By: Nick Mandarano, contributor 
PHILADELPHIA — After a shockingly strong start to the season, the last month or so has been rough for the Phillies. However, with a win last night against the Diamondbacks, the Phillies secured their first series victory since taking two of three against the Marlins from May 16-18. A win today would result in the first series sweep for Philadelphia since their series against Cleveland from April 29-May 1.
The Phillies offense has been strong of late, averaging six runs per game since June 21. Peter Bourjos leads all Major League players with a .484 (15-31) average during that time (min. 20 PA). He's raised his season average from .217 to .259 in those eight games (+42 points).
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Arizona Diamondbacks (36-44) | Philadelphia Phillies (34-45) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Archie Bradley | RHP | Zach Eflin | ||
| (3-3, 4.50 ERA) | (0-2, 6.28 ERA) | ||||
Archie Bradley — Age: 23
- Last Appearance: June 24, 2016, @ COL: ND, 5.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 SO, 0 HR
- Career vs. PHI: (1-1), 2 G, 8.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 6 SO, 1 HR, 4.50 ERA
In 2015, his debut season, Bradley started eight games. Now through eight games in 2016, his numbers look very similar. What has improved significantly, though, are his strikeout numbers. He boasts a 9.6 K/9 clip and his K/BB rate has nearly doubled from last year (2.04). He currently ranks sixth in the National League with 43 strikeouts since May 29. He has had at least five strikeouts in six straight starts and at least nine strikeouts in three of those games. Opposing hitters are batting just .191 (13-for-68) against Bradley at Chase Field this season.
Zach Eflin— Age: 22;
- Last Appearance: June 24, 2016, @ SFG: ND, 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 SO, 0 HR
- Career vs. ARI:(0-1), 1 G, 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 3.17 ERA
Eflin's debut was not exciting for Phillies fans. He allowed eight earned runs in less than three innings, walked more batters than he struck out and gave up three homers. In his two starts since then though, he's posted a 1.54 ERA and 0.86 WHIP and has walked just a single batter in over eleven innings. This afternoon, he'll be looking for his first Major League victory, hopefully with some help from the offense. He's received just two runs of support in his first three starts (14.1 innings).
Starting Lineups:
| Arizona Diamondbacks (36-44) | Philadelphia Phillies (34-45) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | SS | Jean Segura | R | 1 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 2 | 2B | Phil Gosselin | L | 2 | RF | Peter Bourjos | R |
| 3 | 1B | Paul Goldschmidt | R | 3 | LF | Cody Asche | L |
| 4 | 3B | Jake Lamb | R | 4 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 5 | RF | Yasmany Tomás | R | 5 | 1B | Tommy Joseph | R |
| 6 | C | Chris Herrmann | L | 6 | C | Cameron Rupp | R |
| 7 | LF | Brandon Drury | R | 7 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 8 | P | Archie Bradley | R | 8 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 9 | CF | Michael Bourn | L | 9 | P | Zach Eflin | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 3:40 p.m.
- TV: CSN
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- Last night, the Phillies earned their first win of the season when trailing after 8.0 innings. They were 0-41 in such situations prior to last night. It was Philadelphia’s third come-from-behind win in the last six days
- The Diamondbacks are hitting .294 (40-for-136) with runners in scoring position since June 10, the National League's second-best mark during that span behind only the Giants (.299).
- Since the beginning of their road trip on June 21st, the Phillies rank 2nd among all Major League teams in extra-base hits (36) and total bases (155), 3rd in hits (93), 4th in average (.318), SLG % (.531) & OPS (.905), 5th in runs (48), and 6th in OBP (.374).
What's Next:
- Friday, July 1, 2016: vs. Kansas City Royals, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- RHP Ian Kennedy (6-6, 3.96 ERA) vs. RHP Jeremy Hellickson (5-6, 4.23 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
