By Matt Mitchell, Sports Talk Philly Staff 
Philadelphia, PA — Jerad Eickhoff looks to quiet the Dodgers bats in series finale of Utley's homecoming.
The Phillies have overall been having an impressive month of August. The offense has been scoring regurlarly, and the young pitchers have been doing well enough to win. The Los Angeles Dodgers could care less, though. In the five games between the Phillies and the Dodgers, all of which have come in the past ten days, the Dodgers have been clobbering the Phils. After easily taking two out of three last Monday through Wednesday out in Los Angeles, the Dodgers once again enter a series finale against the Phillies looking for a sweep.
In the first two games of the series, the Dodgers have scored 22 runs, including 15 Tuesday night. This offense onslaught has propelled them into first place in the National League West, as the Giants continue to free fall. A win coupled with a San Francisco loss tonight would give the Dodgers a 2.5 game lead over the Giants as they head to Cincinnati for the weekend.
On the other side of the diamond, the Phillies will look at the least salvage a game from the Dodgers. Through the first five games of the season series, the Phillies have only managed a single win, all the while looking extremely over-matched. This continues a trend of the Dodgers easily handling the Phillies on both coasts over the past few years. In order for Philly to avoid the Dodgers' brooms, they will need to have good performances from both the pitching as well as the offense.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Los Angeles Dodgers (W-L) | Home Team (W-L) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Ross Stripling | RHP | Jerad Eickhoff | ||
| (3-4, 4.07 ERA) | (8-12, 3.82 ERA) | ||||
Ross Stripling — Age:26;
- Last Start: August 12 2016, at PIT: L, 7 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4, 0 BB
Jerad Eickhoff — Age: 26;
- Last Start: July 13, 2016, vs. COL: W, 5.2 IP, 10 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 SO, 2 BB
Jerad Eickhoff comes into Thursday's start looking to end the Phillies recent streak of rough starting performances. Entering tonight's game, the Phillies have had eight straight games where the starting pitcher has pitched less than six innings, and the rotation carrying a scary 7.06 ERA in the last 19 games. Out of all of the current Phillies starters, Eickhoff is the most capable of ending these unimpressive streaks. Even though he enters play with an 8-12 record, the 26 year old right hander has been having a nice year while flying under the radar. He has been able to consistently put the Phillies in a position to win games in what is his first full year in the majors.
Opposing Eickhoff is Dodgers right hander, and Blue Bell born, Ross Stripling. He will be making his 11th start of the season Thursday night. In his last start Friday in Pittsburgh, Stripling did get the loss, but it was his longest outing of the year (7IP) and was the second time this year he has pitched more than five innings. Stripling's usage as a starter has been increased due to the high amount of injuries to the Dodgers starting rotation. Bud Norris was initially expected to be the starter Thursday, but was his return from the DL was pushed back until Friday. Interestingly, even though the Dodgers have been running a carousel of starters dues to a plethora of injuries, their rotation has played a big role in their ascent of the NL West. Since losing Clayton Kershaw at the end of June, the Dodgers have had one of the most effective rotations in the National League.
Starting Lineups:
| Los Angeles Dodgers (67-52) | Philadelphia Phillies (55-65) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | 2B | Chase Utley | L | 1 | 2B | Ceasar Hernandez | S |
| 2 | SS | Corey Seager | L | 2 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 3 | 3B | Justin Turner | R | 3 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 4 | RF | Josh Reddick | L | 4 | 1B | Ryan Howard | L |
| 5 | 1B | Adrian Gnzalez | L | 5 | C | Cameron Rupp | R |
| 6 | C | Yasmani Grandal | S | 6 | LF | Jimmy Paredes | S |
| 7 | CF | Joc Pederson | L | 7 | RF | Aaron Altherr | R |
| 8 | LF | Howie Kendrick | R | 8 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 9 | P | Ross Stirpling | R | 9 | P | Jerad Eickhoff | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 7:05 p.m.
- TV: TCN
- Radio: 1210 AM WPHT
Game Notes:
- 1) Eickhoff the stopper: The Phillies NEED a solid outing out of Jerad Eickhoff. Velasquez and Thompson have been hit around this series, and the starting pitching has been subpar in general this month. A strong outing from Eickhoff will put the Phillies in a position to avoid the sweep, and will also give the bullpen some much needed rest.
- 2) Keep scoring runs: The Phils offense has had an awakening in August, scoring a healthy amount of runs on a regular basis. This will need to continue tonight against an LA team that has not had any problem scoring against Phillies pitching.
- 3) Tha Man: It is only fitting to include Chase Utley, as the focal point of this entire series has been on his return. He will undoubtedly hear a multitude of cheers once again tonight, as this could be his last game ever at Citizen's Bank Park.
Standings:
| Updated: August 18, 2016 | |||||
| NL EAST | W | L | GB | RS | RA |
| Nationals | 70 | 49 | — | 568 | 431 |
| Marlins | 62 | 58 | 8.5 | 512 | 501 |
| Mets | 60 | 60 | 10.5 | 450 | 456 |
| Phillies | 56 | 65 | 15.0 | 461 | 574 |
| Braves | 44 | 76 | 26.5 | 427 | 572 |
| NL WILD CARD | W | L | GB | RS | RA |
| Giants | 66 | 54 | +2.0 | 533 | 488 |
| Cardinals | 64 | 56 | — | 599 | 526 |
| Pirates | 62 | 56 | 1.0 | 541 | 536 |
| Marlins | 62 | 58 | 2.0 | 512 | 501 |
| Mets | 60 | 60 | 4.0 | 450 | 456 |
| Rockies | 58 | 63 | 6.5 | 640 | 623 |
| Phillies | 56 | 65 | 8.5 | 461 | 574 |
What's Next:
- Friday, August 19, 2016: vs. St. Louis Cardinals, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- RHP Adam Wainright (9-7, 4.72) vs. LHP Adam Morgan (1-7, 6.62 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
