Padres vs. Phillies Preview
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – By taking advantage of the last-place team in the NL West, the first-place Philadelphia Phillies are making it difficult for the other clubs in the NL East.
The Phillies look to extend their winning streak to six games by sweeping the season series from the San Diego Padres on Monday at Citizens Bank Park.
With a 5-3 win over the Padres on Sunday, Philadelphia (64-36) reached the 100-game mark with its most victories since the 1976 team went 68-32, the franchise’s best record after 100 games. The Phillies had 54 wins after 100 contests last year, the same number they had at the 100 mark during their World Series championship season of 2008.
“We’ve done a lot of things right,” said Roy Halladay, the winning pitcher Sunday.
Philadelphia, winner of nine straight series, has the largest division lead in the major leagues. That’s due in part to its dominance over the Padres (44-58).
The Phillies have taken the first seven meetings with San Diego and are trying to sweep a season series from an NL opponent for the first time since 2008, when they went 5-0 against Colorado. Philadelphia last swept the Padres in 2005, winning all six games.
Unsurprisingly, the Phillies’ pitching has keyed the team’s success against the Padres, surrendering 13 runs in the seven games.
Cliff Lee (9-6, 2.83 ERA) takes the ball in the finale looking to lead his club to an 11th straight win in the series.
Lee gave up two runs – both in the first – and didn’t walk a batter in six innings of a 4-2 win over Chicago on Tuesday. The left-hander, who didn’t receive a decision, allowed two or fewer runs for the seventh time in eight starts.
Lee has been at his best at Citizens Bank Park, posting a 0.44 ERA in his last five starts there and going 6-0 with a 0.95 ERA in seven home starts since losing to Atlanta on May 6.
He’ll look to extend that dominance against a San Diego team that ranks last in the NL with 354 runs, a .233 batting average and 53 homers.
The Padres were also near the bottom of the league in several offensive categories last season, but Lee wasn’t nearly as effective in two starts against them with Seattle, going 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA.
San Diego’s Aaron Harang (8-2, 3.29) has also been on a roll, going 1-0 with a 1.47 ERA in three starts after spending a month on the disabled list with a right foot contusion. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 1.73 ERA in his last eight outings overall.
Harang allowed three runs in 5 1-3 innings of a 14-3 win over Florida on Wednesday.
According to MLB odds and oddsmakers from online sports book Bodog have made the Phillies -225 money line favorites for Monday’s game against the Padres. Current MLB Public Betting Information shows that 59% of more than 3,183 bets for this game have been placed on the Phillies -225.
Harang, 1-1 with a 3.34 ERA in his last five starts against Philadelphia, will have to be very careful pitching to Chase Utley.
The Phillies second baseman has batted .538 with two homers, three doubles and six RBIs in his last four games, and he is 9 for 20 with a homer and four doubles against Harang.
San Diego could be without a big part of its offense if center fielder Cameron Maybin is unable to play.
Maybin, batting .422 with six RBIs and 11 runs in 10 games since the All-Star break, left in the fourth inning Sunday with a left hip flexor strain.
“That was my call to get him out of there,” manager Bud Black told the Padres’ official website. “I didn’t want him to push through another hour and a half in that heat.”
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