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Phillies-Pirates Preview

Aug 27, 2009 - 5:06 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Philadelphia (72-51) at Pittsburgh (52-71), 7:05 p.m. EDT

J.A. Happ's name was mentioned in trade rumors at last month's deadline, but the Philadelphia Phillies never pulled the trigger on a deal involving their impressive rookie.

They have to be pleased with that decision.

Happ looks to win three straight starts for the first time and lead the Phillies to their 13th victory in 16 games when they conclude a three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night at PNC Park.

Happ (10-2, 2.59 ERA) was rumored to be part of a potential trade with Toronto for ace Roy Halladay, but that never materialized. Instead, the NL East-leading Phillies (73-51) traded four minor league prospects to Cleveland for Cliff Lee, and the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner and Happ have created a formidable top of the rotation in Philadelphia.

Happ is 3-0 with a 1.21 ERA in four starts since the July 31 trade deadline with the Phillies winning each time. He allowed one run and eight hits in seven innings of a 4-1 win over the New York Mets on Saturday to get within one victory of becoming the first Philadelphia rookie to notch 11 wins since Bob Walk in 1980.

"He's a legit pitcher," manager Charlie Manuel told the Phillies' official Web site. "He got accustomed to being in the big leagues and he's performed very well."

The left-hander has been at his best away from Philadelphia, going 5-1 with a 1.85 ERA in 10 road starts, yielding two runs or fewer in nine of those outings. He has given up one run in winning each of his last two starts - both on the road.

Like nearly every other opponent he has faced, Happ had little trouble shutting down the Pirates on July 12, giving up one run and four hits in seven innings of a 5-2 victory.

Philadelphia defeated Pittsburgh 4-1 on Wednesday behind Ryan Howard's 10th inning, three-run homer.

The Phillies, winners of 12 of 15, led 1-0 entering the ninth but the Pirates tied it on Brandon Moss' pinch-hit homer off Ryan Madson. Philadelphia closer Brad Lidge had appeared in each of the team's previous four games and surrendered Andrew McCutchen's game-ending, two-run homer that finished off the Pirates' 6-4 comeback victory Tuesday.

"I think he (Madson) can close, I know he can close," Manuel said. "It's like Lidge, he needs to get in the groove and get going."

The Pirates (52-72), who have lost two of three after winning five in a row, went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base in Wednesday's loss.

"These guys are really fighting hard and good things are happening now for us," manager John Russell told the Pirates' official Web site.

Russell gives the ball to Charlie Morton (3-6, 5.21), who again tries to put together two solid starts in a row.

After being knocked around for 10 runs and seven hits in one inning of a 17-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 14, Morton bounced back by allowing two runs and six hits in 6 1-3 innings of Friday's 5-2 victory over Cincinnati. It was his first win since July 18 over San Francisco.

While Morton looked solid against the Reds, he hasn't had much luck with carrying success from one start to the next, alternating good and bad performances over his last nine outings. Since July 3, he is 3-2 with a 1.48 ERA in his five stellar starts, but 0-3 with a 13.21 ERA in his four other outings.

This will be Morton's first start against the Phillies since July 1, 2008, when he was tagged for five runs and eight hits in two innings of an 8-3 loss for Atlanta.