The Phillies are coming off of an 8-0 loss to finish off another series loss at the hands of the Mets at Citizens Bank Park. Four games under .500 and even farther out of the NL East race the Phillies will set out on a 10-game road trip in San Diego, Los Angeles and Pittsburgh. The first stop is San Diego, where Cliff Lee (9-2, 2.53 ERA) will attempt to win his 10th game of the year as well as give the Phillies a good start on this road trip. Opposing Lee and the Phillies will be Eric Stults (6-5, 3.25 ERA), who will be looking to get his team above .500.
In his last time out, Cliff Lee pitched brilliantly against the Nationals, allowing two earned runs on five hits over eight innings. Lee struck out nine and walked none en route to his 9th win on the year. Lee has been rolling as usual this time of the year. In his last three starts, the left-hander is 2-0 with a 2.86 ERA and has a 4-0 record to go along with a 2.66 ERA over his last five starts. Lee has 43 strike outs to go opposite of his four walks in that five-game stretch and has not lost a game since the beginning of May. Lee has not had the most of luck against the Padres, tallying a 1-2 record and a 4.99 ERA in over 30 career innings pitched.
Eric Stults is coming off of a no-decision outing against the Giants last Wednesday. Stults allowed two earned runs on seven hits through 6 1/3 innings of work. Along with walking two and striking out three, Stults was pulled before the Giants scored the game-leading runs in the seventh. Stults has dealt solidly over his last five starts, allowing no more than two earned runs per game in that stretch. In his last three starts, Stults has a 2-0 recored and a 1.61 ERA. Stults has not pitched against the Phillies since July of 2007. In that outing, the Phillies routed Stults for four earned runs in three innings.
Game Notes:
- Surprisingly, the Phils have been the best team in the NL East since April 19, going 31-29.
- Chase Headley is hitting a career .444 (4-for-9) with 3 RBI off of Cliff Lee.
- Despite last pitching against the Phils in 2007, only Humberto Quintero (0-for-1) has an at-bat Eric Stults.
- Ryan Howard is out of the lineup with a sore knee. Howard aggrivated his knee taking extra batting practice.
Phillies lineup:
- Jimmy Rollins SS
- Chase Utley 2B
- Michael Young 3B
- Domonic Brown LF
- Kevin Frandsen 1B
- Delmon Young RF
- John Mayberry CF
- Carlos Ruiz C
- Cliff Lee P
Padres lineup:
- Logan Forsythe 2B
- Chris Denorfia CF
- Carlos Quentin LF
- Chase Headley 3B
- Kyle Blanks RF
- Jesus Guzman 1B
- Yesmani Grandal C
- Pedro Ciriaco SS
- Eric Stults P
First Pitch Forecast: Partly Cloudy – 67° – 0% PoP
TV: CSN
Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT.
Erik Seybold is a writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter.
