By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies (64-58) will play for their season-high fifth straight win in the second of a three-game series Saturday evening against the San Diego Padres (56-65) at Citizens Bank Park.
RELATED | Phillies Power Past Padres, Tied for Second NL Wild Card Spot
Right-hander Zach Eflin will make his first start for the Phillies since July 27, replacing injured RHP Jake Arrieta (bone spur, right elbow). Eflin will oppose RHP Dinelson Lamet, who will make his 29th career start and first at Citizens Bank Park.
In Friday's 8-4 opener victory, the top three spots in the Phillies starting lineup — Roman Quinn, Bryce Harper, and J.T. Realmuto — combined for six hits, three home runs (one each), six RBI and five runs scored. Phillies RHP Vince Velasquez (W, 5-7) threw a solid 5 1/3 innings; while two outs shy of a quality start, the right-hander allowed only three runs on five hits, two walks and five strikeouts en route to a winning decision. Recently signed 1B Logan Morrison went 2-for-4 with a single and double in his first start with the Phillies; he filled in for Rhys Hoskins (sore hand), who is back in the lineup on Saturday.
RELATED | Phillies Injury Updates: Arrieta, Quinn, Robertson
Quinn exited the game early due to right groin tightness, and on Saturday was placed on the 10-day injured list; recently acquired RHP Jared Hughes has been added to the 25-man roster as a corresponding move.
With 40 games to go, the Phillies are tied with the Chicago Cubs for the second National League Wild Card spot. The Cubs will start southpaw Jon Lester in their Saturday road matinee against the Pittsburgh Pirates and fellow LHP Steven Brault.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| San Diego Padres (56-65) | Philadelphia Phillies (64-58) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Dinelson Lamet | RHP | Zach Eflin | ||
| (1-2, 3.86 ERA) | (7-11, 4.49 ERA) | ||||
RHP Dinelson Lamet, Age: 27
- Career vs. PHI: 1-0, 2.57 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, HR, BB, 7 SO, 0.571 WHIP
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: N/A
Lamet missed the entire 2018 season due to Tommy John surgery; in his seven starts this season, the right-hander has walked 16 batters over 35 innings, including seven batters in his last two starts and 12 innings pitched. The Dominican Republic, native has 188 strikeouts over 149 1/3 career innings dating back to his rookie season in 2017.
Lamet previously opposed the Phillies on August 15, 2017, at Petco Park. The Padres jumped out to a 3-0 lead that game, and the Phillies could not answer back, falling 8-4 in the contest.
RHP Zach Eflin, Age: 25
- Career vs. SDP: 0-1, 3.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, HR, BB, 8 SO, 1.000 WHIP
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: 14-12, 4.39 ERA, 32 G, 30 GS, 184 1/3 IP, 184 H, 99 R, 90 ER, 34 HR, 47 BB, 155 SO, 1.253 WHIP
The Phillies have lost nine straight games (five starts) in which Eflin has appeared; over this stretch, the right-hander is 0-4 with an 8.56 ERA, 22-11 strikeout-to-walk ratio and .331/.392/.619 opposing slash spanning 27 1/3 innings.
Eflin will make his first start since July 27; he had posted a 10.38 ERA and 2.031 WHIP over this previous five starts, which resulted in his move to the bullpen upon the acquisition of LHP Jason Vargas from the New York Mets in late July.
The Padres drafted Eflin in the first round, 33rd overall, in the 2012 amateur draft.
Starting Lineups:
| San Diego Padres (56-65) | Philadelphia Phillies (64-58) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | CF | Manuel Margot | R | 1 | 1B | Rhys Hoskins | R |
| 2 | LF | Josh Naylor | L | 2 | RF | Bryce Harper | L |
| 3 | 3B | Manny Machado | R | 3 | C | J.T. Realmuto | R |
| 4 | 1B | Eric Hosmer | L | 4 | LF | Corey Dickerson | L |
| 5 | C | Francisco Mejia | S | 5 | SS | Jean Segura | R |
| 6 | RF | Hunter Renfroe | R | 6 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 7 | 2B | Ty France | R | 7 | 3B | Scott Kingery | R |
| 8 | SS | Luis Urias | R | 8 | CF | Adam Haseley | L |
| 9 | P | Dinelson Lamet | R | 9 | P | Zach Eflin | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 7:05 p.m.
- TV: NBCSP
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- Around the League:
- Chicago Cubs (LHP Jon Lester, 9-8, 4.43 ERA) at Pittsburgh Pirates (LHP Steven Brault, 3-1, 4.33 ERA), 1:35 p.m.
- St. Louis Cardinals (RHP Miles Mikolas, 7-12, 4.13 ERA) at Cincinnati Reds (RHP Anthony DeSclafani, 7-7, 4.51 ERA), 6:40 p.m.
- Milwaukee Brewers (RHP Jordan Lyles, 7-8, 4.71 ERA) at Washington Nationals (RHP Anibal Sanchez, 7-6, 3.75 ERA), 7:05 p.m.
- New York Mets (RHP Jacob deGrom, 7-7, 2.68 ERA) at Kansas City Royals (RHP Jakob Junis, 8-10, 4.80 ERA), 7:15 p.m.
- Los Angeles Dodgers (LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu, 12-2, 1.45 ERA) at Atlanta Braves (RHP Mike Foltynewicz, 4-5, 6.24 ERA), 7:20 p.m.
- San Francisco Giants (RHP Logan Webb, MLB Debut) at Arizona Diamondbacks (RHP Taylor Clarke, 4-3, 5.46 ERA), 8:10 p.m.
Since July 31, @JTRealmuto is slugging .707 with 13 extra-base hits (9 2B, 4 HR) in 16 games.
BCIB™ ? pic.twitter.com/4MHwGC0VvA
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 17, 2019
- A win on Saturday would guarantee the Phillies their first season series win over the Padres since 2016 (5-2); 2017, 1-5; 2018, 3-3.
- Manny Machado, 2019 vs. PHI: 4 G, 4 GS, 19 PA, 17 AB, 3 R, 4 H, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 BB, 3 SO, .235/.316/.471
- Bryce Harper, 2019 vs. SDP: 4 G, 4 GS, 19 PA, 19 AB, 4 R, 6 H, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 4 SO, .316/.316/.526
- While Harper is batting .271 this month, he has slugged the third-most home runs in the majors (8), trailing only the Cincinnati Reds' Aristides Aquino (10) and the Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. (10).
- Harper has homered in three straight games, slashing .500/.571/1.500 with four home runs, 10 RBI, one walk and four strikeouts spanning 14 plate appearances.
- Hoskins and Realmuto are a combined 0-for-6 in their careers against Lamet with one strikeout.
What's Next:
- Sunday, August 18, 2019: vs. San Diego Padres, 1:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pa.
- LHP Joey Lucchesi (7-7, 4.25 ERA) vs. LHP Jason Vargas (6-6, 4.03 ERA)
- TV: NBCSP; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
