Well, we all can agree that the Phillies' 3-6 start to the season is far from what we had hoped for. We can also agree that getting swept in the first series at Citizens Bank Park is outright awful. However, there is a ray of hope.
The Marlins, after a hot 5-1 start to their 2014 campaign, have dropped 4 straight games. They lost at home to finish up their series with the Padres 4-2 and were swept by the Nationals in their following 3 games.
So, we have a match up of two struggling NL East teams heading into a weekend series at Citizens Bank Park. Maybe the Phillies can end their own 4 game losing streak tonight and give their home fans something to cheer about.
The downside for the Phils (well, one of many) is the Marlins have last year's NL Rookie of the Year Jose Fernandez on the mound tonight,while the Phillies have aging vet A.J. Burnett throwing. Fernandez is coming in with a 2-0 record and a dominating 0.71 ERA. The only run he has given up in his two appearances thus far is a solo homerun at the hands of Carlos Gonzalez in his first start against the Rockies on Opening Day. Fernandez crushed the Phillies in three appearances last season, posting a 1-0 record allowing just one run in 18 innings.
Here's Fernandez's Rookie of the Year highlight video. Around minute one he strikes out pretty much every Phillie in the lineup.
The Phils have to jump on this guy early if they want to stand a chance tonight. Burnett is currently 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA. Not terrible, but definitely not worth the $16 million he is being paid this year.
The Phillies best chance in this one is to get Fernandez's pitch count up and get into the Marlins' bullpen early. Then, hope that their own bullpen can do their job and shut the Marlins down.
So, to sum it all up, looks like the Phils will have a 5 game losing streak after tonight, subsequently dropping their 4th game in a row at home. Far from the start that we had hoped for, but there are 162 games in a season. Plenty of time to turn it around.
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