Florida @ Philadelphia preview
Citizens Bank Park
Last Meeting ( Sep 15, 2011 ) Florida 1, Philadelphia 3
THE STORY: After clinching a postseason berth on Wednesday, the Philadelphia Phillies will turn their attention to bigger fish on their plate. No, we're not specifically talking about the lowly Florida Marlins, who coincidentally will visit the Phillies in a makeup doubleheader Thursday. Rather, Philadelphia has a magic number of four to secure its fifth consecutive National League East title. Righthander Kyle Kendrick will start Game 1 and southpaw Cliff Lee will take the nightcap for the Phillies, who snapped a three-game skid with a 1-0 triumph over the Houston Astros on Wednesday. Righthanders Anibal Sanchez and Alex Sanabia will provide the opposition for the Marlins. The doubleheader is being played to make up the twin bill that was postponed by Hurricane Irene on Aug. 27.
TV: 7:35 p.m. ET, FSFL (Florida), WPHL (Philadelphia)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Marlins RH Alex Sanabia (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Phillies LH Cliff Lee (16-7, 2.44 ERA).
Sanabia made his season debut last Thursday by tossing one scoreless inning of relief in a 13-4 victory over the Pirates. The 23-year-old San Diego native walked two and struck out two in the outing. Sanabia, who posted a 5-3 mark last season, has never faced the Phillies.
After winning his last seven starts, Lee settled for a no-decision after yielding two runs on six hits in seven innings against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday. Lee has won both of his career decisions against the Marlins, including a complete-game two-hitter on June 16.
ABOUT THE MARLINS (67-81): Former Phillie Greg Dobbs homered in the second inning, but that was all the Marlins could muster in a 4-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday afternoon. Florida's offense was so anemic that it didn't register a hit after the third inning or a runner after the fifth. Second baseman Omar Infante did his part by hitting safely for the 30th time in 36 games. Infante is 5-for-15 in his career versus Kendrick. Veteran outfielder Mike Cameron was involved in a verbal altercation with a flight attendant on Sunday, according to a report in the Miami Herald. Cameron, 38, was officially released by the Marlins the following day for conduct detrimental to the team.
ABOUT THE PHILLIES (95-51): So, Charlie Manuel's club clinches its fifth straight postseason appearance and how does it celebrate? With handshakes, not champagne. While the postgame party was downright tame, Roy Halladay did his best to liven up the actual contest on Wednesday. The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner tossed his eighth complete game of the season to make Placido Polanco's RBI single in the first inning stand up in the 1-0 triumph. Polanco will look to continue his good fortune against Sanchez, against whom he is 7-for-15 with a pair of homers in his career. Slugger Ryan Howard went 0-for-11 in the three-game series vs. Houston, but is 9-for-28 (.321) in his career against Sanchez.
FINAL PITCH: "That’s the beauty of being here. We expect to win. You convert to that quickly, coming from a team where that wasn’t the case. We had some big wins last year and come into the clubhouse and that’s where we expected to be." – Halladay, on his team's not-so-wild celebration after clinching a postseason berth.