By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia Phillies (22-45) and rookie RHP Ben Lively will aim to avoid being swept for the eighth time, as they take on LHP Robbie Ray and the Arizona Diamondbacks (43-26) in Sunday's series finale matinee at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies were swept just nine times all of last season.
Phillies second baseman Howie Kendrick — batting second in the starting lineup — will look for career hit No. 1,500, as is he is one hit shy of the milestone.
In Saturday afternoon's 5-1 defeat, right-handed starter Jerad Eickhoff tossed six innings on 105 pitches and allowed only one run on five hits, three walks and two strikeouts. The Phillies' lone run came via a sixth inning sacrifice fly to center by catcher Andrew Knapp. The club went 0-5 with runners in scoring position and left 13 men on base. Phillies reliever RHP Edubray Ramos fell to 0-4 on the season, allowing three runs in the seventh.
The Phillies have fallen in six straight home games to the Diamondbacks — including the first two contests of this series — dating back to June 17, 2016. Over this stretch, they have been outscored 32-10 and outhit 65-34.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Arizona Diamondbacks (43-26) | Philadelphia Phillies (22-45) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LHP | Robbie Ray | RHP | Ben Lively | ||
| (7-3, 2.62 ERA) | (1-1, 3.00 ERA) | ||||
Ray Career vs. PHI: 1-1, 4.50 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 12 IP, 16 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 HR, BB, 14 SO, 1.417 WHIP
Each of the 25-year-old southpaw's two career starts against the Phillies occurred nearly one year ago, June 17 at Citizens Bank Park and June 27 at Chase Field. Ray earned a winning decision in the road outing, as the Diamondbacks routed the Phillies 10-2 with a 16-hit, six-home run performance. The Phillies returned the favor 10 days later, defeating Ray and the Diamondbacks 8-0, behind a six-run seventh inning in which the offense similarly produced 16 hits.
Ray has won each of his last five starts, combining for a 0.24 ERA with just one earned run allowed over 37 innings and a 48-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The four-year veteran's recent success is a polar opposite from his first eight starts this season, going 2-3 with a 4.57 ERA.
Lively Career vs. ARI: N/A
Through each of his first three career starts, Lively, 25, has tossed seven innings and allowed no more than three runs. In doing so, Lively is just the seventh Phillies pitcher to accomplish such feat since 1913, the last being RHP Bill Champion (1969).
Six of Lively's seven career runs allowed have occurred in his first three innings of work (6.00 ERA, 6 ER, 9 IP). Lively owns a 0.75 career ERA in innings 4-7 (1 ER, 12 IP), with opposing batters hitting 7-37 with two doubles, five walks and two strikeouts.
Starting Lineups:
| Arizona Diamondbacks (43-26) | Philadelphia Phillies (22-45) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | CF | Gregor Blanco | L | 1 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 2 | C | Chris Hermann | L | 2 | 2B | Howie Kendrick | R |
| 3 | 1B | Paul Goldschmidt | R | 3 | RF | Aaron Altherr | R |
| 4 | 3B | Jake Lamb | L | 4 | 1B | Tommy Joseph | R |
| 5 | RF | Chris Owings | R | 5 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 6 | 2B | Brandon Drury | R | 6 | LF | Daniel Nava | S |
| 7 | LF | Jeremy Hazelbaker | L | 7 | C | Cameron Rupp | R |
| 8 | SS | Nick Ahmed | R | 8 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 9 | P | Robbie Ray | L | 9 | P | Ben Lively | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 1:35 p.m.
- TV: CSN
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
NL East Standings (entering June 18, 2017):
| W | L | GB | L10 | Streak | Home | Road | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Nationals | 42 | 26 | — | 5-5 | W3 | 18-14 | 24-12 |
| Miami Marlins | 30 | 36 | 11.0 | 6-4 | L1 | 16-16 | 14-20 |
| Atlanta Braves | 30 | 37 | 11.5 | 5-5 | W1 | 14-18 | 16-19 |
| New York Mets | 30 | 37 | 11.5 | 5-5 | L3 | 16-23 | 14-14 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 22 | 45 | 19.5 | 1-9 | L2 | 13-17 | 9-28 |
Game Notes:
- Phillies first baseman Tommy Joseph has the longest active hitting streak in Major League Baseball (MLB), a career-best 13 games. Since June 5, Joseph is batting .346/.382/.481 with four doubles, a home run, seven RBIs, three walks and 13 strikeouts over 55 plate appearances. The 25-year old's batting average has risen 26 points during this stretch.
- Ray's 0.24 ERA since May 19 is the best among all qualified pitchers. Following Ray are New York Yankees southpaw CC Sabathia (1.21) and Washington Nationals ace RHP Max Scherzer (1.60).
- Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt has the fourth-best batting average in June, .400. Goldschmidt's .500 June on-base percentage, however, is tied with Chicago Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo for the MLB lead.
- Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera leads all of baseball in defensive WAR in June, 2.6. Herrera's 11 doubles this month also leads MLB, two more than Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks.
What's Next:
- Tuesday, June 20, 2017: vs. St. Louis Cardinals, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- RHP Mike Leake (5-6, 3.14 ERA) vs. RHP Jeremy Hellickson (5-5, 4.91 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
