Philadelphia @ Cincinnati preview
Great American Ball Park
Last Meeting ( Jul 9, 2009 ) Cincinnati 6, Philadelphia 9
The G20 Summit forced the Philadelphia Phillies to - in theory - hit the road, and they complied by donning their grey jerseys and playing the role of visitor while enjoying the comforts of home.
After taking two of three from the "host" Toronto Blue Jays to complete its interleague schedule with a 10-8 mark, Philadelphia will continue its road trip by actually stepping foot outside of Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies (40-33) will vie for their ninth win in 12 contests when they face the NL Central-leading Cincinnati Reds (42-34) at the Great American Ball Park in the opener of a three-game set on Monday.
Philadelphia can credit its offense for its hot stretch, which followed a cold spell of dropping 15 of its previous 21 games.
Slugger Ryan Howard has clubbed five home runs as the team has scored 75 runs in its last 11 outings. In addition, the Phillies recorded at least 10 hits in seven of those contests.
On Sunday, Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino and Ben Francisco collected three hits apiece as Philadelphia cruised to a 11-2 triumph over Toronto.
The lopsided score came without the services of third baseman Placido Polanco, who has missed the team's last two games with a sore elbow. Manuel insisted it was for precautionary reasons, considering Polanco missed six contests earlier this month with a left elbow bruise and inflammation.
The veteran is expected to be back in the lineup for Monday's game.
Keeping Philadelphia's bats at bay will be the responsibility of Johnny Cueto (7-2, 3.97 ERA). The 24-year-old right-hander has won six of his last seven decisions and has pitched at least six innings in eight of his last 10 outings.
In addition, Cueto hasn't allowed a home run in his last four outings. As for the last time he took the hill, Cueto allowed three hits in seven innings in Wednesday's 3-0 triumph over the Oakland Athletics.
Those numbers sound positive, but consider Cueto's all-too-brief resume against the Phillies. In his only two outings - which happened last year - Cueto surrendered four runs in seven strong innings in one contest while permitting nine runs and two-thirds of an inning in the other.
The Phillies will counter with Kyle Kendrick (4-2, 4.71 ERA), who has won all three career starts against the Reds.
As for this season, the 25-year-old right-hander trades strong outings with poor ones like a child swaps baseball cards. Ironically, the Phillies have managed to pull Kendrick out of the fire more often than not - winning seven of his last nine outings.
Kendrick's last two outings perfectly illustrate his topsy-turvy season. He pitched like a seasoned veteran on June 17 against the New York Yankees, allowing just one run in seven innings en route to lopsided victory.
Kendrick then followed that up inexplicably with a five-run outburst in four innings to the woe-begotten Cleveland Indians on Wednesday.
Speaking of the Indians, Cincinnati saw its five-game winning streak come to an end following Sunday's 5-3 setback to intrastate rival Cleveland.