The NL East is currently anyone's ballgame as the Miami Marlins visit the Philadelphia Phillies in a giant four-game series for both teams beginning on Monday.
Although the Phillies lost their last two in St. Louis, they are still winners of five of their last seven and nine of their last thirteen - now sitting just five games behind the Nationals for the NL East lead.
Miami has gone 2-5 in their last seven against two of the NL's worst teams, the Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets - falling 2.5 games behind the pace in the division.
Snapshot:
Home: Philadelphia Phillies (34-40, 16-21 home)
Away: Miami Marlins (37-38, 12-20 away)
Key Stat:
Eleven and nineteen.
That's how many runs and hits Miami's Nathan Eovaldi has given up over his past two starts. If that trend continues in Monday's season opener, the Phillies could pick up all the momentum heading into the last three games of the series.
Marlins Notes:
David Price...to Miami?
Per Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the Marlins scouted Price on Friday. While the Giants and Braves are the favorites to land the 2012 AL Cy Young Award winner, don't count the Marlins out.
With a hole in the rotation after Jose Fernandez's season-ending Tommy John surgery, adding an ace such as Price to the mix could be exactly what Miami needs to make the jump from contender to champion in an up-for-grabs division race.
Phillies Notes:
Home cooking hasn't tasted so great for the Phillies this year. While they have played close to .500 ball away from home, they are just 16-21 at Citizens Bank Park.
"It's hard to put my finger on it," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg stated on Friday, via Eric Bacharach of MLB.com. "If there's a positive to that, we've established that we can play on the road. To carry that over to home when we're playing at home, that would be another positive."
This week would be the perfect time to transfer that road success over. The Phillies' next eight games (including a doubleheader on Saturday) come at home against the Marlins and Braves - two teams that sit ahead of them in the clustered NL East standings.
What to Watch For:
With the entire NL East separated by just five games, any division matchup takes on added importance with all five teams so tightly packed together.
Add Wednesday's pitching matchup between Philly's AJ Burnett (5-6, 3.89) and Miami's Henderson Alvarez (4-3, 2.39), and you get an absolutely intriguing and crucial series between two teams with legitimate playoff aspirations.
What They're Saying About the Marlins:
Marlins interested in David Price? (Marlin Maniac)
Marlins' Rafael Furcal goes on 15-day DL (Yahoo! Sports)
What They're Saying About the Phillies:
Rollins' hit streak snapped at 15 (Official Site of the Phillies)
Marquis looks solid in Phillies organization debut (Phillies Nation)
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