NL East Series Preview 6-29-09 thru 7-2-09
 |
 |
 |
| The Phillies were finally able to get back on track over the weekend, taking two out of three from the Toronto Blue Jays in the final Interleague series of the year. Philadelphia(39-34, 1st place in the NL East) got a big weekend from Jayson Werth who went 6/8 with 4 runs scored, a double, 2 home runs and 5 RBI’s to anchor them. Jimmy Rollins will also be welcomed back to the starting lineup after Charlie gave him four straight days off to get his head straight and hope to get him back on track, he is batting .211 on the season and only .176 this month.
The Braves are fresh off another very solid outting from their young up and coming ace Tommy Hanson, who is now 4-0 on the season. The Braves(35-40, 4th place in the NL East 5GB) look to rebound after not winning a series since May in Toronto. The pitching was very good for the most part this weekend against the Red Sox, but the hitting barely showed up. So far this year, Atlanta has won four of the first six matchups between the two teams, including the first two and last two games played. For additional Braves news, go to The Braves Baseball Blog. One series note is that Thursdays starter at this point for the Phillies has not been decided. It will be between Carlos Carrasco and Andrew Carpenter for the Phillies with a decision coming later this week according to Beerleaguer. |
| Tuesday @ 7:00PM EST - Blanton,PHI(4-4,5.06 ERA) vs. Lowe,ATL(7-6,4.53 ERA) |
| Wednesday @ 7:00PM EST - Hamels,PHI(4-4,4.44 ERA) vs. Jurrjens,ATL(5-6,2.93 ERA) |
| Thursday @ 7:00PM EST - Carrasco/Carpenter,PHI(0-0,0.00 ERA) vs. Vazquez,ATL(5-7,3.04 ERA) |
 |
|
  |
| The New York Mets followed up a surprising and uplifting series victory against the St. Louis Cardinals, by falling on their collective faces against the cross town New York Yankees this weekend. The Mets(37-37, 2nd in NL East 2.5GB) now travel to Milwaukee for the start of what was originally a six game road trip,but because of an earlier rainout in Pittsburgh, is now seven. They hope that their team of replacement level players can help them stay close in the National League East for some more time as they wait out the Disabled List to shrink instead of expand.
The Milwaukee Brewers(40-35, 1st in NL Central) are currently tied for first place in the National League Central with the St. Louis Cardinals while actually going only 4-6 in their last 10 games. The Brewers look to continue to ride Ryan Braun’s hitting and Prince Fielder’s power to a bigger lead in the Central. The Mets took the first two of three games this year between the teams at Citi Field. The Mets will play a single game versus the Pirates(35-40, 5th place in the NL Central 5GB) as a make up for a game earlier in the month that was rained out. So far each team has won their respective home games in this series, so in essence, this is a rubber game. For more Mets news, check The Real Dirty Mets Blog. |
| Monday @ 7:05PM EST - Nieve,NYM(3-0,1.31 ERA) vs. Looper,MIL(5-4,5.16 ERA) |
| Tuesday @ 8:05PM EST - Santana,NYM(9-5,3.08 ERA) vs. Burns,MIL(0-1,3.72 ERA) |
| Wednesday @ 2:05PM EST - Pelfrey,NYM(5-3,4.67 ERA) vs. Gallardo,MIL(8-4,2.86 ERA) |
| Thursday @ 12:35PM EST - Redding(1-3,6.35 ERA) vs. Maholm,MIL(5-4,4.35 ERA) |
 |
|
 |
| The Washington Nationals(22-51, 5th in NL East 17GB) travel to Miami after hanging on to take the final game of a three game set against the locational rival Baltimore Orioles. Nats fans hopes rose slightly a week ago when going into the series with the AL East leading Red Sox, the Nationals had won two straight series versus both the Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays. Since then Washington has come back down to earth in losing two of three to Boston and Baltimore. The team hopes to win their first game of the year versus the divisional rival Marlins as they have lost the first six games against them. For additional Nats news, go to CenterfieldGate.
The Marlins were cooled off this weekend by the northern Florida rival Tampa Bay Rays. The Florida Marlins(38-39, 3rd in NL East 3GB) had been on a five game winning streak coming into this series including two against the Yankees last weekend, but lost all three to the Rays. Tampa Bay relied mostly on late clutch hitting and taking advantage of Marlins relief pitching injuries on route to the sweep. They hope to not lose anymore ground on the first place Phillies as they have a favorable schedule for the next few weeks. |
| Monday @ 7:10PM EST - Olsen,WAS(1-4,7.24 ERA) vs. Nolasco,FLA(4-6,6.42 ERA) |
| Tuesday @ 7:10PM EST - Zimmermann,WAS(3-3,4.65 ERA) vs. West,FLA(3-2,3.38 ERA) |
| Wednesday @ 12:10PM EST - Detwiler,WAS(0-4,5.24 ERA) vs. Johnson,FLA(7-1,2.76 ERA) |
If interested in helping the NLEC, please contact mrose@nleastchatter.com
The Mets are like Cialis for Rollins. I guess he’s lucky they’re on the schedule soon.