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Phillies-Nationals Preview

Sep 9, 2009 - 4:56 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

Philadelphia (77-58) at Washington (47-90), 7:05 p.m. EDT

The Philadelphia Phillies are looking for their ninth straight victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday night while hoping to see Cliff Lee get back on track. They are also apparently sticking with struggling closer Brad Lidge.

Lee (5-2, 2.81 ERA) will try to recover after back-to-back poor outings when he faces the Nationals for the first time. Lidge, meanwhile, appears to be holding on to his closer job despite another poor effort.

When the Phillies (78-58) acquired Lee on July 29 from Cleveland, the move paid immediate dividends as the left-hander had a 0.68 ERA while winning his first five starts.

His last two outings have been a different story. Lee gave up six runs over five innings in a 9-1 loss to Atlanta on Aug. 29, and six more runs as he matched a season low with three innings pitched Friday in a 7-0 loss at Houston.

Manager Charlie Manuel thinks it's an aberration for last year's AL Cy Young Award winner.

"He is a pro and I know he can handle the pressure," Manuel said. "That is how he got out to 5-0 with us this year. I am not really concerned, it is just going to be a matter of him making his pitches."

Although Lee has never faced the Nationals (47-91), he has plenty of experience against Washington regulars Adam Dunn and Cristian Guzman. Dunn is 3 for 14 versus Lee, while Guzman is 6 for 14.

Manuel may not be worried about Lee, but he has to be concerned about Lidge. The manager said before Tuesday's game that Lidge would continue to close games, but that was before the right-hander loaded the bases with one out in the ninth and was relieved by Ryan Madson, who got the final two outs for his fifth save in a 5-3 victory.

Lidge, who has three blown saves and a 7.04 ERA over his last 11 appearances, seems to be remaining as closer despite his struggles.

"I'm not saying that he'll close tomorrow, the next day or whatever," Manuel said, "but I look at him as a closer."

Lidge's take: "If there's a save situation tomorrow, he said he was going to bring me in."

Philadelphia snapped a four-game skid with Tuesday's win and remained six games ahead of Florida in the NL East. All of the Phillies' runs came on solo homers. They became the 12th team in major league history to have four players with at least 30 homers as Raul Ibanez and Chase Utley both reached that plateau.

Ibanez went deep twice - a familiar sight to the Nationals this year. The slugger is hitting .463 with eight homers and 20 of his 82 RBIs against Washington.

Washington's Garrett Mock (3-7, 5.63) will start against Philadelphia for the first time. He has a 5.40 ERA in nine career relief appearances against the Phillies, including a 9.00 ERA in four this year.

Mock has lost his last two outings. The right-hander gave up six runs over three innings - his shortest start of 2009 - Friday in a 9-6 loss to Florida.