September 16, 200520 yr Big Series: Philadelphia Phillies (78-69) at Florida Marlins (78-69) Big Stakes: These NL East teams are tied for second place in the wild-card standings, a half-game behind Houston, and a three-game wipeout for either team could be crushing. This is the first series in what will be a tough stretch of games for the Phillies down the stretch -- 12 of their final 15 games will be on the road. Big Question: Dontrelle Willis starts Saturday -- having gone 8-2 since July 22 and 6-0 since Aug. 12 -- and Josh Beckett throws on Sunday; both guys have been solid. What the Marlins don't know is what they'll get out of the other three spots in the rotation. A.J. Burnett is 0-5 with a 7.40 ERA in his last five starts, but he won't pitch in this series. Brian Moehler has been reinserted in the rotation, and he'll pitch in the first game against the Phillies' Jon Lieber. Big Question II: Vicente Padilla was integral for the Phillies' resurgence in August, but he missed his last start because of injury. On Saturday, he'll make his first start since Sept. 7, and Philadelphia has no idea what to expect. Big Streak: Jimmy Rollins is ridiculously hot these days, riding a 21-game hitting streak. In his last seven games, he's batting .517 with 10 runs and an OPS of 1.356. Big X-Factor: Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard has the ability to change games with his power. He's got 18 homers in 257 at-bats. Big Changes: Looking for more offense, Florida manager Jack McKeon shifted Miguel Cabrera from left field to third base and has used Jeff Conine in left. Cabrera has continued to hit well -- batting .300 in 70 at-bats with four homers and 14 RBI -- and Conine is batting .333 since the switch. In addition, Juan Pierre has been dropped in the lineup from leadoff to seventh, with Luis Castillo hitting first and Conine batting second. Perhaps Pierre's career numbers against the Philly starters will sway McKeon to move Pierre back into the top spot -- he's hitting .375 (6-for-16) against Lieber and .308 against Padilla. like i've said before anything less than two out of three is unacceptable. its that way for all the games now.
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