Series Preview: Dodgers at Phillies, Aug 16-18

When the Dodgers (65-52) come to town to take on the Phillies (56-63) in a three-game set, it will mark the return of one of the home organization’s most beloved players when Chase Utley makes his first return to Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park since last August when he was traded to Los Angeles.

As a member of the Phillies, Utley became a six-time All-Star and helped the Phillies win the World Series in 2008.  Over 13 season with the Phils, the team’s 1st round draft pick from 2000 batted .282 with 233 homers and 916 RBI.

Utley will hope to help his current club maintain their lead in the National League Wild Card race when the teams open their series on Tuesday.

Read ahead for a complete rundown on the pitching match ups with loads more stats from this series.

Tuesday, 7:05PM.  Kenta Maeda (11-7, 3.31 ERA) vs. Vince Velasquez (8-4, 3.94 ERA).  Maeda, a 28-year-old righty, has a 7-2 record with a 3.28 ERA in 11 road starts this season.  In five starts since the All-Star break Maeda has a 4.67 ERA.  Velasquez has a 4-1 record with a 1.72 ERA in nine home starts this season.  Velasquez has a 0-2 record with a 5.65 ERA in his last five starts.

Wednesday, 7:05PM.  Scott Kazmir (9-6, 4.44 ERA) vs Jake Thompson (1-1, 8.68 ERA).  Kazmir, a 32-year-old left-hander, has a 1-2 record with a 5.91 ERA in four starts against the Phillies.  In 10 road starts this season, Kazmir is 5-0 with a 4.88 ERA.  Thompson, who will be making his third big league start, earned his first win with the Phillies after allowing three runs over five innings against the Rockies last week.  The 22-year-old righty was acquired by the Phils in last summer’s Cole Hamels trade to Texas.

Thursday, 7:05PM.  Bud Norris (6-9, 4.26 ERA) vs. Jerad Eickhoff (8-12, 3.82 ERA).  In 13 road appearances this season, Norris has a 2-5 record with a 6.14 ERA.  In nine career outings against the Phils, the 31-year-old righty has a 1-4 record with a 3.60 ERA.  Ryan Howard is 6-for-16 (.375 avg) with two doubles, two home runs and seven RBI in his career against Norris.  Eickhoff, a 26-year-old righty, has a 5-5 record with a 3.05 ERA in 12 home starts.  In his last four starts, Eickhoff has a 2-1 record with a 3.04 ERA.

Dodgers lead-off man Chase Utley is batting .278 with four homers and 22 RBI in 49 games on the road this season.  In 756 regular season games at Citizens Bank Park, the 37-year-old has a .293 batting average with 127 home runs and 460 RBI.

Closer Kenley Jansen has a 3.18 ERA in 18 career games against the Phils.  The 28-year-old right-hander has a 6.75 ERA in five games this month.

Rookie shortstop Corey Seager is batting .303 with six homers and 27 RBI in 52 road games this year.  The 22-year-old is batting .350 in 23 games since the All-Star break.

Righty reliever Hector Neris has a 2.35 ERA in 60 outings this season.  In 14 games since the All-Star break, the 27-year-old has a 0.63 ERA.

First baseman Ryan Howard is batting .367 with five home runs and 13 RBI in 18 games since the All-Star break and has a .917 slugging percentage in seven August games.

Reliever Edubray Ramos sports a 1-0 record with a 0.93 ERA in 10 home outings since joining the Phillies.  The 23-year-old right-hander averaged a 9.2 K/9 mark in parts of five season in the minor leagues.

Dodgers team batting avg since All-Star break- .277 (2nd in MLB)

Phillies team batting avg since All-Star break- .229 (27th in MLB)