Philadelphia @ San Diego preview

Last Meeting ( May 13, 2012 ) San Diego 2, Philadelphia 3

The San Diego Padres face a hot pitcher in Cliff Lee as they attempt to bounce back from rare back-to-back home losses when they open a three-game series against the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on Monday. San Diego has won 23 of its last 32 games at Petco Park but lost the final two contests of a four-game home set against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Lee has won seven consecutive decisions and hasn’t lost since May 1.

The third-place Phillies are four games below .500 and 7 1/2 behind the Atlanta Braves in the National League East after being routed by the New York Mets on Sunday. Philadelphia's Domonic Brown has gone 13 contests without a home run after a stretch in which he went deep 11 times in a 15-game span. San Diego slipped into fourth place in the NL West – 3 1/2 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks – after falling 3-1 on Sunday to the Dodgers as Huston Street allowed two homers in the ninth in a non-save situation.

TV: 10:10 p.m. ET, CSN (Philadelphia), FSN (San Diego)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Phillies LH Cliff Lee (9-2, 2.53 ERA) vs. Padres LH Eric Stults (6-5, 3.25)

Lee has posted a 1.97 ERA during a stretch of nine starts without a loss and hasn’t walked a batter in four of the outings. He is 1-2 with a 4.99 ERA in five career outings against San Diego, with the hitters combining for a .323 average. Lee is 6-1 with a 1.88 ERA and 0.84 WHIP in nine road starts this season.

Stults has allowed two or fewer runs in each of his last five starts, posting a 2-1 record and 1.69 ERA during the stretch. He is 3-1 with a 2.90 ERA in six home outings, issuing just six walks in 40 1/3 innings. Stults has pitched just once against Philadelphia, a three-inning relief stint in 2007 for the Los Angeles Dodgers in which he gave up four runs and eight hits.

WALK-OFFS

1. San Diego is 9-4 against NL East teams this season.

2. Philadelphia 1B Ryan Howard has homered in each of his two career at-bats against Stults.

3. Street has allowed 10 homers in just 26 1/3 innings, matching his career-worst total from 2011. He gave up two blasts in 39 frames last season.

PREDICTION: Padres 2, Phillies 1