Padres 9 - 4 Phillies
Final
  for this game

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Aug 30, 2015 - 3:30 AM The Philadelphia Phillies have a chance to climb out of baseball's cellar with another win against the San Diego Padres.

The Phillies look to sweep the season series from the Padres on Sunday while matching the 40-year-old franchise record for the longest home win streak in the all-time series.

Philadelphia (52-78) is tied with Miami for the worst record in the majors, a dubious status the club has owned for much of the year.

The Phillies, though, could move ahead of the Marlins by sweeping this three-game set with San Diego (62-67). They've won all five matchups this season and 11 of the past 14.

A win Sunday would give Philadelphia eight straight home wins over the Padres, matching its record in the all-time series set from 1974-75.

Rookie Adam Morgan gave the Phillies some hope for the future Saturday, allowing two unearned runs in six innings and adding his first RBI for the eventual winning run in a 4-3 victory over San Diego.

Now Philadelphia gets a look at Alec Asher, who is making his major league debut after being acquired from Texas in the Cole Hamels trade last month. The right-hander moves into the rotation spot previously occupied by Jerome Williams, who was demoted to the bullpen.

Asher, one of the Phillies' top pitching prospects, went 2-0 with a 0.90 ERA over his last three starts for Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

"He's pitched with confidence, so we've liked what we've seen a great deal," player development director Joe Jordan told MLB's official website. "He presents himself very well. I think he'll come up here and be himself. He should be fine if he does that."

The Padres have dropped five of the last six games and three in a row, a trend that's unlikely to improve with James Shields (9-6, 3.89) taking the hill. He's 0-4 with a 5.63 ERA in eight road starts since beating the Dodgers in Los Angeles on May 24.

The right-hander struggled away from San Diego again Tuesday, surrendering four runs and eight hits with four walks while throwing a season-high 121 pitches in 5 2-3 innings of an 8-3 loss at Washington.

"I felt like my stuff was all right," said Shields, who exited after being hit in his lower body by a comebacker. "It was just a matter of, they were taking good pitches and were hitting pitches that normally you get outs on."

Shields didn't get a decision in a 4-3 home loss to the Phillies on Aug. 7, allowing three solo homers with eight strikeouts in 6 2-3 innings. He was 2-0 with a 6.35 ERA over the previous three matchups - all in Philadelphia.

Matt Kemp is hitting .333 with 19 RBIs while reaching base safely in 18 straight games. He had a single Saturday after missing two games with a sore left shoulder.

Kemp is a .375 hitter in 17 career games at Citizens Bank Park.






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