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Pirates-Phillies Preview

Jul 10, 2009 - 4:43 AM By BRETT HUSTON STATS Writer

Pittsburgh (38-47) at Philadelphia (44-38), 7:05 p.m. EDT

Given the state of mediocrity in the rest of the NL East, it seems a poor home record is the only thing keeping the Philadelphia Phillies from running away with the division.

Their struggles at Citizens Bank Park, however, are starting to become a thing of the past.

The Phillies have won six of seven thus far on their 10-game homestand, and they could have All-Star Raul Ibanez for the first time in more than three weeks Friday night when they play the first of three against the last-place Pittsburgh Pirates.

Philadelphia (45-38) has baseball's best road record at 26-15, but hasn't played well in the stadium where it clinched its first World Series title in 28 years last October. The Phillies began their homestand July 3 with a 13-22 record at Citizens Bank Park, and they'd lost eight of their last nine.

Even without Ibanez, who's been on the disabled list since June 18 with a strained left groin, they've turned it around on their longest stretch at home this season. Jayson Werth homered for the fourth straight game Thursday against Cincinnati, and Philadelphia has now outscored opponents 50-16 on its homestand after a 9-6 victory.

"I continue to work hard, try to get good at-bats and I've been striking the ball pretty good," said Werth, who's hitting .304 with nine homers and 21 RBIs in his last 15 home games. "Hopefully it keeps going."

Werth's homer Thursday was his 20th, making the Phillies the second team in major league history - joining the 2000 Toronto Blue Jays - to have four players with hit 20 homers before the All-Star break. With an injury to New York's Carlos Beltran, Werth could be a late addition to join teammate Shane Victorino, along with the 20-homer trio of Ibanez, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, in St. Louis next week.

"His stats are definitely up there with the other guys," said Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, who will lead the NL team. "He's been swinging the bat really good lately."

Ibanez has a team-high 22 homers despite missing the team's last 20 games, but he'll likely return Friday from the DL.

If Ibanez plays for the first time since June 17, he'll face Zach Duke (8-7, 3.28 ERA), who has been the Pirates' best starter.

Duke, however, has dropped his last two decisions as Pittsburgh (38-47) has provided little run support. He gave up four runs and eight hits over six innings Saturday in a 5-3 loss at Florida.

The left-hander is 1-2 with a 5.40 ERA in three career starts versus the Phillies, with Werth the only current Phillies player to homer against Duke.

The Pirates' offense has totaled 17 runs while going 2-4 thus far on a six-game trip, and was held to one run or less for a major league-leading 23rd time in Wednesday's 5-0 loss at Houston.

"We need to not look at anybody else and just worry about winning," infielder Ramon Vazquez told the Pirates' official Web site. "We definitely want to go into the break at least winning a series. We haven't won a series in a while, so we need to do that."

Joe Blanton (5-4, 4.69) might be the wrong pitcher to face if the Pirates want to get off to a good start in Philadelphia. The burly right-hander limited the Mets to four hits over 7 1-3 innings Sunday in a 2-0 win.

Blanton held the Pirates to one hits over seven innings while striking out seven on Aug. 8, but didn't factor in the decision in Pittsburgh's 2-0, 12-inning win.