Phillies Look To Bounce Back Vs. Nationals
By Matt Leon
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – After a sluggish 5-1 loss to the Nationals on Wednesday night, the Phillies will look to get back on track on Thursday night as they wrap up this four-game series with Washington.
Wednesday night's defeat snapped a three-game winning streak for the Phils and it also dropped them back two games under .500 at 45-47.
Kyle Kendrick will get the start for the Phillies in this series finale. The right-hander is 7-6 on the season, but he has struggled as of late -- 0-2, 22 hits and ten runs allowed in 11 innings in his last two starts. In his career against Washington, Kendrick is 4-6 with a 4.63 ERA.
The Nationals will counter on the mound with All-Star right-hander Jordan Zimmermann who is 12-3 this season with a fine 2.57 ERA. He beat the Phillies and Kendrick, 5-2, in Washington, back on May 24th.
Darin Ruf hit his first home run of the season for the Phillies in Wednesday night's loss. Since his call-up from AAA, Ruf is hitting .385 in five games.
The Phillies come into play 7 1/2 games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves in National League East. They are 2 1/2 games behind the second-place Nationals.
Following this game, the Phillies will welcome the Chicago White Sox to Citizens Bank Park for a three-game series beginning on Friday night. These will be the final three games before the all-star break.
KYW's Matt Leon spoke with John Finger of CSNPhilly.com about tonight's match-up.
You can follow Matt on Twitter @mattleonkyw.
