Phillies-Mets game notes: Worley vs. Dickey

Friday, July 15, 2011
Posted: 12:30 p.m.

CSNPhilly.com
Phillies (57-34) at Mets (46-45), 7:10 on CSN

Starting Pitchers
Phillies: Vance Worley (4-1, 2.20) has allowed just one earned run on eight hits in his last 20 innings on the mound. He was, however, roughed up the last time he pitched at Citi Field, getting through just three innings on May 29 before being pulled. Worley surrendered 12 hits in that start, giving up eight runs (five earned).

Mets: The Mets have won each of R.A. Dickeys last four starts, a span over which Dickey (4-7, 3.61) has allowed just seven runs. The knuckleballer, however, had to deal with a split fingernail on his throwing hand in his last outing, a 5-2 win over the Giants on July 8.

Previous games
The Mets dropped three of their final four games before the All-Star break, their most recent contest resulting in a 4-2 loss to the Giants. Despite a solid, six-inning start from Mike Pelfrey, New Yorks offense was held to just a pair of runs.

The Phils, on the other hand, won four of six to close out the first half, including a series win over the Braves. Their final game before the break, a 14-1 drubbing of Atlanta, put the Phils 3.5 games up in the division.
Head-to-head
The Phils have taken six of nine contests from the Mets, outscoring New York 51-35.

The Phils current stable of hitters are 27-for-91 (.296) against Dickey with just four extra-base hitsRaul Ibanez has five hits in 19 career at-bats against Dickey, two of which were home runsWorley has thrown 10 innings against the Mets in his career, allowing 14 hits and eight runs en route to a 1-1 record and a 4.50 ERARyan Howard has 31 homers and 78 RBIs in 104 games against the Mets.
Whos hot?
Ibanez has at least one hit in each of his last five games, totaling nine hits, three homers and 13 RBIs over that spanMichael Martinez is five for his last sixJustin Turner was 4-for-5 with two doubles in the Mets final game before the break.
Storylines
Since Charlie Manuel became the manager in 2005, the team has a first-half winning percentage of .518 (276-257) and a second-half winning percentage of .610 (268-171). In fact, you have to go all the way back to 2003 to find any season in which the Phillies winning percentage did not improve in the second half of the season.