Phillies will try to snap out of a recent funk on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park

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Phillies look to get on track vs Marlins on Friday night

The Phillies (13-12) are scheduled to host the division-rival Miami Marlins (8-17) on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park. There is a high probability of rain in the forecast for around game time, so there could be at least a delay in the start of tonight’s game.

This is scheduled to be the second of a four-game long weekend series between the two teams. The Marlins took the opener last night on a two-run homer from second baseman Starlin Castro in the top of the 10th inning off Phillies reliever Hector Neris.

Marlins pitcher Caleb Smith tossed a gem for the second straight start against the Phillies. He previously one-hit them over six innings back on April 13. This time, Smith allowed a run on three hits while striking out eight and walking one in another six-inning outing.

The Phillies won two of three earlier this month against the Marlins, and will be looking to snap out of a funk that has seen them drop six of their last eight games. The Phils currently trail the New York Mets by a half-game in the National League East Division standings.

FRIDAY STARTING LINEUPS AND PREVIEW

PHILLIES LINEUP

1. Andrew McCutchen CF
2. J.T. Realmuto C
3. Bryce Harper RF
4. Rhys Hoskins 1B
5. Nick Williams LF
6. Maikel Franco 3B
7. Cesar Hernandez 2B
8. Sean Rodriguez SS
9. Jerad Eickhoff P

PHILLIES HOT & COLD

Cesar Hernandez had a pair of hits on Thursday night to remain hot. The much-maligned second baseman is now slashing .344/.403/.508 going back over his last 15 games and 67 plate appearances with seven runs scored and six extra-base hits.

Sean Rodriguez smacked his first home run of the season last night. He was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Wednesday and became the fourth player to start a game at shortstop for the Phillies this season. Though starting shortstop Jean Segura is due back tomorrow it may not be Rodriguez whose spot is in jeopardy since he can play every position on the diamond except perhaps behind the plate.

Lefty reliever Adam Morgan retired the lone batter he faced in last night’s game and remains unscored upon this season. Morgan has allowed just four hits over 10.1 IP across 13 appearances with a fine 12/1 K:BB ratio.

Since the start of 2017, righty reliever Pat Neshek has a 1.96 ERA, the lowest mark among all major league pitchers with at least 75.0 innings pitched.

Per Statcast data, the average fastball velocity of 97.1 mph being recorded by reliever Seranthony Dominguez is 14th among the 490 pitchers to pitch this season. He now has eight straight scoreless appearances after allowing five runs in his first 2.1 IP this season.

Right fielder Bryce Harper went 0-3 with a walk on Thursday. He is now slashing just .196/.305/.333 over his last 13 games and 59 plate appearances. The slump was the subject of my piece published earlier today. On the good side he is batting .333 with a double, two home runs and 10 RBI with runners in scoring position in 2019.

Calm down, Bryce Harper will be just fine

MARLINS LINEUP

1. Curtis Granderson LF
2. Martin Prado 1B
3. Brian Anderson RF
4. Starlin Castro 2B
5. Jorge Alfaro C
6. Miguel Rojas SS
7. Jon Berti 3B
8. Lewis Brinson CF
9. Jose Urena P

MARLINS HOT & COLD

The game-winning two-run homer in the 10th inning last night was the third of the year for Castro, who is now tied for the Marlins team lead with eight RBIs.

Despite producing a three-hit game, Neil Walker is out of manager Don Mattingly‘s starting lineup on Friday. Walker is hitting .500 with three doubles and three walks over his last four games.

Former Phillies catcher Jorge Alfaro continues to lead Miami with four home runs on the season. With two hits last night, Alfaro now has multi-hit efforts in all three games that he has played against his former team this season. He is 6-12 (.500) with a run scored in those three contests.

Reliever Tayron Guerrero was dominating last night, earning the Win while firing multiple pitches over 100 mph in a lockdown 9th inning. Guerrero now sports a 0.82 ERA and 1.091 WHIP with 13 strikeouts over 11 innings in which he has allowed just five hits.

Veteran closer Sergio Romo recorded his third Save of the week, his fourth of the season. He has successfully closed out his last three appearances without surrendering a run or hit over three innings.

SHIBE VINTAGE SPORTS STARTING PITCHING MATCHUP

• Jerad Eickhoff: 0-1, 3.60 ERA, 1.400 WHIP, 10 hits allowed over 10 IP across two games (1 start) with a 14/4 K:BB ratio
• Eickhoff is making just his second start of the season. He has six career starts vs the Marlins with a 2-3 record, 37 hits allowed over 36 innings, and a 35/8 K:BB.
• Per MLBAM Statcast data, 10 of Eickhoff’s 14 strikeouts this season have come on the curveball. Since 2015 (the start of his career and Statcast Era), batters are hitting .163 in at-bats ending in his curveball, 11th-lowest among the 71 pitchers with at least 200 AB ending in a curve in that span.
• Jose Urena: 1-3, 5.74 ERA, 1.688 WHIP, 39 hits allowed over 26.2 IP across five starts with a 21/6 K:BB ratio
• Urena was outstanding in an April 14 start vs the Phillies down in Miami. He allowed just seven hits and one run over seven innings with seven strikeouts, but was let down by his offense in taking a 3-1 loss.
• Urena has 15 career appearances against the Phillies, 11 of those as a starter, with a 3-4 record and a 55/16 K:BB over 63.2 innings.

PHILLIES NUGGETS PREGAME NOTES

• Through 13 games at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies have drawn a total of 488,292 fans, an average of 37,560 per game which ranks fourth in MLB behind the Dodgers, Cardinals and Yankees.
• Since pitch data began being tracked in 1988, J.T. Realmuto’s 33 pitches seen last night rank in a tie for first among all Phillies with four plate appearances in a game. Ryan Howard saw 33 pitches in four PA on 7/19/07 at SD as did Mickey Morandini back on 9/24/96 vs MON. Since data began being tracked, Realmuto became just the 25th player in the majors to have seen 33 or more pitches in four trips to the plate.
• Rhys Hoskins has 10 homers and 30 RBI against the Marlins over his career, the most damage he has done against any opponent. Hoskins leads the NL with 59 homers since making his MLB debut on 8/10/17. He is the only hitter in the majors with more than 55 HR and 140 walks since that debut. Since that debut he ranks in a tie for 2nd in MLB (tied for first in the NL) with 25 go-ahead home runs. In his last 45 games at Citizens Bank Park since 7/22/18 he is batting .275 with 14 doubles, 17 homers, 37 RBI, 29 walks and a 1.077 OPS.
• Andrew McCutchen is one RBI and two walks shy of 800 in each category for his career. Maikel Franco is two doubles shy of 100 on his career.

FRIDAY PROGRAMMING INFORMATION

• First pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm EDT at Citizens Bank Park in South Philadelphia
• TV coverage: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Radio: SportsRadio WIP 94.1 FM  , WTTM 1680 (Spanish)

Originally published at Phillies Nation as "Phillies will try to snap out of recent funk on Friday vs Marlins"