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Phillies, Lee try to salvage finale with Brewers

Apr 20, 2011 - 2:41 PM (Sports Network) - The Phillies' offense has struggled over the last week. Those tribulations could continue tonight if the Brewers' Randy Wolf can duplicate his last start.

Milwaukee tries for its third straight victory over Philadelphia this evening in the middle portion of a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park.

The Brewers opened up this series with last night's 6-3 extra-inning victory, plating three runs in the 12th frame. Ryan Braun had three hits and drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly, his second RBI of the game, while Yuniesky Betancourt also drove in a pair of runs.

John Axford was charged with a blown save for giving up Pete Orr's pinch-hit RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning for the Phillies that forced extra innings, but Brandon Kintzler threw two scoreless innings of relief to get the win and help the Brewers rebound from a three-game sweep at the hands of the Nationals over the weekend.

"This is a great win," said Kintzler. "The bus ride (from Washington) was kind of quiet. Today everyone was loosey-goosey. Everyone was ready to go."

Milwaukee has now won two straight over Philadelphia since a six-game series losing streak.

Shane Victorino and Ryan Howard also drove in runs for the Phillies, who have lost two of three. Kyle Kendrick took the loss after allowing all three of Milwaukee's runs in the 12th innings.

The Phillies also lost reliever J.C. Romero to a strained calf in the ninth inning, with the injury likely to land the left-hander on the disabled list.

Philadelphia is hitting just .220 and averaging just over three runs per game over its past seven contests, a slump Wolf will try to extend tonight.

Coming off his first 10-strikeout game since Aug. 16, 2009, Wolf takes aim at a second winning start after handling the Pirates on Thursday. He hurled 6 2/3 innings of three-hit ball with two walks in a 4-1 victory. It was a nice bounce-back effort out of Wolf after he had yielded eight earned runs through 10 innings in losing his first two starts.

"I think it goes back to that cutter, I had later action today -- and I was able to put it into the zone where it's a little bit above the belt, where it's hard for a hitter to get to," Wolf said.

A second-round pick by the Phillies in 1997, Wolf is 2-2 with a 5.10 earned run average in five career starts against his former club, striking out 28 over 30 innings. He has fanned Howard five times in 15 career at-bats, with Howard managing just two hits.

Philadelphia, though, counters with its ace in Roy Halladay, who has extended his 2010 National League Cy Young award-winning form into his first three starts of this season by going 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA and 22 strikeouts to just three walks over 22 innings.

The right-hander won his second straight start on Wednesday at Washington, carrying a shutout into the ninth inning before yielding two runs. Halladay had to settle for his 59th career complete game with no further damage and struck out nine on the night.

"You always remain confident with a guy like Roy on the mound," said Howard when asked if there was panic in the ninth inning. "It was his game to win or lose."

Halladay, 33, has split two career starts against the Brewers with a 5.54 ERA.