Philadelphia, PA (My Sportsbook) - Tom Glavine aims for his 19th win of the year this evening, when the National League East champion Atlanta Braves begin a season-ending, seven-game road trip with the first of three against the Philadelphia Phillies at Veterans Stadium.

Glavine defeated the Phillies at Turner Field five days ago with six shutout innings of four-hit ball. He walked one and fanned three in reaching 18 wins on the season.

The veteran lefthander has five 20-win campaigns to his credit, but has never finished a season with 19 victories. He has won his last two decisions and is shooting for his first three-game win streak since August 2-14. This will be the 36-year-old hurler's 15th outing of the season on the road, where he is 9-4 with one complete game and a 2.33 ERA.

For his career, Glavine is an impressive 24-9 versus Philadelphia. Only the Cincinnati Reds have suffered as many defeats at the hands of the two-time Cy Young Award winner. This year, Glavine is 3-1 with a 2.42 ERA in four tries against the Phillies.

Vicente Padilla counters for Larry Bowa's crew. Padilla faced the Braves seven days ago and was tagged with the loss -- his third in a row -- after allowing two runs on nine hits over seven innings. He walked four and struck out three.

The hard-throwing righthander permitted just two runs in his previous outing, but was also saddled with the loss. Since going 10-5 in the first half of the year with a 3.05 ERA and earning a spot on the All-Star Team, Padilla is just 4-6 with a 3.51 earned run average. Still and all, the 24-year-old hurler is 6-4 with an impressive 2.19 ERA and one complete game at home.

Lifetime, Padilla is 2-2 versus Atlanta. He has faced the Braves four times this season and is 2-2 with a 1.80 earned run average. Padilla is gunning for his first win since August 30.

The Phillies ruined the Reds' final game at Cinergy Field with a 4-3 victory on Sunday. Bobby Abreu had a pair of hits to extend his hit streak to 16 games and added an RBI for Philadelphia, which swept the three-game series to record its eighth win in 11 tries.

Brandon Duckworth, in his first start since September 8 due to back spasms, earned the win. The righthander surrendered two runs -- one earned -- on seven hits and one walk in seven innings of work. He whiffed six. Jose Mesa tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings to earn his team-record 44th save and third in two days.

Atlanta, meanwhile, snapped a two-game skid with a 4-1 win over the Marlins on Sunday. Greg Maddux hurled seven strong innings to notch his 15th win and earn a place in the history books, joining Cy Young as the only pitchers in history to amass 15 straight 15-win seasons.

The 36-year-old hurler allowed one run on four hits while striking out six and walking just one. Maddux, who now has 272 victories, is one win away of tying Red Ruffing for 28th on the all-time list.

John Smoltz fanned two in a perfect ninth to tie a National League record with his 53rd save of the year. Smoltz equaled the mark set by Randy Myers with the Cubs in 1993 and matched by San Diego's Trevor Hoffman in 1998. Bobby Thigpen of the Chicago White Sox set the major league record of 57 saves in 1990.

Keith Lockhart drove in two runs for Atlanta, which won for just the second in its last five tries.

The Braves lead the season series by a 10-6 margin, including five victories in seven attempts in the City of Brotherly Love. Since the start of the 1999 campaign, they are 36-25 in this matchup.

Philadelphia is 39-39 on the year as the host, while Atlanta brings a 45-29 road mark into this contest.