By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Philadelphia, PA – The Philadelphia Phillies begin a three-game homestand against the San Francisco Giants beginning tonight at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phils return home after a 10-game road trip with stops in Pittsburgh, Miami and Atlanta, combining to go 4-6 with two of those wins coming against the Braves this past weekend. Meanwhile, the Giants come to Philadelphia losing six of their last 10 and posting a 10-13 record during the month of July. San Francisco took two out of three from the Phillies back in June at AT&T Park.
Rookie Zach Eflin will look to rebound from a tough start tonight at home. He'll match up against Giants ace Madison Bumgarner.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| San Francisco Giants (61-44) | Philadelphia Phillies (48-59) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LHP | Madison Bumgarner | RHP | Zach Eflin | ||
| (10-6, 2.09 ERA) | (3-4, 4.23 ERA) | ||||
Eflin allowed seven runs in five innings against the Marlins his last time out, his worst start since his big league debut in Toronto. In the seven starts prior to that outing on July 27, he posted a 2.08 ERA. He's allowed two runs or less in five of his nine starts as a rookie and three runs or fewer in seven of those starts. Eflin's seen the Giants already back on June 24 in San Francisco. He allowed an unearned run on five hits over six innings of work. In three starts at Citizens Bank Park this season, Eflin is 1-2 with a 2.61 ERA.
The Giants added pitchers Matt Moore and Will Smith and infielder Eduardo Nunez at the trade deadline, but its ace Madison Bumgarner gets the ball tonight. He posted a 1.75 ERA in the month of July, but had two losses and two no decisions. In his most recent outing against the Reds, he allowed two runs, one earned, and struck out nine over eight innings, but San Francisco lost, 2-1. As a matter of fact, the Giants have lost six of Bumgarner's last eight starts dating back to June 20. He pitched against the Phillies in late June, taking the loss after surrendering three runs in 6.1 innings of work.
Starting Lineups:
| San Francisco Giants | Philadelphia Phillies | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | CF | Denard Span | L | 1 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 2 | LF | Angel Pagan | S | 2 | CF | Aaron Altherr | R |
| 3 | RF | Hunter Pence | R | 3 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 4 | C | Buster Posey | R | 4 | C | Cameron Rupp | R |
| 5 | SS | Brandon Crawford | L | 5 | 1B | Tommy Joseph | R |
| 6 | 1B | Brandon Belt | L | 6 | RF | Jimmy Paredes | L |
| 7 | 2B | Joe Panik | L | 7 | LF | Tyler Goeddel | R |
| 8 | P | Madison Bumgarner | R | 8 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 9 | 3B | Eduardo Nunez | R | 9 | P | Zach Eflin | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 7:05 p.m.
- TV: CSN
- Radio: 94 WIP
What's Next:
- Wednesday, August 3rd, 2016: vs. San Francisco Giants, 7:05 p.m.
- Philaelphia, PA – Citizens Bank Park
- RHP Aaron Nola (6-9, 4.78 ERA) vs. Johnny Cueto (13-3, 2.63 ERA)
- TV: CSN, MLB.TV; Radio: 94 WIP
