Preview Game 159: Phillies vs. Astros

Hard to believe but the Phillies still have some games to play in the regular season and there is some importance riding on them.

A night after celebrating the team's third consecutive division championship and clinching their berth in the upcoming playoffs, the Phillies find themselves within striking distance of home field advantage in the National League. The Phillies trail the Los Angeles Dodgers by just half a game (Dodgers have off tonight) for the best record in the league and are two games ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals. A win tonight would tie the Phillies heading into the weekend. Regardless of where they finish, it appears likely that the first round opponent will be the Colorado Rockies, but we will wait to see how things unfold.

Cliff Lee is scheduled to make his final start of the regular season and it appears that he will be lined up to make a game one start next Wednesday. It would be nice to see Lee have a solid performance entering the post season as he has been vulnerable in recent outings. In his previous start against Milwaukee Lee was charged with seven runs on nine hits in an 8-4 loss to the Brewers. If the Phillies are going to be a favorite in the National League, Cliff Lee will need to be on top of his game.

Opposing Lee will be Astros pitcher Felipe Paulino. Paulino is often a victim of poor run support, although he is coming off a bad outing in his previous start. In that game against Cincinnati Paulino allowed eight runs on nine hits in just five innings. In his first three starts in September the Astros failed to score a run to back him up.

But the Astros have shown that they can hit against the Phillies and before last night they could take the Phillies to the limit in any game.

No more counting down the magic number for the Phillies. With the division on the shelf all eyes will be scoreboard watching as there are still (mathematically) numerous possibilities for the first round opponent.

Around the League Today
St. Louis Cardinals @ Cincinnati Reds (12:35pm)
Milwaukee Brewers @ Colorado Rockies (3:10 pm)
Washington Nationals @ Atlanta Braves (7:00 pm)


Phillies Record: 92-66
Astros Record: 73-85

NL East Standings

1. PHILLIES 92-66, -
2. Braves 86-72, 6.0
   
3. Marlins 85-74, 7.5
4. Mets 67-92, 25.5
   
5. Nationals 55-103, 37.0
   

Pitching probables: Cliff Lee (14-12, 3.19 ERA) vs. Felipe Paulino (2-11, 6.51 ERA)

TV: Comcast Sportsnet

First pitch, game one: 7:05 pm EST

Season Series: Houston leads 5-1
9.04 @ Houston L 0-7 Preview/Open Thread
9.05 @ Houston L 4-5 Open Thread
9.06 @ Houston L 3-4 Open Thread
9.07 @ Houston L 3-4 Open Thread
9.28 HOUSTON L 2-8 Preview/Open Thread/Recap
9.29 HOUSTON W 7-4 Preview/Open Thread/Recap
9.30 HOUSTON W 10-3 Preview/Open Thread/Recap
10.01 HOUSTON


Open thread for the game will be posted at 6:30 pm. Game recap will be up by tomorrow morning.