CITIZENS BANK PARK

GAME 1 FRIDAY 7/10 AT 7:05PM

JOE BLANTON (5-4, 4.69 ERA)

PHILLIES: In his last outing against the Mets and two-time Cy Young Award-winner Johan Santana, Blanton looked like the better pitcher. He tossed seven innings of shutout ball, allowing just four hits and striking out five. His fastball was consistently around 88-91 mph, although he reached the mid-90s during some crucial at-bats. He also benefited from some quality defense behind him. Still, Blanton has rebounded from early season struggles by going 3-1 with a 2.63 ERA over his past eight starts. In his lone career start against Pittsburgh, he threw seven scoreless innings and struck out seven, receiving a no-decision.

ZACH DUKE (8-7, 3.28 ERA)

PIRATES: It wasn’t his sharpest of outings, but Duke still managed to make another quality start his last time out. His two-strike wild pitch actually ended up being his biggest mistake, as it allowed what turned out to be the winning run to score. Duke continues to get no support in his losses, though. In his seven losses, he’s been provided a total of eight runs of support. He’s made quality starts in five of those seven losses. Duke is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA in three career starts against the Phillies.

GAME 2 SATURDAY 7/11 AT 7:05PM

COLE HAMELS (5-5, 4.70 ERA)

PHILLIES: Hamels was given a hefty dose of run support in his last outing — a 22-1 Phillies victory of the Reds — but he also made the most of the opportunity. After struggling all season with high pitch counts and short outings, he only needed 92 pitches to get through seven innings against Cincinnati, allowing no walks and just three hits. But the key for him going forward will be consistency and finding similar results in tighter games. Hamels won his only career start against the Pirates, but allowed three runs in five innings.

ROSS OHLENDORF (7-7, 4.63 ERA)

PIRATES: Ohlendorf’s biggest problem continues to be his start-to-start consistency. Without having an explanation, Ohlendorf has fared very well at times, only to follow his strong outings with a subpar start. Lately, it has been much of the same for the right-hander. Without his slider being overly effective, Ohlendorf was hit for nine hits and five runs in his last start. That came just after a start in which he notched a career-high eight strikeouts in seven shutout innings. This will be Ohlendorf’s first career start against the Phillies.

GAME 3 SUNDAY 7/12 AT 1:35PM

J.A. HAPP (5-0, 3.04 ERA)

PHILLIES: Happ had good command in his last start on Tuesday, striking out a career-high seven and walking none. He threw 105 pitches in seven innings and felt fresh enough to last longer. Despite pitching well, he received a no-decision because he allowed two home runs to Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips — the second of which barely cleared the left-field wall. Although he does not have overpowering stuff, the 26-year-old left-hander has turned into the Phillies’ most consistent starter, last losing in his big league debut in 2007. Happ has never faced the Pirates.

VIRGIL VASQUEZ (1-2, 4.50 ERA)

PIRATES: Vasquez looked good in stretches in his last outing — one in which he allowed four runs in six innings — but also labored at times. This was his third start since being moved into the rotation and, surprisingly, it’s been walks that have been hurting the right-hander. Usually one to go right at hitters, Vasquez admitted he’s been timid at times, which has contributed to his eight walks in 18 innings so far. This will be Vasquez’s first career start against the Phillies.

MY TAKE:

Another series at home and another series won. I don’t want to get too ahead of myself here but it seems the Phils are well on their way to putting the bad play at CBP behind them. I predicted the Phils would win 3 out of 4 in the last series and I was correct, but not correct on which game they would lose. Now on to this next series. The Pirates are a lowly team and have been for quite some time, but they always seem to give us some trouble. With that said I still think the Phillies, riding some momentum, could sweep this series. Zach Duke is the toughest pitcher they’ve got but with Blanton pitching great lately I say we can take that game, especially with Werth on fire he will have an easier time continuing that success against a lefty. After the first game we have our two best pitchers going. Sweep. Go phils.

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