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The Philadelphia Phillies' pitching staff possesses the lowest ERA in the major leagues. That's bad news for the usually light-hitting Detroit Tigers, who host the Phillies for a three-game series beginning on Monday night.
Philadelphia's staff has posted a 3.09 ERA through 77 games, including a 4-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday.
The Phillies were coming off a 12-1 victory on Saturday.
"There'll be ebbs and flows during the course of the season," Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said. "You'll go through spurts where you don't hit, you don't score runs, depending on the pitching, depending on fatigue, and some other factors. But we have a lineup that's built to score runs. We have some really good hitters. So, you're going to have other spurts where you're putting up big numbers. You just have to live through the downtimes."
Bryce Harper had two hits on Sunday to extend his hitting streak to eight games. Harper had four hits, including a homer, and three RBIs in Saturday's runaway win.
David Dahl added two hits and drove in two runs as the Phillies head to Detroit with 51 wins.
"It just shows how good this team is," Dahl said. "We got great pitching, great defense and timely hitting, and I think that's how you win in the playoffs. Next man up, and it seems like it's a new guy every single day."
One of the league's premier starters, right-hander Aaron Nola, will take the mound in the series opener. Nola has delivered a quality start in six of his past seven outings. Nola (8-3, 3.54 ERA) bounced back from his worst start of the season by holding the San Diego Padres to three runs and four hits in six innings on Tuesday.
In his previous start, Nola surrendered eight runs and 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings at Boston. He began his start against the Padres by retiring 13 consecutive batters. All the runs scored off him came in the sixth inning.
He'll be seeking his 99th career win on Monday. In four previous starts against the Tigers, Nola has posted a 2-0 record and 1.40 ERA.
He'll be opposed by right-hander Casey Mize (1-5, 4.43 ERA), whose lone victory this season came on April 21. In his last start, Mize gave up two runs and five hits in four innings at Atlanta on Tuesday. He threw 87 pitches despite not issuing a walk.
"I'm always going to compete, for sure," Mize said. "But at the end of the day, just too many pitches per inning. It didn't allow me to go anywhere close to as deep as I want to go. Four innings is not enough. Just too many pitches per inning. But I'm never going to give in, and I was proud to hold it to two runs."
Mize, who was sidelined for much of the past two seasons due to Tommy John surgery, hasn't gone deeper than six innings in any of his 14 starts this year. He'll be facing the Phillies for the first time in his career.
The Tigers were limited to six runs in six games before erupting for 11 runs while defeating the Chicago White Sox on Sunday. Rookie Colt Keith led the way with four hits, including a homer, three runs scored and three RBIs.
--Field Level Media
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