By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
PHILADELPHIA — Coming off of their first series win over the New York Mets since April 8-10, 2016, the Philadelphia Phillies (6-9) return home Friday evening for a series opener matchup against 20-year veteran RHP Bartolo Colon and the Atlanta Braves (6-9) at Citizens Bank Park.
Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson will take the mound as he looks to build on his last outing, a seven-inning, two-run performance in the Phillies' 4-2 win over the Washington Nationals on April 15.
The Phillies will embark on their second homestand of the season — a six-game set against the Braves and Miami Marlins — to conclude their stretch of 18 straight games against division opponents. The Phillies will then travel west for seven games from April 28 to May 4 to face Chase Utley and the Los Angeles Dodgers, as well as the reigning World Series champion Chicago Cubs.
Prior to the game, RHP Pat Neshek was reinstated from the paternity list and RHP Ben Lively was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Atlanta Braves (6-9) | Philadelphia Phillies (6-9) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Bartolo Colon | RHP | Jeremy Hellickson | ||
| (1-1, 4.24 ERA) | (2-0, 1.59 ERA) | ||||
Colon Career vs. PHI: 11-5, 3.43 ERA, 19 G, 120 2/3 IP, 118 H, 51 R, 46 ER, 11 HR, 27 BB, 96 SO, 1.202 WHIP
Eight of Colon's 11 home runs surrendered to the Phillies have occurred at Citizens Bank Park. The 43-year-old went 3-1 with a 3.03 ERA and 0.978 WHIP ratio in five starts against the Phillies last season.
Colon, 43, is coming off of a seven-inning, one-hit performance in the Braves' 9-2 victory over the Padres on Sunday. His only surrendered hit was a solo home run to third baseman Ryan Schimpf in the top of the second. Overall this season, the right-hander has a 14-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 17 frames.
Hellickson Career vs. ATL: 1-0, 3.43 ERA, 4 G, 21 IP, 19 H, 9 R, 8 ER, HR, 6 BB, 15 SO, 1.190 WHIP
Five of Hellickson's last six starts have come against division opponents dating back to Sept. 17 of last season. During that stretch, Hellickson, 30, has surrendered more than two runs just once, but only has 15 strikeouts through 33 2/3 innings.
Low strikeouts have been an issue for the veteran right-hander this season as well. Hellickson has the fewest among all qualifying starters (5), three removed from the Pittsburgh Pirates' Ivan Nova and the Phillies' Saturday opponent, Jaime Garcia of the Braves (8). Still, Hellickson has had success this season with only three extra-base hits allowed in as many starts.
Starting Lineups:
| Atlanta Braves (6-9) | Philadelphia Phillies (6-9) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | CF | Ender Inciarte | L | 1 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 2 | 3B | Adonis Garcia | R | 2 | LF | Aaron Altherr | R |
| 3 | 1B | Freddie Freeman | L | 3 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 4 | LF | Matt Kemp | R | 4 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 5 | RF | Nick Markakis | L | 5 | RF | Michael Saunders | L |
| 6 | 2B | Brandon Phillips | R | 6 | 1B | Tommy Joseph | R |
| 7 | C | Tyler Flowers | R | 7 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 8 | SS | Dansby Swanson | R | 8 | C | Cameron Rupp | R |
| 9 | P | Bartolo Colon | R | 9 | P | Jeremy Hellickson | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 7:05 p.m.
- TV: CSN
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes
- Both Hellickson and Colon have 3.43 career ERAs against their opposition spanning four and 19 starts, respectively. This season, the two right-handers are tied for the seventh-best WHIP ratio among starting pitchers, 0.82. Both have tossed 17 innings through three starts, however Colon has surrendered five more runs (8) than the Phillies' Opening Day starter (3).
- Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco ended a career-long 0-22 slump on Thursday with a RBI double to deep left against Mets RHP Noah Syndergaard in the third inning. Five frames later, he hit his third home run of the season. Franco is just 1-16 lifetime against Colon with a RBI and three strikeouts, however, which could delay efforts for the slugger to further climb out of his recent slump.
- Hellickson is undefeated over his last six home starts dating back to July 20 against the Marlins. During this stretch he is 4-0 with a 1.52 ERA and 0.774 WHIP ratio. The right-hander has thrown three consecutive scoreless outings at Citizens Bank Park, which includes a three-hit shutout on Sept. 17, 2016, against the Marlins.
NL East Standings
| W | L | GB | L10 | Streak | Home | Road | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Nationals | 10 | 5 | — | 7-3 | W4 | 6-3 | 4-2 |
| Miami Marlins | 8 | 7 | 2.0 | 5-5 | L1 | 4-2 | 4-5 |
| New York Mets | 8 | 8 | 2.5 | 5-5 | L1 | 4-5 | 4-3 |
| Atlanta Braves | 6 | 9 | 4.0 | 5-5 | L3 | 4-3 | 2-6 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 6 | 9 | 4.0 | 4-6 | W1 | 2-4 | 4-5 |
What's Next:
- Saturday, April 22, 2017: vs. Atlanta Braves, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- LHP Jaime Garcia (0-1, 4.67 ERA) vs. RHP Jerad Eickhoff (0-1, 2.75 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
