By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
San Francisco, CA — The Philadelphia Phillies dropped two out of three games to Oakland over the weekend and things are about to get even tougher for the young Phils team as the NL West champion Los Angeles Dodgers travel to Citizens Bank Park for a three-game series beginning tonight at 7:05 p.m.
After a sweep of the Marlins that saw Rhys Hoskins and Nick Williams lead the offense to 27 runs in three games, Philadelphia had troubles with their Interleague opponents from Oakland as they finished 2017 play against the American League with an MLB-worst 5-15 record. Rhys Hoskins went 0-for-11 with a walk and six strikeouts in the series after hitting four homers and driving in seven runs during the sweep against Miami.
Tonight, Nick Pivetta gets the nod for the Phillies. He'll be opposed by Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Los Angeles Dodgers (96-53) | Philadelphia Phillies (58-91) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LHP | Clayton Kershaw | RHP | Nick Pivetta | ||
| (17-3, 2.12 ERA) | (5-10, 6.75 ERA) | ||||
Nick Pivetta's last outing, career vs. LAD: Pivetta has had a very up and down season, but it's been more down recently as the rookie right-hander has surrendered six runs or more in five of his last eight starts. He has a 7.88 ERA in three starts during September. In his last outing, he didn't factor into the decision during the Phillies' 9-8 win in extras against Miami. Pivetta allowed seven runs in five innings of work. He has one career start against L.A., his big league debut. In five innings, he held them to two runs on nine hits, striking out five.
Clayton Kershaw's last outing, career vs. PHI: After missing over a month of play due to injury, Clayton Kershaw hasn't skipped a beat since his return, going 2-1 with a 2.87 ERA in three starts. His most recent outing came against the Giants, a 5-3 Dodgers win. Kershaw allowed one earned run in six innings and struck out six. In 11 career starts against the Phillies, Kershaw is 3-4 with a 2.92 ERA. He's 2-2 with a 3.68 ERA in six career outings at Citizens Bank Park
Starting Lineups:
| Los Angeles Dodgers (96-53) | Philadelphia Phillies (58-91) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | CF | Chris Taylor | R | 1 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 2 | 3B | Justin Turner | R | 2 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 3 | 1B | Cody Bellinger | L | 3 | RF | Nick Williams | L |
| 4 | RF | Yasiel Puig | R | 4 | 1B | Rhys Hoskins | R |
| 5 | C | Austin Barnes | R | 5 | LF | Aaron Altherr | R |
| 6 | LF | Curtis Granderson | L | 6 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 7 | 2B | Chase Utley | L | 7 | 2B | J.P. Crawford | L |
| 8 | SS | Enrique Hernandez | R | 8 | C | Jorge Alfaro | R |
| 9 | P | Clayton Kershaw | L | 9 | P | Nick Pivetta | R |
Game Notes:
- The Phillies need to go 5-8 the rest of the way to avoid a 100 loss season.
- Freddy Galvis is hitting .571 with one RBI in seven career at-bats against Clayton Kershaw. Cesar Hernandez and Odubel Herrera are a combined 1-for-10 with a strikeout against the Dodgers' ace.
- The Dodgers' active roster is hitting .333 in 24 at-bats against Nick Pivetta with both Chris Taylor and Justin Turner tallying homers against the Phillies' 24-year-old. Yasiel Puig is 0-for-3 with two strikeouts against Pivetta.
- Earlier this season, the Phillies went into Dodger Stadium with an 11-9 record, but got swept. Philadelphia would then go on to lose 48 of their next 65 games.
- Phillies infielder J.P. Crawford has reached base safely in each of his last seven games. Although he didn't tally a hit on Sunday, Crawford drew three walks and scored a run in his first game hitting in the two hole. Since being promoted, Crawford is slashing .275/.362/.375.
- Although Rhys Hoskins and Nick Williams are getting the bulk of the attention when it comes to Phillies rookies, but don't look past Jorge Alfaro. The 24-year-old backstop has held his own in 21 games this season, hitting .317 with four homers. He hit .356 in August.
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 7:05 p.m.
- TV: CSN
- Radio: 94 WIP
What's Next:
- Tuesday, September 19th, 2017 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers at 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- RHP Aaron Nola (11-10, 3.60 ERA) vs. RHP Yu Darvish (9-12, 4.08 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
