Preview: Phillies open up series with the Seattle Mariners looking to reach the .500 mark for the first time this season

The Philadelphia Phillies will open up a three-game series with the Seattle Mariners tonight at Citizens Bank Park, which is holding the second Dollar Dog Night of the 2023 season.

Starting Pitchers – 6:40 EST

Bailey Falter (0-3, 4.50 ERA)
Marco Gonzales (1-0, 3.78 ERA)

Bailey Falter vs. Marco Gonzales

Bailey Falter makes his fifth start of the season for the Phillies and his second at home. His most recent start was his best one of the season, throwing six scoreless innings after allowing a three-run bomb in the first inning to the White Sox. Falter has logged a 1.80 ERA at home this season and a 4.50 total on the road with 12 strikeouts and a 1.18 WHIP.

Marzo Gonzales will make his second start of the year on the road, coming off an outing vs. Milwaukee where he went six innings allowing four hits and two earned runs while striking out nine. Gonzales holds a 3.78 ERA on the year with 15 strikeouts and a 1.32 WHIP.

Phillies Starting Lineup

Back at it. #RingTheBell

📺: @NBCSPhilly
📻: @SportsRadioWIP
📱: https://t.co/HhDxScbmEV // https://t.co/vgbMhIMsON pic.twitter.com/6u2GAKffuB
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 25, 2023

Trending Upwards

The Phillies enter the series hot, having won 7 of their last 10 and fresh off of taking three straight against the Rockies. Still, despite the recent success against bad baseball teams, the Phillies have struggled out of the gates and have been battling to get to .500 for first time this season. They will enter tonight 11-12, 4th in NL East.

With the Atlanta Braves dropping three straight (and four out of their last five) over the weekend before righting the ship last night against the Miami Marlins, the Phillies managed to get 3.5 games back in the standings and are now just one game below the .500 mark on the year.

Phillies – National League East Standings

The Seattle Mariners, who were the postseason darlings of the American League last season, will enter tonight 10-12 on the year and in fourth place in the AL West standings. This will be the 5th straight inter-league series for the Mariners; they have yet to play an AL team besides the Angels and the Guardians.

Dogs should be Flyin’ Tonight at CBP

We all remember the first dollar dog night of the season with hot dogs flying all over the stands. I would expect to see more of the same tonight because if I know anything, Phillies fans don’t like to be outdone and once you give them an idea, they’ll make sure they see it through, even more so if they fall behind early tonight against the Marlins.

Dollar Hot Dog Night in Philly sounds like a great idea til the Phillies lose 8-4 and everyone throws their dogs at each other @BarstoolPhilly pic.twitter.com/cypB8nBtVF
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) April 12, 2023

I’ve been getting a lot of requests on Facebook to “hand out dollar bills like a stripper” during Dollar Dog nights so the Phillies Phaithful can enjoy some dogs free of charge.

Honestly, not the worst suggestion coming from Facebook so maybe it’s something worth exploring. Maybe if people signed up for DraftKings or cashed in on the sick GoPuff promotion below, The Liberty Line will hook me up with a cut of the money and I’ll be able to do what our guy Gary on FB wants.