The Phillies return home tonight to host the underachieving Marlins after dropping six of seven on their first road trip of the season against the Mets and Nationals. They went 8-for-53 (.151) with runners in scoring position on the trip and overall this season they are hitting .168 in those situations. The Phils have left 97 men on base this season, tied for third most in the majors. They aren't creating runs via the long ball either. In one game against the Mets, they homered four times, but have only gone deep twice in the other 12 games.
Tonight, they welcome in a Marlins team who is shocking everyone by sitting in the cellar of the NL East early in the season. While the Phillies 4-9 record could be reflected a lot by the pitching they've faced, the Marlins have struggled against lower quality starters as well. With Giancarlo Stanton hitting just .239 so far this season, Miami will look to take advantage of the offensively challenged Phillies.
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Starting Pitching Match-up:
| Miami Marlins (3-10) | Philadelphia Phillies (4-9) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Dan Haren | RHP | Jerome Williams | ||
| 1-0, 2.08 ERA | 0-1, 4.09 ERA | ||||
In his last outing, Jerome Williams got hit around by the Mets in New York, allowing five runs on 10 hits in five innings of work. He's had trouble with keeping his fastball down in the zone, resulting in home run balls from opposing hitters. Williams doesn't have much success against the Marlins in two starts against them, posting an ERA of 8.31 in 13 innings. That's nearly one earned run per inning pitched against them.
Meanwhile, Dan Haren is off to a good start for Miami despite the teams' lack of success in the win-loss column. He earned the win against the Braves in his last start on April 15th after throwing seven innings, limiting the Braves to two runs on three hits. Both runs came via the solo home run. Haren hasn't had a ton of luck against the Phillies in his career. He's 1-5 with a 4.50 ERA in 10 starts against them. He's even worse when facing the Phils at Citizens Bank Park, posting an ERA of 5.73 in just 22 innings on the mound.
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Starting Lineups:
| Marlins (3-10) | Phillies (3-9) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | 2B | Dee Gordon | L | 1 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 2 | 3B | Martin Prado | R | 2 | SS | Ben Revere | L |
| 3 | RF | Giancarlo Stanton | R | 3 | 2B | Chase Utley | L |
| 4 | 1B | Michael Morse | R | 4 | C | Carlos Ruiz | R |
| 5 | LF | Christian Yelich | L | 5 | 3B | Cody Asche | L |
| 6 | CF | Marcell Ozuna | R | 6 | 1B | Ryan Howard | L |
| 7 | C | J.T. Realmuto | R | 7 | C | Grady Sizemore | L |
| 8 | SS | Adeiny Hechavarria | R | 8 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 9 | P | Dan Haren | R | 9 | P | Jerome Williams | R |
Ben Revere returns to the starting lineup tonight against a pitcher he's seen plenty of success against. Same goes for Grady Sizemore, who has great career numbers against Haren. Ryne Sandberg is continuing to show faith in Cody Asche in the heart of the order, he hits fifth. It's a lefty-heavy lineup tonight for the Phils.
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Game Notes:
- Phillies vs. Dan Haren
- Ben Revere: 8-for-18 (.444), 2B, RBI
- Grady Sizemore: 11-for-20 (.550), 2 2B's, 3 HR's, 4 RBI's
- Chase Utley: 6-for-21 (.286), 2B, 2 HR's, 6 RBI's
- Marlins vs. Jerome Williams
- Dee Gordon: 1-for-3 (.333), BB, K
- Michael Morse: 0-for-3
- Odubel Herrera is turning heads so far this season, slashing .302/.362/.512. He has five doubles and two triples. Over the last five games, he's gone 9-for-20 with six extra-base hits and two steals. In those five games, the Phillies scored 12 runs and Herrera was responsible for half of them.
- Mike Morse and Martin Prado have been Phillie killers over their careers. morse is hitting .366 in 161 plate appearances with nine homers and nine doubles. Meanwhile, Prado has a .300 career average against the Phils.
Broadcast Information:
Gametime: 7:05pm EST
Location: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA
Weather: 61 degrees, partly cloudy
TV: Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia
Radio: 1210 WPHT, 94 WIP, SBP 1480 (Spanish Broadcast)
Brandon Apter, Publishing Editor for Philliedelphia.com
