New York @ Philadelphia preview
Citizens Bank Park
Last Meeting ( Aug 29, 2013 ) Philadelphia 3, NY Mets 11
The Philadelphia Phillies will miss the playoffs for the second straight season, but they enter their final three-game home series of the season on Friday against the New York Mets with plenty to be excited about. Carlos Ruiz has been red-hot since Aug. 8 with runners in scoring position, going 15-for-27 with six doubles and 21 RBIs – the best mark in baseball in that span. Similarly, Cole Hamels has allowed more than two earned runs only three times since the beginning of July.
The Phillies are 18-14 under interim manager Ryne Sandberg, a stretch that includes a four-game split in late August against the Mets. New York finished a 4-7 homestand with Thursday’s 2-1 loss against San Francisco, managing to score only 24 runs in that time. To that end, the Mets’ offense expects All-Star third baseman David Wright to return to the lineup on Friday for the first time in seven weeks after he was sidelined with a strained right hamstring.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, SNY (New York), PHL 17 (Philadelphia)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-3, 6.12 ERA) vs. Phillies LH Cole Hamels (8-13, 3.48)
Matsuzaka notched his first win since Aug. 27, 2012 – a span of 10 starts – in Saturday’s 3-1 win over Miami, allowing a run on two hits during a 91-pitch effort. The 33-year-old has given up one run in each of his last two turns after going 0-3 with a 10.95 ERA over his first three outings with the Mets. One of Matsuzaka’s three losses over that stretch came in a 6-2 setback against Philadelphia on Aug. 28, when he surrendered four runs over 4 1/3 innings.
The Phillies have won Hamels' last seven turns, including Saturday's 5-4 victory over Washington in which he yielded four runs (three earned) and eight hits over six frames. The three-time All-Star is 6-2 with a 2.32 ERA in his last 14 starts, a far cry from his dreadful 2-11 record and 4.58 ERA over his first 17 outings. However, few teams have had Hamels’ number like the Mets, against whom he is 7-12 with a 4.29 ERA in 25 all-time starts.
WALK-OFFS
1. Since losing each of its first two home games under Sandberg, Philadelphia is 15-6 since at Citizens Bank Park.
2. Wright hit .340 with three home runs and 10 RBIs over his first 12 games against the Phillies this season.
3. Philadelphia 2B Chase Utley, who is batting .352 in September, went 6-for-14 with two homers and 10 RBIs in the just-concluded three-game series against Miami.
PREDICTION: Phillies 5, Mets 3