(My Sportsbook) - Off to a rough start to the season, a rain delay prevented the Phillies from building momentum from their latest win. Philadelphia gets back to business tonight in the opener of a three-game set with the
Milwaukee Brewers at Citizens Bank Park.
Philadelphia was slated to close out a four-game set with the Padres on Monday, having halted a three-game losing streak with Sunday's 5-4 walkoff win thanks to a two-run homer from Raul Ibanez.
In his first year with the Phillies in left field after joining the club in the offseason, Ibanez is hitting .483 (14-for-29) with four homers, seven runs batted in and five straight multi-hit games over a seven-game hitting streak.
Jamie Moyer was slated to pitch in yesterday's game, but will instead go tonight. Moyer lost to Atlanta back on April 7, then allowed four runs and eight hits for a second straight outing, going six innings in a win over Washington last Monday.
The 46-year-old southpaw is 9-5 with a 3.63 earned run average in 22 games (17) versus the Brewers in his career. He went 1-0 in two starts against them last year, allowing four runs in 11 2/3 innings.
Chase Utley, who hit a two-run homer on Sunday, is a lifetime .336 hitter versus Milwaukee with four homers and 20 RBI.
Manny Parra will toe the rubber for Milwaukee and is 0-2 with a 6.97 ERA this year. The Brewers also haven't given their young lefty much support, as the club has plated just two total runs over his two starts.
Still, Parra allowed five runs over 4 1/3 innings versus San Francisco back on April 9 before pitching much better next time out. He faced Cincinnati on Tuesday and allowed three runs on three hits and four walks over six innings.
The 26-year-old has allowed seven runs on nine hits and five walks over just 2 1/3 total innings in his career versus the Phillies. That includes a September 13 start last year in which he was ripped for five runs and seven hits in only 1 1/3 innings of work.
Milwaukee comes into this contest having lost two of three over the weekend to the Mets, but it did win Sunday's finale, 4-2. Rickie Weeks went 3-for-5 with a double and batted in a run to pace the offense.
Mike Cameron hit a solo homer while Corey Hart finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk and RBI for the Brewers, who entered Sunday's contest having won just once in their last seven games.
Cameron is hitting .316 with four homers so far this year, but is only a lifetime .211 batter (4-for-19) versus Moyer and has never taken him deep.
Jeff Suppan (1-2) earned the win after allowing just two runs on eight hits and one walk in six-plus innings. Todd Coffey threw the final 2 2/3 innings in scoreless fashion to record his first save.
The Phillies won five of six versus the Brewers in 2008, winning all four games played in Philadelphia.