The Phillies have lost five straight games after winning five straight games. Baseball sure is a funny sport, a lot of things happen that leave us scratching our heads. That's what this team has basically done all year to us. The past two nights in Minnesota have nobody else to blame but the bullpen. Tyler Cloyd was solid last night, tossing five innings of one-run ball. He allowed six hits and struck out two. Despite the solid line, the Phillies still to the Twins 4-3 after Antonio Bastardo served up the tying run and Justin De Fratus allowed the game-winning run via wild pitch.
With the Phillies on a five-game losing streak they will turn to Cliff Lee (7-2, 2.55 ERA), who has played stopper more than often this season. Opposing Lee and the Phillies will be Kevin Correia (5-4, 4.11 ERA) who will be looking to bring out the brooms and sweep the Phillies.
Cliff Lee is coming off of a no-decision effort in Milwaukee last time out. On Friday, Lee tossed seven innings of three-run ball, allowing eight hits and three walks while striking out nine batters. It was Lee's second straight start of allowing three or more earned runs in a game. Lee, who had been on a roll until last Friday, will look to get back into the groove of things as well as giving the Phillies some life. In over 116 innings pitched against Minnesota, Cliff Lee has an 8-4 record with a 3.64 ERA.
Kevin Correia is also coming off of a no-decision outing against Washington. On Saturday, Correia allowed three earned runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings of ball. He struck out seven hitters for a season-high. Correia has struggled with keeping runners off the bases and keeping them on the bases all season. Correia has allowed at least three earned runs in his last seven starts and has won just two of those matches. In his last three starts, Correia is 1-0 with a 4.74 ERA. Correia will be making his fifth career start against Philadelphia tonight. In 25 innings of work, Correia is 1-3 with a 8.64 ERA against the Phils.
Game Notes:
- John Lannan will be making his first start in two months tomorrow evening against Washington.
- Carlos Zambrano will start for Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Thursday night. Zambrano. Zambrano allowed just one run in six innings for Reading on Saturday.
- The Phillies have sent down Tyler Cloyd and brought up Jake Diekman.
- SCORE RUNS FOR CLIFF LEE!
Phillies lineup:
- Ben Revere CF
- Michael Young 3B
- Jimmy Rollins SS
- Ryan Howard 1B
- Domonic Brown LF
- Delmon Young DH
- Laynce Nix RF
- Freddy Galvis 2B
- Humberto Quintero C
Cliff Lee will start tonight's game.
Twins lineup:
- Jamey Carroll 3B
- Joe Mauer C
- Ryan Doumit RF
- Josh Willingham DH
- Justin Morneau 1B
- Oswaldo Arcia LF
- Clete Thomas CF
- Brian Dozier 2B
- Eduardo Escobar SS
Kevin Correia will start tonight's game.
First Pitch Forecast: Partly Cloudy – 72° – 0% PoP.
TV: myPHL17
Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT
Let's Go Phillies!
Erik Seybold is a writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter.
