Marlins Face Off Against Phillies Friday Without Injured Stanton
MIAMI (AP) -- While Cole Hamels could be making his final home start with Philadelphia, he won't have to face Giancarlo Stanton, whose tremendous season is likely over.
With Stanton sidelined after a scary injury, Hamels takes the hill for the Phillies on Friday night in the opener of a three-game series against the Marlins.
A matchup between Hamels (8-7, 2.56 ERA) and Stanton would have highlighted this contest after the Miami slugger and leading NL MVP candidate went 4 for 8 with a homer against the Phillies ace this season.
That matchup won't happen, however, after Stanton was hit under the left eye by a fastball from Milwaukee's Mike Fiers and taken off the field in an ambulance during Thursday's 4-2 loss - an incident that contributed to a benches-clearing brawl.
Marlins manager Mike Redmond said afterward that he expects Stanton to miss the rest of the season. The team later announced that Stanton, who leads the majors with 105 RBIs and the NL with 37 homers, suffered multiple facial fractures, dental damage and cuts that required stitches.
"It's devastating for us. Devastating. For his season to end like that, I mean, that's not good," Redmond said.
The Marlins said Stanton would return to Miami on Friday.
Hamels, who owns the NL's third-lowest ERA, began his career with the Phillies (67-79) in 2006 and was a large part of its five straight division titles between 2007-11. He is sixth in franchise history with 107 victories and is the subject of trade rumors.
After this series, the Phillies have only one more set left at home - their final three games against Atlanta.
Hamels is unbeaten in his last eight home outings, going 2-0 with a 2.41 ERA. He lost for the first time in six starts Sunday, giving up three runs in 6 1-3 innings in a 3-2 defeat at Washington.
The left-hander is 0-1 with a 4.26 ERA in three starts against Miami (71-74) in 2014.
Marcell Ozuna has homered twice in nine at-bats against Hamels this year and is 13 for 28 with four homers and 11 RBIs during a seven-game hitting streak.
The Phillies will get another look at Henderson Alvarez (10-6, 2.88), who is on track to record the sixth-lowest ERA in franchise history. Alvarez is 1-0 with a 2.03 ERA in four starts versus Philadelphia this season, limiting Ryan Howard to two hits in 11 at-bats and Ben Revere to one in nine.
Other Phillies have fared better. Marlon Byrd is 5 for 10 against the right-hander this year and 7 for 13 in his career, while Domonic Brown is 4 for 12 on the season.
Alvarez had no issues during a bullpen session Tuesday after missing one start with a strained oblique muscle.
"He threw well, so he's good to go for Friday," Redmond told MLB's official website. "So that's good news for us."
Brown will likely be back in the lineup after he sat out Thursday's 4-1 loss to Pittsburgh with a bruised left shoulder. Manager Ryne Sandberg said he would have sat Brown anyway against left-hander Francisco Liriano.
There is no timetable for the return of shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who has missed three games since suffering a mild left hamstring strain Monday.
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