By: Matt Rappa, managing editor 
FLUSHING, N.Y. — The Philadelphia Phillies (1-4) will look for their first series win of the season Sunday afternoon in the rubber match against the reigning National League Champion New York Mets (2-2) and All-Star RHP Matt Harvey.
Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson will take the mound for his second regular season start in a Phillies uniform. Last Monday on Opening Day in Cincinnati, Hellickson tossed six innings, allowing just one unearned run on three hits and 79 pitches—55 of which were strikes.
In defeating 19-year veteran RHP Bartolo Colon and the Mets 1-0 Saturday evening—their first victory of the season as right-hander Vincent Velasquez threw six shutout innings with nine strikeouts—the Phillies avoided their worst start to a season in 82 years. The Minnesota Twins (0-5) and Atlanta Braves (0-4) are the only remaining winless teams in Major League Baseball.
The Phillies' last series victory against the Mets at their 7-year-old venue came on May 9-11, 2014.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Philadelphia Phillies (1-4) | New York Mets (2-2) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Jeremy Hellickson | RHP | Matt Harvey | ||
| (0-0, 0.00 ERA) | (0-1, 4.76 ERA) | ||||
Hellickson, who turned 29 years old on Friday, will make his third career starts against the Mets. In two prior appearances—both of which have occurred away from Citi Field—the seven-year veteran is 1-1 with a 9.31 ERA and a 1.966 WHIP ratio.
Harvey, 27, will oppose the Phillies for the fourth time of his career at Citi Field and ninth time overall. The New London, Connecticut, native has a career 2.44 ERA and 0.871 WHIP ratio against his National League East counterpart.
Seven days removed from his first start of the season against the 2015 World Series Champion Kansas City Royals, where he allowed four runs on eight hits and two walks, Harvey will look to end a two-game losing decision streak which dates back to Oct. 3 of last season.
Starting Lineups:
| Philadelphia Phillies (1-4) | New York Mets (2-2) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S | 1 | RF | Curtis Granderson | L |
| 2 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S | 2 | 3B | David Wright | R |
| 3 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L | 3 | CF | Yoenis Cespedes | R |
| 4 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R | 4 | 1B | Lucas Duda | L |
| 5 | 1B | Ryan Howard | L | 5 | 2B | Neil Walker | S |
| 6 | C | Carlos Ruiz | R | 6 | LF | Michael Conforto | L |
| 7 | LF | Cedric Hunter | L | 7 | SS | Asdrubal Cabrera | S |
| 8 | RF | Peter Bourjos | R | 8 | C | Kevin Plawecki | R |
| 9 | P | Jeremy Hellickson | R | 9 | P | Matt Harvey | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 1:10 p.m.
- TV: TCN
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- With his home run Saturday evening—the only produced run of the game for either side—Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard now has 45 home runs and 130 runs-batted-in spanning 162 career games against the Mets.
- The Phillies are 32-34 all-time against the Mets at Citi Field, averaging just 0.08 runs and 0.08 hits less per contest.
- Active members of the Phillies' roster have just one career extra-base hit against Harvey: a game-tying, fourth inning solo home run by Howard on May 8 of last season. Active members of the Mets, however, have nine career extra-base hits in opposition of Hellickson: eight doubles and one home run (OF Curtis Granderson).
What's Next:
- Monday, April 11, 2016: vs. San Diego Padres, 3:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- RHP Andrew Cashner (0-1, 11.25 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Nola (0-0, 1.29 ERA)
- TV: NBC10; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
