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Phils righty Oswalt has tough acts to follow vs. Marlins

Apr 15, 2011 - 3:02 PM (Sports Network) - Veteran starter Roy Oswalt has thrived since being acquired by the Phillies at last year's trade deadline, but still has a tough act to follow tonight.

With Phillies starters having gone the distance in back-to-back games, Oswalt takes aim at his 10th straight winning decision overall as National League East rivals Philadelphia and Florida begin a three-game series tonight at Citizens Bank Park.

The 33-year-old Oswalt hasn't lost in the regular season since his Phillies debut in Washington on July 30. He is 9-0 in 15 games (14 starts) since with a 1.52 earned run average, including 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA over a pair of starts this season. He faced his former Houston club for the first time on April 3 and beat them with six innings of two-run ball, then bested Atlanta for the first time in his career on Saturday after giving up two runs -- one earned -- over another six innings.

The right-hander has now recorded a win over every team in the NL over his career.

"I didn't think about it when I got on the field," Oswalt said on Saturday about his previous struggles versus Atlanta.

Oswalt has been solid in his career when facing the Marlins, going 6-4 with a 3.77 ERA.

He'll take the hill in this opener after Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee pitched the Phillies to a series win over the Nationals with consecutive complete games. It marked the first time Philadelphia hurlers have gone the distance in two straight games since Paul Byrd and Curt Schilling on May 11 and 12, 1999 versus the Cardinals.

After Halladay yielded two runs in the ninth inning of Wednesday's 3-2 win over Washington, Cliff Lee one-upped his teammate with a three-hit shutout last night. Carlos Ruiz, meanwhile, ended Jordan Zimmermann's perfect-game bid for Washington with a solo homer in the sixth inning en route to a 4-0 win.

Lee needed just 99 pitches in his sixth career shutout and 21st complete game, striking out 12, one shy of his career best.

"I was pretty much putting the ball where I wanted to most of the time," Lee said.

The victory, Philadelphia's second straight and fourth in five games, kept it two games ahead of Florida for first place in the NL East after the Marlins took the rubber match of their three-game set with the Braves on Thursday.

Logan Morrison hit a two-run double to extend his hitting streak to seven straight games and John Buck plated the winning run with an RBI single in the seventh inning for a 6-5 victory.

Florida's bullpen turned in four scoreless innings after starter Ricky Nolasco yielded five runs over five innings.

"The bullpen kept doing what they've been doing since the start," Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez said. "They were just outstanding. It seems like everybody is feeling comfortable with their role. Thanks to them, we're a lot fresher than we might have been heading into the series with Philly."

Florida has now won four of six on a nine-game road trip.

Javier Vazquez will make his third start with the Marlins as he seeks to continue his improvement.

Coming off a down season with the Yankees, the right-hander was tagged for seven runs -- four earned -- over just 2 1/3 innings of a loss to the Mets in his debut on April 3. Vazquez rebounded slightly on Saturday in Houston. Though he gave up another four runs, he lasted six innings and earned a 7-5 win.

Having spent time with both the Expos and Braves, the 34-year-old Vazquez is 12-8 with a 4.27 ERA in 28 career starts versus the Phillies, and his 156 strikeouts against them is his highest total against any one team. He is just 1-2 with a 6.08 ERA in four career starts at Citizens Bank Park.

Philadelphia won 13 of 18 versus the Marlins last season, winning the final six meetings. That includes a three-game sweep at home from Sept. 6-8.