Atlanta @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 2, 2012 ) Philadelphia 7, Atlanta 8

If the Philadelphia Phillies are going to keep their playoff hopes alive, they are going to have to do it amid the toughest part of their schedule. The Phillies have won three straight and 11 of their last 14 but remain four games behind the St. Louis Cardinals for the National League’s second wild card spot with just 12 games left. The Atlanta Braves are leading the wild card race and are trying to lock up their trip to the postseason.

The Phillies put on a show on Thursday, when they scored eight runs in the first inning and seven in the ninth during a 16-1 thrashing of the New York Mets. The win did not do any good in the standings, however, as the Cardinals had already won earlier in the day. The silver lining is the play of Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, who were both crucial to the last two victories and appear to be rounding into form. The Braves are six games ahead of St. Louis and have won five of six. Atlanta, which had the day off Thursday after wrapping a series win over the Miami Marlins up with a 3-0 shutout, is actually closer to the NL East leading Washington Nationals at 5 1/2 games.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, PTV (Atlanta), CSN (Philadelphia)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Braves RH Tommy Hanson (12-8, 4.33) vs. Phillies RH Kyle Kendrick (9-11, 3.95)

Hanson may have pitched himself out of a spot in Atlanta’s postseason rotation with his inability to work deep into games of late. The burly right-hander has not completed six innings in any of his last five turns, going 0-3 with a 4.62 ERA in that span. Hanson went seven innings to earn a win over Philadelphia on July 7, allowing three runs on six hits. He is 2-2 with a 3.06 ERA in nine career starts against the division foe and has held Utley and Howard to a combined 6-for-34.

Kendrick has been a big part of the Phillies’ surge but had a stretch of six straight quality starts come to an end at Houston last weekend. The right-hander was knocked around for four runs on seven hits in five innings to suffer the loss. Kendrick surrendered six runs in just 3 1/3 innings against the Braves on Aug. 8, including a two-run homer to Michael Bourn. He is 6-1 with a 2.87 ERA in 18 career appearances - 12 starts - against Atlanta.

WALK-OFFS

1. Braves SS Andrelton Simmons (shoulder) and SS Paul Janish (shoulder) are both questionable for the weekend.

2. Howard went 18 consecutive at-bats against left-handed pitchers without a hit before his game-winning homer off New York’s Josh Edgin on Wednesday. He added a grand slam off Edgin on Thursday.

3. Atlanta 3B Chipper Jones needs three hits to tie Roberto Alomar (2,724) for 57th on the all-time list.