With the loss to the San Diego Padres last night at Petco Park, the Philadelphia Phillies have now been held scoreless in their last two games, blanked by Arizona on Wednesday, 6-0, and by the Friars last night, 2-0. The Phillies have the arsenal to put up numbers, it’s just a matter of time before they do, and tonight could be that night. The Pads and Phillies will play the second game of a 3-game set tonight and San Diego is expected to send Walter Lockett to the rubber. Lockett will be making his third Big League start and has struggled. He is 0-2, with an elevated ERA of 9.28, a 2.34 WHIP, and he did not look good in his last outing, surrendering 5 runs and 9 hits to the Chicago Cubs. Philadelphia will turn to their ace, Aaron Nola, to get them back on track. Nola is 12-3, with a 2.37 ERA, a WHIP of only 0.99, and the Phillies are 5-0 in his last 5 turns against the National League West. Philadelphia and Atlanta are tied for the National League East lead. The Phillies need to beat bottom feeders like the Padres if they want to keep pace and they know it.
TONIGHT’S PICK: PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES