disabled list this weekend. Reyes has been sidelined since August 26th with an ...

Back at home, where they've won 11 in a row, the Phillies (60-48) hope to gain ground in the standings as they face the rival Metropolitans (54-54) in a 3-game series. Without injured All-stars Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Shane Victorino, Philadelphia hasn't shown signs of slowing down as they've closed the gap on the NL East leading Braves to 2 games, with a series sweep at Florida this week. Philadelphia will send Joe Blanton to the mound in the series opener. New York will counter with left-hander Jonathan Niese. The last time these two teams met, from May 25th-27th, Metropolitans pitchers shut out the Phillies over 3 games, sweeping the series. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and plenty more information on this series. Friday, 7:35pm. Jonathan Niese (7-5, 3.78 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (4-6, 5.86 ERA). In his last 5 starts, Niese is 1-3 with a 4.20 ERA. In 8 road starts this season, Niese has posted a 3-2 record with a 3.91 ERA. In 5 career starts against ...

The Phillies (26-17) begin a 9 game road trip on Tuesday night, when they head to New York to face the Metropolitans (22-23), who are in last place in the National League East division, 5 games behind the Phillies. On Sunday, against Red Sox knuckle baller Tim Wakefield, the Phillies could not muster a run over 8 innings. The Mets will follow up with their own knuckle ball pitcher, R.A. Dickey, in the series opener, while the Phillies will counter with Jamie Moyer. The Phillies won 5 of 9 meetings between the two clubs at Citi Field last season. Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and loads more stats from this series. Tuesday, 7:10pm. Jamie Moyer (5-3, 4.30 ERA) vs. RA Dickey (0-0, 3.00). Moyer earned a win against the Mets on May 2nd, when he allowed 5 earned runs over 6 innings pitched. In 23 career starts against the Metropolitans, Moyer has a 9-5 record with a 3.86 ERA. David Wright is 21-for-50 (.420 avg) with 4 homers in his career against Moyer. Dickey, who will b...

In case a 7 game win streak and being in first place are not enough to keep you Philadelphia phans smiling right now, due to concerns over losing Brett Myers or worries about Shane Victorino's hip, I've got a little something that should have you feeling better quicker than a hiccup. The New York Mess are 4 games back in the NL East, were just swept by the lowly Pirates and the injuries keep coming for them. JJ Putz has elbow trouble . Jose Reyes is dealing with a torn hamstring . Those are both on top of the injuries to Carlos Delgado, Angel Pagan and Ryan Church. Plus, just look at this picture of Carlos Beltran. Isn't it glorious?

The weekend is just about here, but it's not feeling great so far. My college hoops team lost, and my mail included a huge image of Mets star David Wright on the cover of The Sporting News. "All Wright"? Um, I don't really believe it is. Aside from the non-appealing cover, it's the MLB preview issue, so allow me to share some things I learned from this week's magazine. 1- Former Phillie, and regular Sporting News columnist, Todd Jones has gone insane. Jones predicts that Jamie Moyer will win the NL Cy Young Award, and that Manny Ramirez will run for governor of California after the Dodgers win the 2009 World Series. 2- Ichiro Suzuki rocks the party that rocks the body. Metropolitans reliever Francisco Rodriguez compares Jose Reyes to Ichiro, saying they do many of the same things. I must have missed Ichiro performing rehearsed celebratory hand jives after getting a hit or scoring a run in a losing effort. And I know I missed Ichiro getting caught cheating on...

There is loads of news coming out of spring training this week. Most of which is from the Phillies' home of Clearwater, FL, but some is from Port St. Lucie, FL, where the Mets train. The New York media continues to ask every Metropolitan possible about the remarks of Jimmy Rollins in past years (about our Phils being the team to beat), and the statement by Cole Hamels, in December, to a NYC radio station about the Mets being "choke artists". It seems that the Metropolitans players are getting a vibe from all the media questions that the Phillies players are speaking about the Mets endlessly, when the fact is that the only material going is from the reporters who wish to build this rivalry, in order to get page views, sell papers, and gain viewers for NYC sports programming. Carlos Beltran was nice enough yesterday to state the Mets' desire to end Cole Hamels by saying, "The only thing I know is that he will be watched every time he faces us. Hopefully, we kill hi...