The Philadelphia Phillies were looking good as gone this season until they beat Johnny Cueto and started turning things around. Beating the majors' ERA leader can certainly help the team's confidence and get a nice momentum shift heading into summer play. Now the two teams face off again as the Reds look to get a little revenge.
The Phillies are confident after beating Cueto. He entered Friday's game with a 1.68 ERA and gave up four runs and six hits in just five innings of play. It was one of his worst outings of the season. The Phillies got in eight runs which ended a six-game losing streak where they only put up 15 runs in the time span.
Philadelphia found its offense after players like Chase Utley went 5-for-31 and Jimmy Rollins was hitting .152. The losing was getting out of control. Philadelphia was shut out seven times in their losing stream. The team will face Alfredo Simon on the mound to challenge the winning ways. He is 7-3 with a 3.03 ERA and has given up just three runs or fewer in nine of his 11 starts. He has already shut the Phillies down once and looks to do so again.
The Reds have struggled at times this season. When they last faced the Phillies, their offense was averaging just 2.9 runs per game. Now in a three-game losing streak, they have just 15 hits and three runs. They have yet to score in 17 innings of play. Brayan Pena is in an 0-for-17 slump. Jay Bruce is hitting just .203.
Roberto Hernandez gets the start after going 2-3 with a 4.03 ERA on the season. He is getting just 2.95 runs of support which is among the lowest in the National League. He has gotten just five runs over his last five starts.
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