Phils head to Atlanta for NL East clash

Baseball Betting Lines

06/30/2009 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Philadelphia Phillies will close out the last portion of their current road trip with the first of three straight games against the NL East-rival Atlanta Braves at Turner Field.

Philadelphia is 2 1/2 games ahead of the Florida Marlins and three games in front of the New York Mets for the division lead, and has won two in a row to improve to 3-3 on a nine-game trek. The Phillies are coming off a weekend series in Toronto and won the set with Sunday's 5-4 victory behind Chase Utley's go-ahead two-run triple that highlighted a four-run fourth inning.

Shane Victorino, Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz finished with an RBI apiece for the Phillies, who recorded their first series win since taking two of three against the Mets from June 9-11.

Phils veteran Jamie Moyer gave up four runs -- including three homers -- on five hits in five innings for the win. He walked two and struck out four to pick up only his third victory in his last 11 outings. Moyer passed Bob Gibson for 43rd on the all-time wins list with his 252nd.

"I made a number of bad pitches and the ones I made that were bad got hit hard," Moyer said on the team's official Web site.

Phils closer Brad Lidge posted his 14th save with a scoreless ninth, but did allow a hit and walked a batter to make things interesting. Lidge was making his first appearance in a save situation since returning from a sprained right knee that landed him on the 15-day disabled list.

Meanwhile, shortstop Jimmy Rollins is expected to be back in the lineup and bat leadoff against the Braves. Rollins hasn't recorded a hit since collecting three against Toronto on June 18. He was benched the last four games and is riding a five-game hitless streak.

Philadelphia, which won for just the fourth time in its last 15 tries, will send Joe Blanton to the mound on Tuesday. Blanton is 2-1 with a solid 2.75 earned run average over his past six starts, but is coming off a 7-1 loss at Tampa Bay the last time out on Wednesday.

Blanton pitched seven innings of two-run ball and struck out 10 Rays batters, while issuing a pair of walks. The righty, who is 3-1 in his last four decisions, is 4-4 with a 5.06 ERA in 14 outings this season.

Blanton also sports an 0-1 mark and a 9.64 ERA in three career starts against Atlanta. He is 0-1 in two starts versus Atlanta this season.

The Braves, who are five games behind the Phillies in the NL East race, ended a four-game slide and salvaged the finale of a three-game series versus the Boston Red Sox with Sunday's 2-1 victory behind youngster Tommy Hanson's six shutout innings. Hanson improved to 4-0, struck out two and walked a pair of hitters.

"Once I got out there and the adrenaline started pumping, I felt fine," said Hanson, who was battling a case of the flu. Hanson's last two wins have come against the New York Yankees and Boston.

Braves closer Mike Gonzalez allowed a run in the ninth, but managed to record his ninth save of the season.

Garret Anderson and Chipper Jones both homered for Atlanta, which is 3-4 on a 10-game homestand.

Taking the hill for the Braves Tuesday will be Derek Lowe, who will start in place of Kenshin Kawakami. Kawakami is being skipped in the rotation to allow his bruised neck to heal, while Lowe is 0-3 with a 12.34 earned run average over his last three starts.

Lowe is coming off a setback versus the Yankees on Thursday, when he allowed eight runs -- six earned -- and 11 hits in just three innings of an 11-7 setback. He fell to 7-6 in 16 starts and raised his ERA from 4.09 to 4.53 this season after the Yankees game.

The right-hander hopes to have the same success against the Phillies he had during a 4-1 victory on April 5 in South Philly. Lowe tossed eight shutout innings of two-hit ball, struck out four and allowed no walks that day to improve to 5-1 in 12 games (8 starts) against Philadelphia.

Atlanta leads the 2009 season series against Philadelphia by a 4-2 count, with all games played at Citizens Bank Park. The Braves have won six of the last eight matchups between the teams

Philadelphia went 14-4 against Atlanta a year ago, including a 9-0 mark at Turner Field.