Phillies, Marlins open final series of season with straight doubleheader

Matt Rappa

October 3 2015

PHILADELPHIA – With Friday's series opener being postponed due to inclement weather, both the Philadelphia Phillies (62-97) and Miami Marlins (69-90) will attempt to play two of their remaining three games of the season Saturday evening in a straight doubleheader, despite the possibility of additional rain showers in the city.

In what could be his final start in red pinstripes, veteran RHP Aaron Harang will take the mound for the Phillies in the first game against RHP Tom Koehler. RHP Alec Asher will seek his first career victory in Game 2 in opposition of rookie southpaw Justin Nicolino.

Rookie third baseman Maikel Franco is anticipated to return to game action this series for the first time since suffering a non-displaced right wrist fracture on August 11 in Arizona. At the time of his injury, Franco led all big-league rookies in doubles (22), OPS (.828) and slugging percentage (.490).

Starting Pitching Matchups:

	Miami Marlins (69-90)		Philadelphia Phillies (62-97)
Game 1	RHP	Tom Koehler	RHP	Aaron Harang
		(11-14, 4.00 ERA)		(6-15, 4.86 ERA)
Game 2	LHP	Justin Nicolino	RHP	Alec Asher
		(4-4, 4.16 ERA)		(0-5, 9.00 ERA)

Koehler, 29, is 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA over three starts against the Phillies this season, two of which occurred in Philadelphia.

Spanning 204 career plate appearance's against the right hander, Phillies' batters are hitting (.263/.317/.371) with six doubles, one triple, 15 walks, four home runs and 10 runs-batted-in.

Koehler has won three of his last four starts, dating back to September 9 against the Brewers.

Nicolino, 23, has surrendered a total of 24 extra-base hits this season (13 doubles, four triples, seven home runs) to the 274 batters he has faced (8.8%).

The left hander's only start against the Phillies occurred on August 22, where he allowed just two runs on five hits and a walk over a career-high 7 2/3 innings.

Harang, 37, has just one winning decision over his last 10 starts for the Phillies. He is 1-4 over that stretch with a 6.63 ERA and a 1.617 WHIP ratio.

The veteran right hander last opposed the Marlins on September 22, where he allowed two runs over seven innings en-route to a victory that snapped a six-game losing streak for the team.

Asher, 23, has been on the losing side in five of his six career outings to date, having allowed 27 runs over 27.0 innings for a 9.00 ERA.

The rookie's most recent outing on Wednesday was short-lived, as he was pulled after recording just two outs. Phillies' manager Pete Mackanin is allowing Asher to return on short rest in order to give him a 'chance to rebound'.

Starting Lineups:

Game 1:

Miami Marlins (69-90)				Philadelphia Phillies (62-97)
	Position	Player	Bats		Position	Player	Bats
1	2B	Dee Gordon	L	1	SS	Freddy Galvis	S
2	CF	Christian Yelich	L	2	LF	Aaron Altherr	R
3	3B	Martin Prado	R	3	CF	Odubel Herrera	L
4	LF	Derek Dietrich	L	4	1B	Darin Ruf	R
5	RF	Marcell Ozuna	R	5	3B	Cody Asche	L
6	1B	Casey McGehee	R	6	2B	Darnell Sweeney	S
7	C	Jeff Mathis	R	7	C	Carlos Ruiz	R
8	SS	Donovan Solano	R	8	RF	Brian Bogusevic	L
9	P	Tom Koehler	R	9	P	Aaron Harang	R

Game 2: TBA

Game Information:

Gates open: 3:05 p.m. EST
First pitch: 4:05 p.m. EST (Game 1), followed by Game 2
TV: CSN
Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, WTTM 1680 (Sp.)
Weather: Cloudy/Wind NE 21 mph; 55 degrees Fahrenheit; 15% chance of precipitation

Game Notes:

The Phillies are 7-3 over their last 10 games against the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park, despite scoring just one more run and being outhit 100-78.

Marlins' second baseman Dee Gordon is the first National League leadoff hitter to record 190-plus hits and 50-plus stolen bases in a season since Mets' shortstop Jose Reyes in 2008.
Gordon (.329, 56) ranks second in the N.L. behind Nationals' right fielder Bryce Harper (.331) and Reds' center fielder Billy Hamilton (57) in batting average and stolen bases respectively. If he surpasses both in each respective category, Gordon would be the first player in the N.L. to accomplish such feat since legendary Brooklyn Dodgers' second baseman Jackie Robinson (.342, 37) in 1949.
Combined in their careers against both of today's Marlins' starters, active members of the Phillies are 22-90 (.244) with four doubles, four home runs, six walks and 12 runs-batted-in. First baseman Ryan Howard was excluded, as he is not expected to return this season, according to Mackanin.