By: Nick Mandarano, contributor 
PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies have won just three of their last fourteen games and first in eight games. As recent as May 28, they were within 2.5 games of first place, but now sit six back. Philadelphia will take the field today looking to win two in a row for the first time since May 17-18 and return to .500 baseball.
During the seven game losing streak, the offense was averaging less than two runs per game. Yesterday, however, the Phillies were able to score three runs in each of the third and fourth innings. It had been seventy consecutive innings since the team has scored three or more runs in a single inning.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Milwaukee Brewers (25-30) | Philadelphia Phillies (27-28) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Junior Guerra | RHP | Jeremy Hellickson | ||
| (3-1, 3.47 ERA) | (4-3, 3.68 ERA) | ||||
Junior Guerra — Age: 31;
- Last Appearance: May 30, 2016, vs STL: L, 6.1 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 6 SO
- Career vs. PHI: N/A
Today will be just the tenth career start for Guerra including a brief stint with the White Sox last season. The Brewers won the first five of his six starts this season. He'll be throwing a mix of fastballs, sliders an splitters with significantly more splitters against lefties than righties.
In 2012, Guerra played in the Mexican League and walked more batters than he struck out. Since then, Guerra has been amongst the minor leagues' leaders in strikeout rates. This season, Guerra boasts 36 strikeouts to just 12 walks.
Jeremy Hellickson — Age: 29;
- Last Appearance: May 30, 2016, vs WAS: L, 7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 8 SO
- Career vs. MIL: (2-1), 3 G, 18.0 IP, 12 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 8 BB, 12 SO, 1 HR, 2.00 ERA
After just 79 pitches in his previous start, Hellickson should be well rested for today's game. He's gone seven innings in three of his last four starts with 9.33 K/BB in that span and hasn't walked multiple batters in a game since May 2. Despite striking out an average of seven batters per game over the course of his last four starts, Hellickson has found success without an incredible amount of swings and misses. He'll look to continue pounding the zone against a Brewers lineup that has struck out more than all but one Major League teams.
Starting Lineups:
| Milwaukee Brewers (25-30) | Philadelphia Phillies (27-28) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | SS | Jonathan Villar | S | 1 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 2 | 3B | Aaron Hill | R | 2 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 3 | LF | Ryan Braun | R | 3 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 4 | C | Jonathan Lucroy | R | 4 | 1B | Tommy Joseph | R |
| 5 | 1B | Chris Carter | R | 5 | LF | Cody Asche | L |
| 6 | 2B | Scooter Gennett | L | 6 | RF | Tyler Goeddel | R |
| 7 | RF | Domingo Santana | R | 7 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 8 | CF | Kirk Nieuwenhuis | L | 8 | C | Carlos Ruiz | R |
| 9 | P | Junior Guerra | R | 9 | P | Jeremy Hellickson | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 3:05 p.m.
- TV: CSN
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- Jeremy Hellickson has yet to receive more than three runs of support from the Phillies offense.
- Carlos Ruiz will, as per usual, catch Hellickson today despite being hitless in his previous 21 at-bats.
- The Phillies were 4-7 (.571) with runners in scoring position in last night's game. In the three games prior, the team was 0-12.
What's Next:
- Sundy, June 5, 2016: vs. Milwaukee Brewers, 1:35 p.m.
- Philadelphia - Citizens Bank Park
- RHP Wily Peralta (3-6, 6.51) vs. RHP Aaron Nola (4-4, 2.88)
- TV: CSN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
