Pittsburgh @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 9, 2014 ) Pittsburgh 3, Philadelphia 4

Vance Worley makes his first career start against his former team when the Pittsburgh Pirates visit the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday in the third of a four-game series. Worley debuted as a major leaguer with the 2010 Phillies and pitched for the team until 2012 before getting dealt to Minnesota in exchange for Ben Revere. The 26-year-old right-hander has had a productive first season for the Pirates, although his last outing was not among his best.

Philadelphia will turn to journeyman Jerome Williams, who is coming off his worst start since joining the Phillies off waivers last month. Williams will try to pitch the Phillies to their second straight win after Tuesday's 4-3 victory in which rookie Maikel Franco had two hits, including the decisive RBI single in the seventh inning. Starling Marte is 5-for-8 in the series and has four straight multi-hit games for Pittsburgh, which is 1 1/2 games ahead of the pack in the race for the National League's second wild card.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, ROOT (Pittsburgh), CSN Philadelphia

PITCHING MATCHUP: Pirates RH Vance Worley (6-4, 3.05 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Jerome Williams (5-5, 5.34)

Worley finished third in the National League Rookie of the Year balloting in 2011, when he went 11-3 with a 3.01 ERA for the Phillies. He struggled mightily with the Twins last season but has pitched well for the Pirates, allowing three earned runs or fewer in 11 of his 14 starts. He lasted only 4 2/3 innings - his shortest start of the season - against the Chicago Cubs on Friday and was charged with three runs (two earned), five hits and four walks in an eventual 5-3 defeat.

Despite a poor outing Friday, when he yielded five runs in five innings against Washington, Williams still has solid numbers (3-0, 2.84 ERA) since joining the Phillies. That performance marked Williams' shortest outing with Philadelphia and the most runs and hits (nine) he has allowed in a start for the Phillies. Williams faced the Pirates once last season as a member of the Angels and gave up five runs in six innings, including homers to Pedro Alvarez and Andrew McCutchen.

WALK-OFFS

1. Pirates 1B Ike Davis is 2-for-18 this month and doesn't have a multi-hit game since Aug. 3.

2. Phillies RHP Ken Giles has pitched eight scoreless innings over his last eight relief appearances and has a 13 strikeouts against zero walks during that span.

3. Philadelphia 1B Ryan Howard has struck out at least once in each of his last 11 games, including seven multi-strikeout performances.

PREDICTION: Phillies 7, Pirates 5