• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Phillies look to rebound vs. last-place Marlins

Sep 7, 2007 - 1:30 PM Florida (60-80) at Philadelphia (73-66) 7:05 pm

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) - A visit from the last-place Florida Marlins should help the Philadelphia Phillies recover from a crushing loss.

The Phillies will try to get over a unthinkable loss when they open a three-game series with the Marlins on Friday.

On Wednesday, Philadelphia held an 8-2 lead over the Atlanta Braves heading into the eighth inning, but its horrendous bullpen reared its ugly head. Tom Gordon and closer Brett Myers proceeded to allowed seven runs over the last two frames as the Braves rallied for a 9-8 win.

The Phillies bullpen ERA of 4.63 is second-to-last in the National League, and is the fourth-worst in baseball.

Fortunately for Philadelphia, the first-place New York Mets (78-61) fell 7-0 to Cincinnati, so they remained five games back in the National League East. The Phillies also benefited from Wednesday's setback by the wild card-leading San Diego Padres (76-63), staying three games behind.

The Phillies will look to take their frustrations out on the Marlins, who absorbed a three-game sweep at the hands of the Washington Nationals during the week.

Rookie J.D. Durbin (6-4, 6.27 ERA) has revenge on his mind as he takes the mound against Florida. The righthander failed to record an out in his last start, giving up seven runs and five hits in a 12-6 loss to the Marlins on Saturday.

Byung-Hyun Kim (8-6, 5.54) opposed Durbin in that game, and he takes the mound once again. Kim was not sharp and nearly gave the 7-0 lead back. The righthander allowed four runs and 10 hits in five innings.