Monday, May 9, 2011
Posted: 12:30 p.m.
CSNPhilly.com
Phillies (22-11) at Marlins (20-13), 7:10 p.m. on CSN
Starting Pitchers
Phillies: Joe Blanton (0-1, 5.92)The righty returns from the disabled list after missing two weeks with an elbow injury. Blanton has pitched well in his last two starts after struggling in his first two outings. In eight lifetime starts vs. Florida, Blanton is 5-2 with a 3.12 ERA.
Marlins: Javier Vazquez (2-2, 6.39)The veteran right-hander has struggled with his control this season, walking 21 (compared to 16 strikeouts) in 31 innings. He had four walks and one strikeout against the Phils on April 15 and is 12-8 with a 4.30 ERA lifetime against them.
Previous games
The Phillies lost their weekend series with the Braves by dropping Sunday's rubber game, 5-2. Cole Hamels allowed a pair of homers and Michael Stutes gave up another, while the offense failed to come up with a big hit late in the game.
The Marlins snapped a three-game losing streak Sunday with an 8-0 rout over the Nationals. Anibal Sanchez took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and struck out a career-high 11 batters, while Gaby Sanchez went 4 for 4 with three RBIs.
Head-to-head
The Phillies split a rain-shortened, two-game series with the Marlins last month. The bullpen blew a lead for Roy Oswalt in the opener before the Phils rallied in the second contest behind Ryan Howards go-ahead sac fly in the eighth.
MLB
Whos hot?
Raul Ibanez has four multi-hit games in his last six contests. ... Shane Victorino has an 11-game hitting streak. ... Ross Gload has six hits in 16 pinch-hit at-bats this season.
For Florida, ex-Phillie Greg Dobbs is 6 for 10 in his last three games and is batting .359 on the season.
Storylines
With a star-studded pitchers' duel (Roy Halladay vs. Josh Johnson) set for Tuesday night, the Phillies' offense might want to wake up now. Runs could be hard to come by tomorrow. ... Will Blanton pick up where he left off before going on the DL? ... If Blanton struggles (or reinjures his elbow), how will that affect the Phillies' rotation? ... Is Ben Francisco trying to catch up to Ibanez's 0-for-35 streak from earlier this month? He's got a long way to go, but his .232 average is leaving plenty to be desired.
Sound off
Have you accepted the fact that the Phillies' offense is simply going to be up and down all season long?