NL East Series Preview 7-23-09 through 7-26-09
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| The Philadelphia Phillies(53-39, 1st in NL East) are now winners of nine of their last ten games and fourteen of sixteen since getting swept by the Braves a few weeks ago. With that run and the mediocre play of the rest of the division, they have opened up a 5.5 game lead on the Atlanta Braves. They get to face two struggling teams this weekend with the Padres playing a make up game from the second week of the season and the Cardinals coming in after that. Check out Phillies Phandom for more Philadelphia insight.
Check out the Nationals series below for a brief on the Padres. The St. Louis Cardinals(51-46, 1st in NL Central) are barely holding onto their lead in the National League Central. The Cardinals were swept out of Houston this week by an Astros team which finds itself only one game back, and the Cardinals now have a slim lead of one game over both the Cubs and Cardinals. They will hope to extend the lead this weekend and try to slow down the train that is the Phillies. Probable pitching matchups are below: |
| Thursday @ 7:05PM EST - Correia,SD(6-7,4.34 ERA) vs. Hamels,PHI(5-5,4.72 ERA) |
| Friday @ 7:05PM EST - Pineiro,STL(8-9,3.09 ERA) vs. Happ,PHI(7-0,2.68 ERA) |
| Saturday @ 4:05PM EST - Lohse,STL(4-6,4.21 ERA) vs. Lopez,PHI(2-0,2.60 ERA) |
| Sunday @ 1:35PM EST - Wellemeyer,STL(7-8,5.68 ERA) vs. Blanton,PHI(6-4,4.24 ERA) |
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| The Atlanta Braves(49-47, 2nd in NL East 6GB) are fresh off winning two straight four game series against the Mets and Giants. Their offense was front and center in most of the games, as they won six and only lost two of those games. This run has put them in a tie for second place in the division with the Florida Marlins and they are now only 3.5 games back of the National League wild card. The team travels for the first time since the all-star break to Milwaukee for three games against another wildcard contender. Check out The Braves Baseball blog for more insight.
The Milwaukee Brewers(48-47, 4th in NL Central 2GB) are another team with an up and down season. Currently they are only two games back of the division lead and four back of the wildcard lead. They are in the thick of things and they continue to have good offensive production from all-stars Braun and Fielder. They welcome in a hot Braves team in hopes that other NL East teams can help them move up the divisional and wildcard standings over the weekend. The probable pitchers are shown below: |
| Friday @ 8:05PM EST - Vazquez,ATL(7-7,2.86 ERA) vs. Parra,MIL(4-8,6.37 ERA) |
| Saturday @ 7:05PM EST-Hanson,ATL(5-0,3.00 ERA) vs. Gallardo,MIL(8-7,3.28 ERA) |
| Sunday @ 2:05PM EST - Lowe,ATL(9-7,4.26 ERA) vs. Burns,MIL(2-3,6.21 ERA) |
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| The Florida Marlins(49-47, 2nd in NL East 6GB) recovered from an embarrassing sweep by the Phillies at home this past weekend. They traveled to San Diego and swept the lowly Padres, mainly with great pitching, and small ball or timely hitting. They are now within three games of the wild card leading St. Louis Cardinals and beyond that have an uphill battle for the division lead. The Marlins travel up the west coast to Los Angeles where possibly the best team in the National League, and top teams in baseball awaits them. Check out FishGuts for more Marlins insight and info.
The Los Angeles Dodgers(61-34, 1st in NL West) are off a series sweep of the Cincinnati Reds this week, and add that to the wins over the weekend, and they have put together a quiet five game winning streak. Manny Ramirez came off the bench last night to provide the heroics for the Dodgers and proving why the Dodgers needed him back on the active roster so badly. The Dodgers own the largest division lead in baseball and already can begin cruising to the playoffs. The probable pitchers are shown below: |
| Friday @ 10:10PM EST - Johnson,FLA(8-2,2.74 ERA) vs. Kershaw,LAD(8-5,2.95 ERA) |
| Saturday @ 10:10PM EST - VandenHurk,FLA(1-0,3.00 ERA) vs. Kuroda,LAD(3-5,4.73 ERA) |
| Sunday @ 4:10PM EST - Volstad,FLA(7-9,4.34 ERA) vs. Schmidt,LAD(1-0,5.40 ERA) |
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| The New York Mets(44-50, 4th in NL East 10GB) are in complete free fall. They lost two in a row and the series to the Nationals this week, after losing three of four to the Braves over the weekend and are now a season high, six games under .500. They are seven full games behind the wildcard as well, and all signs point to packing it in until next year. They draw a hot Astros team this weekend and as I feel i’m always writing, no relief appears in site for all the injuries. All signs point to either Nelson Figueroa or Jon Niese getting the start on Saturday night as well in place of Fernando Nieve. Check out The Real Dirty Mets Blog for more Mets news.
The Houston Astros(49-46, tied for 2nd in NL Central 1GB) are 5-2 since the all-star break and have climbed within one game of first place in the NL Central. Their fans and players hope they can pull off another great late season come back as it seems they always do. They hope to continue their heroic ways when they face the hobbled and beaten down New York Mets team at MinuteMaid Park this weekend. The probable pitchers are shown below: |
| Friday@8:05PM EST-Santana,NYM(11-7,2.92 ERA) vs. Hampton,HOU(5-7,4.63 ERA) |
| Friday @ 7:05PM EST - TBA,NYM vs. Ortiz,HOU(3-4,4.33 ERA) |
| Sunday @ 2:05PM EST - Hernandez,NYM(6-5,4.93 ERA) vs. Moehler,HOU(7-5,4.92 ERA) |
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| The Washington Nationals(28-66, 5th in NL East 26GB) are flying high after taking the series this week against divisional rival New York Mets. The wins were Jim Riggleman’s first as Nats manager and his first series win and winning streak. They will hope they can continue their new found success tonight against the second owrst team in the majors, the San Diego Padres and then over the weekend against the Cardinals. Colin Balester will make his first start of the year in place of injured Jordan Zimmermann tonight. Check out CenterfieldGate for more news, information and insight on the Nats.
Check out the Phillies preview at the top of the page for information on the Cardinals. The San Diego Padres(37-58, 5th in NL West 24GB) are fresh off getting swept by the Florida Marlins at Petco Park. They have lost six of seven games since the All-Star break and are further falling into the basement of the National League West division. Thursday they have an even tougher matchup where they face the Phillies ace Cole Hamels in a makeup game. After this though, they will go to Washington for a three game set for the worst team in the Majors, so they could go on a small role. The probable pitchers are shown below: |
| Thursday @7:05PM EST - Wainwright,STL(10-6,3.01 ERA) vs. Balester,WAS(0-0,0.00 ERA) |
| Friday @ 7:05PM EST - Latos,SD(0-1,4.50 ERA) vs. Mock,WAS(0-3,7.71 ERA) |
| Saturday @ 7:05PM EST - Stauffer,SD(0-1,2.08 ERA) vs. Martin,WAS(0-1,11.25 ERA) |
| Sunday @ 1:35PM EST - Gaudin,SD(4-9,4.82 ERA) vs. Lannan,WAS(7-7,3.38 ERA) |
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