Philadelphia @ Los Angeles preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 9, 2011 ) Philadelphia 2, LA Dodgers 1

THE STORY: The Philadelphia Phillies are one victory away from the best 10-game road trip in franchise history. The Phillies are currently 8-1 on an excursion that concludes Wednesday when they meet the Los Angeles Dodgers. Philadelphia has twice previously gone 8-2 on a 10-game trip and a victory in the series finale with Los Angeles would give the Phillies their third best road trip of all time. Philadelphia has twice gone unbeaten on shorter road trips of six of more games. The Phillies have won 11 of their last 12 games. Los Angeles has lost three straight games and has fallen two games behind third-place Colorado in the National League West.

TV: 3:10 p.m. ET, CSN (Philadelphia), FSPT (Los Angeles).

PITCHING MATCHUP: Phillies RH Vance Worley (8-1, 2.35) vs. Dodgers RH Chad Billingsley (10-9, 4.17)

Worley has won six straight decisions and has a 1.79 ERA over his last nine starts. He defeated San Francisco in his last outing when he allowed two runs in seven innings. He has given up two or fewer runs in eight of his last nine outings. This is his first career start against the Dodgers.

Billingsley beat Arizona in his last outing when he gave up three runs in six innings. He is 3-3 over his last six starts. Billingsley is 1-2 with a 3.19 ERA in five career starts against the Phillies. He hasn’t previously faced Philadelphia this season. Hunter Pence is 4-for-7 with three doubles against Billingsley.

ABOUT THE DODGERS (52-63): Los Angeles has scored just seven runs during its three-game skid. Casey Blake had two hits and drove in the Dodgers’ only run on Tuesday. He is 4-for-7 in the series. Jamey Carroll also had two hits and is batting .350 in 20 August at-bats. Andre Ethier went 1-for-4 to end a streak of four consecutive two-hit games. Ethier is batting .419 over his last 11 games. Juan Rivera (knee) was unable to start but was used as a pinch hitter. He was retired in his lone at-bat to end a 10-game hitting streak. Tony Gwynn Jr. started in place of Rivera and struck out in all three at-bats against Lee. Gwynn is batting just .174 against lefthanders.

ABOUT THE PHILLIES (76-40): Phillies started the current road trip with a three-game sweep of Colorado and then won three of four in San Francisco. The Phillies are 20-8 against NL West teams. Cliff Lee hit his second career homer in Tuesdays’ 2-1 victory and struck out 10 while pitching eight shutout innings. Ryan Madson improved to 21-for-22 in save opportunities despite giving up a ninth-inning run. Jimmy Rollins knocked in Philadelphia’s first run and is 3-for-7 with three RBIs in the series. Chase Utley hasn’t homered since July 29. He went hitless in four at-bats on Tuesday.

FINAL PITCH: Philadelphia is 36 games over .500 for the first time since the 1977 campaign. The Phillies ended that season with a 101-61 record but didn’t reach the World Series. They lost the NLCS to the Dodgers. The 101 victories are the most in Philadelphia history. The Phillies also had 101 wins in 1976.