Tonight, the Phillies begin a huge early-season road trip starting with three games against the 2nd place Marlins and then three more against the 3rd place Braves. It’s still early, but with holding just a 2 game lead on Florida and 3.5 lead on Atlanta, it’s a pretty big week for all teams involved.

The trip is filled with excellent pitching matchups, but the highlight is sure to be Tuesday night’s showdown between reigning Cy Young award winner, Roy Halladay, and Marlins ace, Josh Johnson. Both pitchers have started the year off in All-Star fashion; Johnson is 2nd in the NL with a sparkling 1.68 ERA, and Halladay is tied for the league lead with 5 wins and is 5th in the league with a 2.19 ERA.

At an average of $71 each, ticket prices, as you might expect, are higher for this game than any of the other five listed in the chart – 39% higher than the other two games in Florida and 6% higher than the three games in Atlanta.

For tickets to any of these games, click here.

To see Werth in his return to Citizens Bank Park, click here.

For tickets to Strasburg’s start on Tuesday against the Marlins, click here.

A look at the Mets Series, DomZone view:

Game 1
Game 2
Game 3

For the first time since last November, the Yankees and Phillies will square off in a World Series rematch at Yankee Stadium. Here’s are the pitching matchups:
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- Game 1: CC Sabathia vs. Roy Hallday
- Game 2: A.J. Burnett vs. Jamie Moyer
- Game 3: Andy Pettitte vs. Kyle Kendrick
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On top of three pretty good matchups, highlighted by the CC-Halladay opener, the weather reports should be beautiful, and these are two of the most popular teams in baseball. Last year, this was one of the most sought after and expensive series of the season for the Yankees, but this year things are a very different:
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With tickets to the Subway Series later this weekend in the Bronx selling for an average of $170 bucks, spending $80 less to see Halladay start against CC in his first post-Jays visit to YS, could be the deal of the season.

After one of the most impressive debuts in recent memory, the baseball world is ablaze with Strasburg-mania, bringing back wistful 80’s memories of Fernando and the last pitcher-induced mania to sweep the country. Next stop on the tour: Cleveland.
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The Indians, who are averaging a league-low 15,527 fans per game, have sold 4,300 tickets since it was announced the Cleveland would be the second stop of S-Burg’s AAAA tune-up tour. With a week to go, attendance may crack 25,000 fans, which would be 57% capacity at the Jake….not bad for a team with a .379 winning percentage,
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Unfortunately for Strasburg, at some point he’ll need to face a major league team other than the Pirates or the Indians, who have the two worst records in baseball. Once he starts facing tougher competition, we’ll see how close he comes to Fernando’s 8-0 start: a start that included five shutouts and a baffling 0.50 ERA.
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For now, though, the mania grows and Cleveland fans have a reason to buy tickets again, if only for a day.
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For tickets to Strasburg’s second start against the Tribe, click here.

Fans in Florida were treated to a little baseball history last week when Roy Halladay hurled the 20th perfect game in MLB history in Sun Life Stadium, against the Marlins. For the lucky 25,086 fans who decided to pony up and see the game, the average price was $43. For the rematch of that game next Wednesday in Philly, prices are 63% higher.
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If you believe that the baseball gods are looking to atone for the Gallaraga-Joyce ‘No-Yes’, it may be worth putting your faith in Halliday and seeing if he can make history yet again. It probably not smart to hold your breath, though. According to the very cool site, the Book of Odds, the odds of one No-No in a season is 1:6.88. Based on our rough calculus, and depending on whether you classify Gallaraga’s game as a No-Yes or No-No, you’re looking at odds between 70k:1 and 2.9M:1. If you’re a smart bettor, pass on this one and lay your chips on black at the Borgata. If you’re a believer, though, take the leap, drop $70 and see if Roy can sway the gods again. If nothing else, you’ll be part of a cool standing O. Its also the cheapest game of the series, which seems a bit, umm, odd, until you consider that the Flyers are playing in the Stanley cup next door on the same night.

As minor-league batters are quickly finding out, Stephen Strasburg is the real deal. He’s dominated in his eight starts and has drawn record crowds along the way.
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Many believe that Strasburg will make his first major league start on June 4th against the Reds. While still speculation at this point, prices for the June 4th game are already 16% above the season average.

Adam Kilgore of the Nationals Journal writes, “The Nationals have not made any indications about Strasburg’s debut date, but his [last minor league] start Saturday seemingly adds to the likelihood he will make his major league debut June 4 at Nationals Park.”
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Between the way he’s pitching in the minors and how quickly that day is coming up on the calendar, an announcement could come any day now. When it does prices will surely move above $63. So with prices only slightly above the Nats season average, this may be your last chance to see the second coming and still have money left for a beer to celebrate it. But remember, buy at your own risk, because nothing is set in stone yet.
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For tickets to see Strasburg’s debut, click here.

Here’s a look at the prices of upcoming games at Citizens Bank Park against the Phillies biggest rivals:
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If you’re looking to get the lead out, be prepared to pay up. On the other hand, if you’re just interested in good, affordable baseball, the Phils/Braves is the best deal. Even with Jason Heyward on the fast track to superstardom, the Bravos lack the star power of the Mets (Reyes, Wright) and the Cards (Pujols,Holliday). Said another way, the Braves are 45% less interesting then the Mets and 32% less interesting than the Cards.
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Click here to see all Phillies games against their rivals this year.

Just as we’re recovering from the trillion dollar bailout last year, it seems that there is another crisis in our nation’s Capital. Greece? Fannie May? How about Nats ticket prices?
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According to TiqIQ, there was a 70% price drop from the Nationals opening day to their second game of the season. What could wreak such monumental impact, you ask? Was it Obama throwing out the first pitch on Opening day or perhaps the much anticipated C-span filibuster marathon that kept all of DC glued to their TV on the second game? Nope. How about 27 bus loads of Phillies fans.
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Yes, on the great day that is opening day 2010, Washington owes a debt of gratitude to those drunken and unruly neighbors to the north who made their way down the turnpike to see Roy Halliday’s debut in a Phillies uniform. Because we were so appreciative, as a bonus, we decided to give them an 11-1 stomping.
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As sad as it is that we have to rely on a city that hasn’t been the national capital in like 200 years, it was special to see Nats park packed with 41,000 fans in red, even if many of those were a slightly different shade of red.
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As for ideas on how the Nats can keep the ballpark filled, we could either learn how to spell free beer in Philadelphian, or even better, the Nats could just start winning. If neither of those work, we could always go with the nuclear option that would work for at least a game or two: Call up Strasburg.