Phils Begin Last Week of Baseball; Cole Hamels Takes to the Hill in Miami

As several teams prepare for the postseason, or are trying to make that final push for October, the Phillies will instead play out their final six games before heading home for the winter. They'll begin a set of three games against the Marlins in Miami, then return to Philadelphia on Friday to finish out the season against the Atlanta Braves. Neither of those teams are poised for the postseason, making the final half dozen games simply matchups of bragging rights. Technically, the Phillies still have a chance to finish the season with the second spot in the National League East, but it would take six straight wins and a lot of luck. Tonight's brings Cole Hamels out for his second to last start of 2014, while Miami sends Henderson Alvarez to the bump.

In his last start for the Phillies, Cole Hamels wasn't exactly as sharp as he wanted to be to begin the game. However, he'd finish the night with another seven inning, one-run outing and helped guide the team to their lone victory in the series with San Diego. Since he did it twice in the first three games of his season, Hamels has surrendered more than three runs in a game just once. In fact, the lefty is on a stretch of 21 straight games where he is giving up just three or fewer earned runs to the opposition. And, in all but two of those 21 games, Hamels has tossed at least six innings. Look for Hamels to continue that streak, as he has twice this year.

Seemingly filling the role Jose Fernandez left behind with his ar injury earlier this season, Henderson Alvarez has been quite important for the Marlins rotation this season. His ERA rests below 3.00 and is second on the team with a WAR of 2.0. Alvarez is coming off of back to back impressive outings, one of which came against the Phillies back on September 12th. His last time out, Alvarez tossed six innings of two-run ball against the New York Mets. His game against Philadelphia was even more noteworthy, going seven innings with just one run given up.

Phillies Lineup

1. Ben Revere CF
2. Carlos Ruiz C
3. Chase Utley 2B
4. Ryan Howard 1B
5. Marlon Byrd RF
6. Domonic Brown LF
7. Cody Asche 3B
8. Freddy Galvis SS
9. Cole Hamels P

Marlins Lineup

1. Christian Yelich LF
2. Donovan Solano 2B
3. Casey McGehee 3B
4. Jeff Baker 1B
5. Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
6. Ed Lucas RF
7. Adeiny Hechavarria SS
8. Enrique Hernandez CF
9. Henderson Alvarez P

Andrew Gillen, Managing Editor of Philliedelphia.com