By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
The Philadelphia Phillies (34-30) will aim for their third straight win — and eighth series win — as right-hander Nick Pivetta opposes southpaw Tyler Anderson and the Colorado Rockies (32-34) Wednesday evening at Citizens Bank Park. The Rockies have lost five straight games and have the highest June team ERA in the majors, 7.41 (76 earned runs in 92 1/3 innings pitched).
Aaron Nola continued to argue his case for National League All-Star and Cy Young Award consideration in Tuesday's opener, fanning 10 Rockies while allowing just one run and four hits through 6 2/3 solid innings. Nola secured his 20th career home win, and eighth win this season, as the Phillies went on to edge the Rockies, 5-4, thanks to Seranthony Dominguez securing his third save after entering with the bases loaded and nobody out in the ninth. Scott Kingery provided four-fifths of the Phillies offense, with a three-run home run in the first and a sacrifice fly RBI in the third. Jesmuel Valentin also hit a pinch-hit RBI single to center in the eighth, which proved to be the game-winning run given Luis Garcia's struggles the next half-inning (four hits and three earned runs with no outs recorded).
Exactly half of the Phillies' 98 games left this season will be at Citizens Bank Park. The club has the best home record in the National League and the third-best in the majors (21-11), behind only the New York Yankees (23-9) and Boston Red Sox (23-11).
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Colorado Rockies (32-34) | Philadelphia Phillies (34-30) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LHP | Tyler Anderson | RHP | Nick Pivetta | ||
| (3-1, 4.81 ERA) | (4-5, 3.76 ERA) | ||||
LHP Tyler Anderson, Age: 28
- Career vs. PHI: 1-1, 3.94 ERA, 3 G, 3 GS, 16 IP, 17 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 HR, 4 BB, 15 SO, 1.313 WHIP
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: 0-1, 4.50 ERA, 2 G, 2 GS, 10 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 HR, 4 BB, 9 SO, 1.200 WHIP
RHP Nick Pivetta, Age: 25
- Career vs. COL: 0-1, 27.00 ERA, 1 G, 1 GS, 2 2/3 IP, 8 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 1 HR, 1 BB, 1 SO, 3.375 WHIP
- Career at Citizens Bank Park: 7-5, 4.11 ERA, 19 G, 19 GS, 105 IP, 97 H, 50 R, 48 ER, 17 HR, 28 BB, 126 SO, 1.190 WHIP
Starting Lineups:
| Colorado Rockies (32-34) | Philadelphia Phillies (34-30) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | 2B | DJ LeMahieu | R | 1 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S |
| 2 | CF | Charlie Blackmon | L | 2 | LF | Rhys Hoskins | R |
| 3 | 3B | Nolan Arenado | R | 3 | SS | Scott Kingery | R |
| 4 | RF | Carlos Gonzalez | L | 4 | 1B | Carlos Santana | S |
| 5 | SS | Trevor Story | R | 5 | CF | Aaron Altherr | R |
| 6 | LF | Gerardo Parra | L | 6 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 7 | 1B | Ian Desmond | R | 7 | RF | Jesmuel Valentin | S |
| 8 | C | Tom Murphy | R | 8 | C | Jorge Alfaro | R |
| 9 | P | Tyler Anderson | L | 9 | P | Nick Pivetta | R |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 7:05 p.m.
- TV: NBCSP
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- The Phillies gained ground in the National League Wild Card race on Tuesday, with the three teams above them — the Chicago Cubs (+4 games), Washington Nationals (+2 games) and St. Louis Cardinals (+1/2 game) — all losing.
- Third baseman Maikel Franco returns to the starting lineup for the first time in five games. Valentin will make his second career start, and his first in right field.
- The Phillies offense has produced at least one extra-base hit in 60 straight games, the second-longest active streak, only bested by the Cubs (62). This is the Phillies' longest such streak since July 30, 2008 to June 25, 2009 (97 games).
- Current Rockies hitting streaks: Trevor Story (6), DJ LeMahieu (5), Charlie Blackmon (5)
- Over his last 10 starts, Nola is 7-1 with a 2.30 ERA, 75-13 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a .206/.248/.294 opposing slash through
- Four of the Phillies' last five games against the Rockies have been decided by one run. The Phillies have won three of the contests, despite being slightly outscored and outhit, 19-18 and 46-43, respectively.
- Through nine career at-bats against Anderson, Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez is slashing .667/.667/.778 with five singles and one double. Outfielders Aaron Altherr and Odubel Herrera, meanwhile, are a combined 0-8 against the southpaw with six strikeouts.
What's Next:
Thursday, June 14, 2018: vs. Colorado Rockies, 1:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pa.
- RHP German Marquez (4-6, 4.79 ERA) vs. RHP Vince Velasquez (4-7, 4.95 ERA)
- TV: NBC 10; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
