Phillies-Marlins 5 things: Jeremy Hellickson starts after marathon

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Phillies (66-82) vs. Marlins (73-74)
7:05 p.m. on CSN

The Phillies are coming off a marathon victory over the Marlins Friday night that took nearly five hours. They'll rebound with Jeremy Hellickson on the hill against Jose Urena today. 

Here are five things to watch.

1. Marathon Men
What a game.

The Phillies and Marlins played seemingly forever Friday, going four hours and 43 minutes until Jimmy Paredes provided a walk-off single to send the sparse crowd home happy. The first four innings alone took nearly two hours and neither starting pitcher lasted longer than five innings, giving way to a number of moves to the bullpen.

It was the Phillies' longest game in terms of innings played since a 15-inning win over the Astros on Aug. 5, 2014. The 2014 Phillies played back-to-back 14 inning games at the end of May, splitting two games with the New York Mets.

The Phillies' pen used six relievers, combining to throw 8⅔ innings and allow just one run. The Phils did not use their top two relievers (Hector Neris and Jeanmar Gomez) and Frank Hermann got his first win since 2011.

Only two position players who stayed in the game for all 13 innings left without a hit: Marlins centerfielder Christian Yelich and Phillies rookie leftfielder Roman Quinn.

The major benefit of a game like this coming in September is the 40-man roster. While the two teams combined to used 16 pitchers, there are certainly more available for the rest of the weekend. 

The Phillies have their first day off since Sept. 1 coming up Monday.

2. Hellickson vs. the Marlins
Hellickson has faced the Marlins five times this season and the first four were solid efforts, including three quality starts and four wins for the Phillies. 

But when starting against them 10 days ago, Hellickson wasn't quite as sharp and left with a loss.

Hellickson has faced no team more often than the Fish this season, going 2-1 with a 2.59 ERA in 31⅓ innings against Miami. He's allowed 28 hits and three walks while striking out 18 batters.

His best performance came on July 20, when he held the Marlins to one run over eight innings in a 4-1 victory. Just five days later, he left with a no decision despite allowing just one hit and no runs over six innings in Miami.

Hellickson currently has 11 wins this season. His career-high is 13, set back in 2011 when he won American League Rookie of the Year. He won just 10 games combined over 40 starts in 2014 and 2015.  

3. Scouting Urena
Urena is coming off easily the best start of his young career, although the 25-year-old righty is just 11 days removed from a loss to the Phillies. He has started against the Phils two times this season after facing them in relief twice in May. 

On Sunday, Urena was one out from a complete game shutout against the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers. He allowed just four hits and retired 13 batters on ground balls. Manager Don Mattingly pulled his after a two-out single brought the tying run on deck and A.J. Ramos, who lost Friday's marathon to the Phillies, got one out for the save.

Urena's performances against the Phillies have been a mixed bag. He gave up one run over the course of two one-inning relief appearances. The second-year pitcher was thrust into the rotation mid-season and helped the Marlins top the Phils with a strong start on July 19. He allowed just five baserunners and one run over 5⅔ innings and struck out five batters.

He was battered around a bit more on Sept. 6, when the Phillies handed him a loss. He gave up seven hits, a walk and four runs over just five innings.

For the season, Urena is 4-6 with a 4.89 ERA. He's been much better since moving to the rotation, going 3-5 with a 3.88 ERA as a starter compared to a 7.52 ERA as a reliever. 

4. Players to watch
Phillies: Freddy Galvis has nearly has many home runs in 2016 (19) than he had in his entire career before this season (20). However, while setting career-highs in homers, doubles, RBI and stolen bases, he's also set a career-high in strikeouts with 124. 

Marlins: In a game-high seven at-bats Friday, Dee Gordon picked up three hits and a run scored. He is also 3 for 7 career against Hellickson.

5. This and that
• Two Phillies righties who mostly bat against lefties have home runs against Urena. Tommy Joseph is 3 for 5 with a home run, a double and a walk against Urena while Tyler Goeddel has a home run in three at-bats.

• Odubel Herrera is 3 for 6 with a triple against Urena. Maikel Franco, who was held out of the lineup Friday (see story), is 0 for 6 with two walks against the righty.

• Not many Marlins hitters hit well against Hellickson. Yelich is 6 for 18 with a double while Marcell Ozuna, is 5 for 17 with three doubles and a home run. Justin Bour, Chris Johnson and Giancarlo Stanton all have home runs off Hellickson, but Stanton's homer is his only hit in 15 at-bats against the righty.

• Overall, the Marlins are batting just .220/.247/.354 against Hellickson in 220 plate appearances. 

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