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NL East Series Preview from 8-13-09 through 8-17-09
Filed Under (Marlins Player News, Series Preview) by mrose at 3:30 PM on 08-14-2009
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| The Philadelphia Phillies(64-48, 1st in NL East) may have finally figured out their troubles since the trade deadline this week. This week, after being swept by the Marlins, the offense may have finally come back to life during a three game set in Chicago. Cliff Lee has been outstanding as he has three wins in as many games and even Ben Francisco was the hero for a night on Monday. They will look to put some space between themselves and the third place Braves and do better against a division rival than they did last weekend. Phillies Phandom will have all the information on this series you need.
The Atlanta Braves(60-54, 3rd in NL East 5GB, 3.5GB of wildcard) have won five straight and seven out of eight games. It started last week with a west coast swing where they took two of three from the lowly Padres and then were able to take three out of four from the Dodgers and gain ground in the playoffs races. This week they swept the Nats in a two game set and will hope to stay close in both playoff races. Martin Prado and Yunel Escobar are still on fire for the Braves and they hope Nate McClouth will be back soon as he has been day to day. The Braves Baseball Blog has more info on the series and the game. Be sure to check back for the Chatter Up! Between these two blogs today. Probable pitching matchups are below: |
| Friday @ 7:30PM EST – Blanton,PHI(7-6,4.02 ERA) vs. Jurrjens,ATL(9-8,3.01 ERA) |
| Saturday @ 4:00PM EST – Hamels,PHI(7-7,4.77 ERA) vs. Kawakami,ATL(5-9,4.12 ERA) |
| Sunday @ 8:00PM EST – Happ,PHI(8-2,2.75 ERA) vs. Vazquez,ATL(10-7,2.90 ERA) |
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| The Florida Marlins(61-54, 2nd in NL East 4.5GB, 3GB of wildcard) seemed to get a wakeup call last week when they were swept by the Nationals. Since that time, they are 6-1 including a series sweep last weekend of the division leading Phillies. They took three of four from the Astros this week and head into a VERY important series. They welcome in the wildcard leading Colorado Rockies for three games and could potentially leave town being tied for the wildcard if they can pull off a sweep. They will send Josh Johnson to the mound in the opener, so that is working for them. FishGuts will have more on the Marlins and this defining series.
The Colorado Rockies(64-51 2nd in NL West 5GB, 1st in NL Wildcard) have been on fire since the All-Star break except for a rough patch against the Phillies a week ago. This week they came off a three of four from the Cubs and finished with two of three at home against the Pirates with three large wins. The Rox are currently leading the wildcard, but they do have teams hot on their tail, including the Giants at only 1.5 gmaes back, the Marlins as mentioned above and the Braves only 3.5 games back. Probable pitching matchups are below: |
| Friday @ 7:10PM EST – Hammel,COL(7-6,4.66 ERA) vs. Johnson,FLA(11-2,2.92 ERA) |
| Saturday @ 6:10PM EST – Cook,COL(10-4,3.93 ERA) vs. VandenHurk,FLA(2-1,4.15 ERA) |
| Sunday @ 5:05PM EST – De La Rosa,COL(10-8,4.78 ERA) vs. Volstad,FLA(8-9,4.71 ERA) |
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| The New York Mets(61-54, 4th in NL East 12GB) have a lot of red L’s on the schedule for the past few weeks. The talks of the team not shaving until they made it to .500 are long gone as over the past 13 games are only 4-9 and the schedule has not been that difficult. They have lost those games to the Diamondbacks and Padres mainly with a couple against the Central division leading Cardinals for two. the injuries don’t appear to end for the Mets, and this week they found out Delgado may also be done for the year. The Real Dirty Mets Blog is your place to go for more information on the Mets. The San Francisco Giants(62-52, 3rd in NL West 6.5GB, 2nd in Wildcard 1.5GB) have hit rough times in the past week and with that, fell out of the wildcard lead. The Giants lose two of three to the Reds last weekend and then followed that up with a series loss to the Dodgers, but did take the final game on their way to New York. They will hope their pitching continues to impress in this series and going forward as they do extend after this four game set to Cincinnati and finally on to the Rockies next weekend. Probable pitching matchups are below: |
| Friday @ 7:10PM EST – Zito,SF(8-10,4.40 ERA) vs. Parnell,NYM(2-4,3.94 ERA) |
| Saturday @ 4:10PM EST – Cain,SF(12-4,2.44 ERA) vs. Santana,NYM(13-8,3.00 ERA) |
| Sunday @ 1:10PM EST – Sanchez,SF(5-10,4.61 ERA) vs. Pelfrey,NYM(8-8,4.88 ERA) |
| Monday @ 7:10PM EST – Martinez,SF(2-1,6.00 ERA) vs. Hernandez,NYM(7-7,5.28 ERA) |
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| The Washington Nationals(40-74, 5th in NL East 24.5GB) followed up their eight game winning streak by losing two games in a row by a combined 14-3 score. Whatever had gotten into their bats definitely made its way right back out during this past two game set against the Braves. They will now travel for Cincinnati to begin a four game set against the Reds and hope their hitting and pitching can go back to last week’s levels. In The Great American Ballpark, they certainly have a good chance of getting some hits, but the pitching could still struggle. CenterfieldGate has more information on the Nats, be sure to check them out.
The Cincinnati Reds(49-64, 5th in NL Central 13.5GB) are one of many teams who have already wrote off the season and you may even see more trades from. Oddly, they did make a few trades at the deadline, but unless they go on an insane winning streak, they will not sniff the playoffs. They will send a pitcher to the mound in this series that has been the subject of trade talks for a while, Bronson Arroyo and likely their closer Francisco Cordero will be seen too, who also has been in rumors. Probable pitching matchups are below: |
| Thursday @ 7:10PM EST – Reds 7 Nationals 0 |
| Friday @ 7:10PM EST – Mock,WAS(1-4,6.14 ERA) vs. Harang,CIN(6-13,4.43 ERA) |
| Saturday @ 7:10PM EST – Martin,WAS(1-2,5.91 ERA) vs. Cueto,CIN(8-9,4.23 ERA) |
| Sunday @ 1:10PM EST – Lannan,WAS(8-9,3.58 ERA) vs. Lehr,CIN(2-0,1.80 ERA) |
