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What Could Be Better Than Four Days in Pittsburgh?

The Phillies start a four-day series against the Pirates today in Pittsburgh.  In 2001, the Pirates moved into PNC Park, a beautiful new stadium built on the Allegheny River that has amazing views of the Pittsburgh skyline.  I myself have never been to PNC Park, but the shots of it I see on TV make me want to move to Pittsburgh.  The skyline looks amazing, and the gorgeous yellow bridges in the background really sparkle.

Yet, as amazing as PNC Park looks, the place has been nothing but trouble for the Phillies.  From 2001 through 2009, the Phillies have played 28 games in Pittsburgh and have lost 17 of them, good for a .393 winning percentage.

Conversely, the Pirates have a .607 winning percentage against the Phillies when the Pirates are at home.  What's amazing about this number is that the Pirates, against all other MLB teams, have a .481 winning percentage at home between 2001 and 2009.  At home during this time period, the Pirates have had better success against only a few other NL teams -- the Marlins (.679), the Brewers (.632), and the Rockies (.618).

As for the Phillies, to answer the question posed by the title of this post, what could be better than four days in Pittsburgh is four days anywhere else in the NL . . . other than Los Angeles.  Here's a chart of the Phillies' home record since 2001 at NL cities:

Team W L Win %
San Diego Padres 21 8 0.724
Cincinnati Reds 22 12 0.647
Chicago Cubs 19 11 0.633
St. Louis Cardinals 20 12 0.625
New York Mets 47 40 0.540
Washington Nationals 47 40 0.540
Atlanta Braves 48 41 0.539
Colorado Rockies 16 14 0.533
Arizona Diamondbacks 17 15 0.531
Milwaukee Brewers 15 15 0.500
Florida Marlins 41 45 0.477
San Francisco Giants 14 18 0.438
Houston Astros 13 19 0.406
Pittsburgh Pirates 11 17 0.393
Los Angeles Dodgers 12 19 0.387

Given the state of the Phillies' health right now, this trip to Pittsburgh could be quite perilous.

As an addendum to the original post, based on an inquiry in the comments, I looked at the difference between Phillies' home and road records since 2001 against each NL team. The chart below shows that the Phillies have the worst win percentage differential from home to road since 2001 against the Pirates. They've won at a .724 rate against the Pirates in Philadelphia, but only a .393 rate in Pittsburgh:

Team Away % Home % Diff
San Diego Padres 0.724 0.545 0.179
Cincinnati Reds 0.647 0.533 0.114
New York Mets 0.540 0.488 0.052
St. Louis Cardinals 0.625 0.581 0.044
Atlanta Braves 0.539 0.500 0.039
Chicago Cubs 0.633 0.621 0.012
Arizona Diamondbacks 0.531 0.586 -0.055
Florida Marlins 0.477 0.533 -0.056
Houston Astros 0.406 0.464 -0.058
Washington Nationals 0.540 0.655 -0.115
Colorado Rockies 0.533 0.655 -0.122
Milwaukee Brewers 0.500 0.688 -0.188
San Francisco Giants 0.438 0.643 -0.205
Los Angeles Dodgers 0.387 0.655 -0.268
Pittsburgh Pirates 0.393 0.724 -0.331