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Jonathan Pettibone off to a solid start

Jonathan Pettibone is trying to keep things simple and so far the results have been impressive. The Phillies improved to 3-0 in his starts after Friday's 4-1 win over the Miami Marlins at Citizens z Bank Park.

"I am not trying to do too much with the whole situation," said Pettibone, who turns 23 in July. "I want to give the team a chance to win."

Sometimes statistics can been interesting. The Phillies are now 5-13 in starts by Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee.

They are 9-3 in starts of Kyle Kendrick, John Lannan and Pettibone.

"What those other guys have done we don't have to worry about them," Pettibone said.

And Pettibone hopes there will be no worries when he takes the mound.

"Each time out there I get more comfortable soothe nerves aren't running as much as they were the first couple of times," he said.

Pettibone isn't overpowering, but he should remain competitive if he's able to exhibit the type of contol he has shown the first three starts.

In 16 2/3 innings, he has walked two batters and struck out 13.

"I wanted to be aggressive early, getting ahead with my fastball, throwing first-pitch strikes," he said."I wasn't falling behind too many and I try to stay ahead and limit walks."

So far it's been working.

Pettibone is learning on job and making the Phillies competitive.

Nobody knows if this is lasting, but the Phillies couldn't have asked for a better early showing from a fifth starter who is pitching as if he wants to stay in the big leagues for quite some time.