All in Phillies

NATIONAL LEAGUE

L.A. Dodgers (65-64) at Philadelphia (70-59)

The Phillies look to a complete a three-game sweep of the Dodgers when they send Joe Blanton (1-0, 4.50) to the mound against the Dodgers and Hiroki Kuroda (7-9, 4.50) in a nationally televised affair.

Philadelphia has outscored the Dodgers 17-3 in the first two games, and Charlie Manuel’s club is on a 6-2 roll since getting swept in a four-game series at Los Angeles earlier this month. The Phillies are also on hot streaks of 5-1 at home, 4-1 against right-handed starters and 4-0 on Sundays.

Since taking four straight from Philadelphia, the Dodgers have dropped five of their last seven. They’re also stuck in ruts of 2-8 on the road overall and 2-6 when Kuroda works on the highway. On the bright side, Joe Torre’s club has still won eight of its last 10 against the N.L. East and six of its last seven on Sundays.

The home team has won all six meetings between these clubs this season, and L.A. is now just 8-17 in its last 25 trips to Philadelphia.

Kuroda dominated the Phillies in a 3-1 home win back on Aug. 14, going seven innings and giving up just a run on two hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. However, he followed that up with an 8-3 home loss to the Rockies on Tuesday, surrendering four runs on six hits in six innings. The rookie right-hander has struggled on foreign turf, going 2-7 with a 4.75 ERA in 12 starts.

Blanton has followed up two solid starts (one run, five hits allowed in 14 innings) with a pair of clunkers against the Dodgers and Nationals, allowing four runs in five innings in both contests. Still, the Phillies are 4-2 behind Blanton since trading for the burly right-hander in July, including 2-1 at home, where Blanton has a 3.86 ERA.

The over is 10-4-2 in the last 15 series meetings overall, but the under has cashed in seven of the last nine clashes in Philadelphia. Also, for the Phillies, the under is also on streaks of 8-1-1 at home, 4-1-1 overall, 6-2-1 on Sundays and 25-11-2 against winning teams. The Dodgers’ under runs include 4-2 on the road, 11-5 with Kuroda on the hill and 9-2 when Kuroda pitches on the road.

ATS ADVANTAGE:               PHILADELPHIA and UNDER