Phillies - Braves Series Preview

After two lousy series against the Florida Marlins and the New York Mets, both division rivals competing with the Phillies for first place in the National League East, the Phils hope to turn things around against the Atlanta Braves in a weekend series starting Friday. The current NL East standings have the Mets in first place, with the Phillies one game behind them in second. The Marlins are one game back of the Phils, with the Braves 6.5 games out and the Washington Nationals completely out of the mix at 17 games back.

Despite a month and a half of really lousy baseball, the Phillies find themselves still in the thick of things and in a great position to take the division. One team they have not struggled against this season is Atlanta, sweeping them in each of the last two series, both at Turner Field. The Phillies look to turn their recent fortunes around and keep their hot streak against the Braves going this Friday as Kyle Kendrick(8-4, 4.87) takes the mound against Jair Jurrjens (9-5, 3.22). Jurrjens is coming off a tough outing against the lowly Nationals on Sunday in which he gave up five earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. Despite a impressive record of 9-5, Jurrjens has lost two of his last three starts, including an outing against the Phils on July 3.

Unfortunately for the Phillies, Kendrick is coming off an even worse outing against the Marlins on Saturday. The sophomore right hander gave up seven earned runs in 4 /13 innings, including three home runs. Nevertheless, the Phillies tend to win with Kendrick on the mound, going---6 in his 20 outings this season, the best record on the staff. Kendrick has also had success against the Braves, as he is 3-0 all time with a 4.13 ERA.

Saturday's matchup is a battle of the lefties, as Phillies' ace Cole Hamels (9-6, 3.11) faces off against Jo-Jo Reyes (3-9, 4.95). Reyes is 0-5 with an 7.65 ERA in his last five starts and has given up nine runs against the Phillies in two starts this season. Hamels, on the other hand, is coming off yet another gem that was wasted by the floundering Phillies' offense. Despite going eight innings and giving up only two runs on Sunday against the Marlins, the Phils were unable to pull out a win, scoring a meager two runs themselves. Hamels continues to prove why he is the unquestioned ace of this staff.

Newly acquired Joe Blanton (5-12, 5.08) makes his second start for the Phillies on Sunday against Jorge Campillo (5-4, 2.83). Campillo has been a pleasant surprise for the Braves this season, and has arguably been their best pitcher. Despite his success so far this season, Campillo is 0-1 with a 5.27 ERA in four games against the Phillies this season, including two starts. Blanton got a no decision in his debut with the Phillies and while most people have complained that his first outing was a bust, Blanton really didn't pitch all that poorly. He certainly didn't pitch great, surrendering five runs in six innings, but he gave up a few untimely walks and left two breaking balls up that resulted in home runs, and that was the ballgame. Blanton will look to rebound and capitalize on the positives from his debut Sunday.

This is a huge series for the Phillies, although not quite as big as the two they just went through. Lucky for the Phils, the Mets face the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend, and the Marlins square off with the National League leading Chicago Cubs, so the chances are that both teams will lose at least one game. If the Phillies can take the series and win at least two of three against the Braves, they will still be in a good position coming into their day off on Monday, perhaps even back in first place. It's a cheap way to make it back on top, but at this point, I think we can all agree we'll take what we can get.