By: Nick Mandarano, contributor 
PHILADELPHIA — After starting the season 0-4, the Phillies have won five of their last six games and look to surpass .500 for the first time since April 11, 2015. In sole possession of second place, the Phillies (5-5) trail the National League East leading Washington Nationals (7-1) by just three games.
The Phillies starting rotation has been exceeding expectations this season. On the heels of a fantastic outing by Vince Velasquez, Jeremy Hellickson looks to continue the staff's success. Through their first ten games of the season, Philadelphia’s starting pitchers lead the majors in WAR, strikeouts, opponents OBP, and K/BB ratio.
Each player on both the Phillies and the Nationals will be donning the number 42 today in honor of Jackie Robinson Day.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Washington Nationals (7-1) | Philadelphia Phillies (5-5) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Joe Ross | RHP | Jeremy Hellickson | ||
| (1-0, 1.29 ERA) | (1-0, 1.54 ERA) | ||||
Joe Ross — Age: 22;
- Last Appearance: April 10, 2016, vs MIA: W, 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 SO
- Career vs. PHI: First career start against Philadelphia
In Ross's only other start this season, he threw over 70% sinkers, according to BrooksBaseball.net. Of his other 29 pitches in the game, 28 of them were sliders. Only 25 of his 68 sinkers were swung at and only three resulted in a swing and a miss.
Cesar Hernandez has hit .335 in 167 career at-bats ending with a sinker and .288 in 80 career at-bats ending with a slider. Maikel Franco has a career average of .313 in at-bats ending with a sinker and .282 in at-bats ending with a slider. In other words, Ross may have a difficult time with such a limited repertoire against this Phillies lineup.
Jeremy Hellickson — Age: 29;
- Last Appearance: April 10, 2016, at NYM: W, 5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 SO
- Career vs. WAS: (0-1), 2 G, 10.1 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 8 BB, 6 SO, 2 HR, 6.97 ERA
Hellickson will take the mound in Philadelphia for the first time in his career. In Hellickson’s previous two starts, he’s gone a combined 11.2 innings with 11 strikeouts and a 1.54 ERA. The Nationals hitters have a collective lifetime average of .256 (10-39) against Hellickson. Stephen Drew, who is not in today's starting lineup, has faced Hellickson eleven times in his career, more than anyone else on Washington’s roster.
When given at least three runs of support, Hellickson is 45-8 in his career. He's just 3-40 when supported by no more than two runs. Over the last two years, the Phillies have scored an average of 3.74 runs in games against the Nationals and 3.88 runs in home games against the Nationals.
Starting Lineups:
| Washington Nationals (7-1) | Philadelphia Phillies (5-5) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | CF | Michael A. Taylor | R | 1 | 2B | Emmanuel Burriss | S |
| 2 | 3B | Anthony Rendon | R | 2 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 3 | RF | Bryce Harper | L | 3 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 4 | 1B | Ryan Zimmerman | R | 4 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 5 | 2B | Daniel Murphy | L | 5 | 1B | Ryan Howard | L |
| 6 | LF | Jayson Werth | R | 6 | C | Carlos Ruiz | R |
| 7 | C | Wilson Ramos | R | 7 | LF | Cedric Hunter | L |
| 8 | SS | Danny Espinosa | S | 8 | RF | Peter Bourjos | R |
| 9 | P | Joe Ross | R | 9 | P | Jeremy Hellickson | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 7:05 p.m.
- TV: CSN
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- Through their first ten games in the rotation, Philadelphia’s starting pitchers have combined to post a Major League-best 2.14 ERA (15 ER, 63.0 IP). That mark is the lowest by a Phillies starting staff through the first ten games of a season since 1972 (2.07) and is their 6th-lowest since 1913.
- After winning the final series between the two teams in 2015, the Phillies are looking to win back-to-back series against the Nationals for the first time since they won three straight from August 25, 2014 to April 12, 2015.
- The Phillies are hitting just .191 at home this season and are averaging 2.75 runs per game. Where they've lacked in offense, they've made up for in pitching. The team's home ERA is 1.25 in 2016.
What's Next:
- Saturday, April 16, 2016: vs. Washington Nationals, 7:05 p.m.
- Philadelphia - Citizens Bank Park
- RHP Max Scherzer (1-0, 4.15) vs. RHP Aaron Nola (0-1, 3.21)
- TV: TCN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
