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Nationals-Phillies Preview

May 30, 2009 - 4:08 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Washington (13-33) at Philadelphia (25-20), 7:05 p.m. EDT

Philadelphia's rotation had already been a cause for concern even before a potential season-ending injury to Brett Myers.

The Phillies, though, have every reason to be confident whenever Cole Hamels faces the Washington Nationals.

Hamels, facing pressure to pick up the slack for the Phillies with Myers out, looks to continue his success against the lowly Nationals as the teams play the middle game of their series Saturday night.

Philadelphia (26-20), one-half game behind the New York Mets for first place in the NL East, had lost three of five before beating Washington (13-34) 5-4 on Friday night.

The Phillies got just enough from starting pitcher J.A. Happ, who gave up three runs in 5 1-3 innings. It was Happ's second straight start after being used out of the bullpen earlier this year, getting a chance with Philadelphia desperate for some consistency from its rotation.

Philadelphia's starters have a 5.89 ERA.

Now, the Phillies might be without Myers at least three months and perhaps the rest of the year. Myers, who leads all Philadelphia starters with four wins, will have hip surgery to repair a torn labrum.

General manager Ruben Amaro said the Phillies will look into trading for a starter.

"If there's a deal to be made that makes sense, we'll move on it," Amaro said.

For now, even more of the burden will fall on Hamels (2-2, 4.68 ERA), who is beginning to settle down after a poor start. Philadelphia's ace is 2-0 with a 2.88 ERA in his last four starts.

The left-hander has been highly effective in 13 starts against Washington, going 5-3 with a 1.94 ERA while striking out 87 in 83 2-3 innings.

On Sunday, Hamels gave up two runs and eight hits in six innings during Philadelphia's 4-3, 11-inning win over the New York Yankees.

Brad Lidge blew a save in that contest and has an 8.44 ERA while converting 10 of 14 save opportunities this season after going 48 for 48 - including the postseason - in 2008. Lidge, though, pitched a scoreless ninth to earn a save Friday, lowering his ERA to 7.71 in five games against the Nationals this season.

Though five relievers combined to pitch four scoreless innings Friday, Washington's bullpen has a 5.99 ERA.

The Nationals, looking for help, called up reliever Mike MacDougal earlier that day from Triple-A Syracuse. MacDougal allowed one hit and retired one batter in the loss.

Washington might need some long relief with Shairon Martis (5-0, 4.86) set to take the mound. He has a 7.50 ERA over his last two starts and is 1-0 with a 7.15 ERA in two career starts against Philadelphia.

The right-hander's worst start of the season was against the Phillies on April 27. He surrendered seven runs and eight hits in five innings as the Nationals lost 13-11.

On Sunday, Martis allowed five runs and seven hits in six innings as Washington beat Baltimore 8-5.

He'll be facing a Philadelphia lineup that tied a season high with 16 hits Friday and is second in the NL with 254 runs.

"Sixteen hits is a good indication we will score a lot of runs if we keep hitting the ball like that," Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said. "Our offense, when all is said and done, we're going to score some runs."