San Francisco @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 23, 2014 ) San Francisco 3, Philadelphia 1

The San Francisco Giants aim for a four-game road sweep against the Philadelphia Phillies when the teams square off Thursday afternoon. San Francisco has won six of its last seven games, including a 3-1 triumph in Wednesday's contest. Philadelphia has dropped seven of eight entering the series finale, which offers a quality matchup between pitchers with sub-.3.00 ERAs.

Giants starter Tim Hudson has been terrific in three of his last four outings, while Phillies counterpart Cole Hamels has not given up more than three runs in an outing since May. At this point, Philadelphia would love to see Hamels go the distance on Thursday after closer Jonathan Papelbon blew the save on Tuesday and then suffered the loss the following night. Former Phillie Hunter Pence was the hero in Wednesday's contest with a three-run double off Papelbon in the top of the ninth inning.

TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, MLBN, CSN Bay Area (San Francisco), CSN (Philadelphia)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants RH Tim Hudson (8-6, 2.78 ERA) vs. Phillies LH Cole Hamels (4-5, 2.83)

Hudson has faced the Phillies 29 times in his career, posting an 11-9 record with a 3.72 ERA - his highest mark against any NL East opponent. He enters this matchup on the heels of a terrific start against Miami, which managed just one run in 7 1/3 innings Saturday. Hudson did not walk a batter against the Marlins, marking the third time in his last four starts that he went at least six frames without issuing a free pass.

Hamels has won two straight decisions and allowed three runs or fewer in 10 consecutive starts. That said, the former World Series MVP still is trying to reach the .500 mark for the first time this season, due in large part to terrible run support. Buster Posey is 7-for-11 with four doubles and a home run against Hamels, while Michael Morse is just 4-for-18 with eight strikeouts versus the 30-year-old.

WALK-OFFS

1. Phillies CF Ben Revere has notched five hits in his last two games after recording a total of five in his previous eight contests.

2. Philadelphia's Chase Utley is coming off his first multi-strikeout performance since June 27. The last time the All-Star second baseman struck out multiple times in back-to-back games was April 14 and 16 against Atlanta.

3. The Giants are 16-7 against the NL East this season.

PREDICTION: Giants 7, Phillies 3