Phillies-Pirates game notes: Hamels vs. Karstens

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Friday, June 3, 2011
Posted: 12 p.m.
CSNPhilly.com

Phillies (34-22) at Pirates (26-29), 7:05 p.m. on CSN.

Starting Pitchers
Phillies: Cole Hamels (7-2, 3.01) sports a 2.38 ERA and 75 strikeouts in his last 10 starts. His last outing came against the Mets on May 28 when he went seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits. He is 1-1 in his career against the Pirates with a 3.81 ERA.

Pirates: Jeff Karstens (3-4, 3.58) hasn't allowed more than three runs in a start since April 17. He gave up two runs in five innings of work in a loss to the Cubs his last time out. Karstens has logged 12 lifetime innings against the Phils with a 4.50 ERA.
Previous games
The Phillies are 6-4 over their last 10, but have lost two in a row, dropping a series to the Nationals. The Pirates are 4-6 over their last 10 and blew seven-run lead to the Mets on Thursday, losing 9-8.

Head-to-head
This is the first meeting between the Phillies and Pirates this season. Last year, the Pirates took the season series, 4-2, outscoring the Phils 32-21. Their most recent encounter came July 4 in a 8-5 Pirates win, when the Phillies relinquished a 5-2 lead in the seventh inning.

Who's hot?
After hitting an abysmal .161 in April, Raul Ibanez turned it around in May. He hit .315 for the month to raise his batting average to .246 for the season. Ibanez owns a career .444 average against Karstens.
Storylines
With Shane Victorino in the lineup, the Phillies' offense appears to be at full strength for the first time all season. Victorino missed 17 games with a strained hamstring.

Sound off
How will the Phillies' lineup perform now that it appears to be fully healthy?

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