Philadelphia @ Los Angeles preview
Dodger Stadium
Last Meeting ( Aug 30, 2010 ) Philadelphia 0, LA Dodgers 3
The Philadelphia Phillies have a chance to put away the Los Angeles Dodgers and tighten their grip on a playoff spot, but they are going to have to crank up the offense to get it done.
A night after nearly being no-hit, the Phillies face the Dodgers on Tuesday in the second contest of a three-game set at Chavez Ravine.
Philadelphia dropped a game to the Atlanta Braves in the NL East standings on Monday with a 3-0 loss to the Dodgers. Hiroki Kuroda took a no-hitter into the eighth inning for Los Angeles and Roy Halladay lost for the 10th time this season despite an ERA of 2.27.
There wasn't much Halladay could have done differently on Monday, save for being perfect, which he was once this season against the Florida Marlins. No Philadelphia pitcher has much margin for error as the offense has not come around as expected, even with the return of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard from injury.
The Phillies have scored more than three runs just once in their last eight games. They are 3-5 in that span, including being on the receiving end of a four-game sweep at home by the Houston Astros. Philadelphia looked to put it together with a three-game sweep of the NL West-leading San Diego Padres, but they were back to sputtering at the plate against Kuroda on Monday.
Philadelphia leads San Francisco by 1 1/2 games for the National League wild card. The Dodgers are nine games behind the Padres in the NL West, with the Giants and Colorado Rockies between them and first. They trail the Phillies by 5 1/2 games in the wild card race.
Kyle Kendrick (8-7, 4.64 ERA) gets the start for Philadelphia having dropped his last two outings and three of his last four. He faced Los Angeles at home on Aug. 10 and was rocked, allowing six runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings of a 15-9 loss. For his career, Kendrick is 2-3 with an 8.14 ERA in five starts against the Dodgers.
Los Angeles counters with Carlos Monasterios, who will be making his first career start against Philadelphia.
Monasterios (3-4, 3.54 ERA) has appeared in 27 games for Los Angeles this season, including 10 starts.
He last pitched on Thursday, when he permitted just one run and two hits in 4 1/3 innings against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Monasterios last picked up a win on June 7 against the St. Louis Cardinals. He is 0-4 in his last 12 appearances.