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Jun 5, 2010 - 4:09 AM By SANTOSH VENKATARAMAN STATS Senior Writer

San Diego (32-21) at Philadelphia (28-24), 7:05 p.m. EDT

As outstanding as Jon Garland has been lately, he might have a hard time against the Philadelphia Phillies - even with their offense still slumping.

Garland looks to defeat Philadelphia for the first time Saturday night when the NL West-leading San Diego Padres try to snap a six-game skid to the Phillies.

A big reason for San Diego's surprising start has been Garland (6-2, 2.15 ERA), who is 6-0 with a 1.58 ERA in his last nine outings. It's his longest win streak since he won eight straight decisions June 13-Aug. 4, 2006, with the Chicago White Sox.

The right-hander, though, is 0-3 with an 8.02 ERA in four starts against the Phillies, going 0-2 with a 6.35 ERA in two last year with Arizona. Philadelphia third baseman Placido Polanco is 14 for 37 against him.

The Padres (32-22) improved to 8-1 in Garland's last nine outings with a 3-2, 11-inning win over Washington on Sunday. He allowed two runs over seven innings - both on solo homers that ended his streak of eight straight starts without yielding one.

While San Diego entered this four-game set with the league's best record after eight wins in 12 games, two-time defending NL champion Philadelphia (29-24) had dropped nine of 11 mainly due to a struggling offense.

The Phillies, though, halted a four-game losing streak with a 3-2 victory Friday as Roy Halladay struck out seven in seven innings. Shane Victorino homered and scored the go-ahead run on Jayson Werth's two-out, bases-loaded walk in the fifth.

Still, Philadelphia has gone 12 straight games without scoring more than three runs. The Phillies are hitting .197 in that span and had six hits Friday.

"Our hitting is going to be fine," manager Charlie Manuel insisted. "We won the game, which is good. There's not a lot about our hitters to worry about."

There was better news from the Phillies bullpen as closer Brad Lidge tossed a perfect ninth inning for his second save, including strikeouts of Adrian Gonzalez and Chase Headley. Lidge made his second appearance since his second stint on the disabled list.

"I feel really good right now," Lidge said. "That was the situation I was hoping to have. It was nice to get a save against some real good hitters. We need to win the close games, too."

Philadelphia has won six in a row over San Diego since Lidge blew a save in an 8-5 home loss April 18, 2009.

Phillies starter Jamie Moyer (5-5, 4.26) will try to avoid losing four straight starts for the first time since May 7-25, 2009. Moyer hasn't pitched too badly during this skid, posting a 3.50 ERA. He allowed one run over six innings in a 1-0 loss at Florida on Sunday.

The 47-year-old left-hander will again try to join Phil Niekro and Jack Quinn as the only pitchers to win 100 games after turning 40.

Moyer is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA in two starts against the Padres at Citizens Bank Park.