Phillies Call Upon Jonathan Pettibone In Effort To Take Series Against Boston

After dropping the first game of this four-game series, the Phillies have won two straight including last night's 4-2 win. Kyle Kendrick got his fifth win of the year after tossing six innings of two-run ball. Kendrick wouldn't have had a win if it weren't for Domonic Brown and his two home runs. Brown clocked his 12th and 13th homers of the year last night, breaking his total home run count in the past three years combined. With a red-hot Domonic Brown the Phillies will go for the series win over the Boston Red Sox. The Phils will call upon Jonathan Pettibone (3-0, 3.21 ERA) to take on Franklin Morales (0-0, -.– ERA) in the series finale.

Jonathan Pettibone picked up his fourth quality start of the year last time around. On Saturday against Washington, Pettibone went six deep, allowing three runs on nine hits while striking out six and walking one. Pettibone continues to be a great piece of the Phillies rotation, which is currently missing Roy Halladay and John Lannan. In his last three, Pettibone has an ERA of 2.75 (6 ER in 19 2/3 IP). This will be Pettibone's first career start against the Red Sox.

The Red Sox will be using Franklin Morales as a spot starter for tonight's game in an effort to split this series with Philadelphia. Morales will be making his first start and appearance for the Red Sox tonight. In five starts between Double-A Portland and Triple-A Pawtucket, Morales is 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA (6 ER in 17 IP). Morales made nine starts with the Sox last season, going 3-4 with a 3.77 ERA. In 9 1/3 career innings pitched against Philadelphia, Morales has a win and an 0.96 ERA (1 ER in 9 1/3 IP).

Game Notes: 

• Domonic Brown is hot with five home runs and seven RBI in his last four games. Brown is the first Phillie to hit 10 home runs in a single month since Ryan Howard did so in August of 2009.
• Jacoby Ellsbury is hitting .421 (8-for-19) with four RBI in his last four games.
• With a win tonight the Phillies can be at .500 for the first time in over a month.

Phillies lineup:

1. Ben Revere CF
2. Cesar Hernandez 2B
3. Jimmy Rollins SS
4. Delmon Young RF
5. Domonic Brown LF
6. Kevin Frandsen 1B
7. Erik Kratz C
8. Freddy Galvis 3B
9. Jonathan Pettibone P

Red Sox lineup:

1. Jacoby Ellsbury CF
2. Daniel Nava RF
3. Dustin Pedroia 2B
4. David Ortiz 1B
5. Mike Carp LF
6. Stephen Drew SS
7. Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
8. Jose Iglesias 3B
9. Franklin Morales P

First Pitch Forecast: Partly Cloudy – 86°- 10% PoP

TV: CSN, MLB Network
Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT

Let's Go Phillies!

Erik Seybold is a writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter.