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Oswalt tries to pitch Phils to sweep of Braves

Sep 7, 2011 - 3:01 PM (Sports Network) - Neither the Phillies or Braves have been swept in a series of at least three games this season, one reason both clubs appear headed to the postseason.

Philadelphia, though, has a chance to deal Atlanta its first sweep of the season and continue its march to a National League East crown this evening in the finale of a three-game set.

By taking the first two games of this series, the Phillies have upped their advantage over the wild card-leading Braves to 9 1/2 games and became the first team in baseball this year to reach 90 wins. Philadelphia also hit that mark for a club-record fourth straight season and lowered its magic number to claim a playoff spot to six.

Of course, winning has become automatic when Vance Worley starts the game. The right-hander pitched six innings of two-run ball to win his ninth straight decision last night, 6-3. Philadelphia has also won each of his last 14 starts, the longest such run in franchise history since the club won a team- record 15 straight Steve Carlton starts in 1972.

"He did a good job," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said of Worley. "That's basically how he's pitched all year long. He kept us in the game. We always have a chance to win."

Philadelphia also reached 90 wins in a team-record 138 games, surpassing the old mark of 143 set in 1977.

Raul Ibanez had three hits and drove in three runs, while Chase Utley homered for the Phillies, who have a magic number of 14 to claim their fifth straight NL East title thanks to a seventh victory in nine games.

Atlanta, meanwhile, has lost four of its past five and saw its advantage for the NL's final playoff spot fall to 7 1/2 games over the Cardinals and Giants. The Braves, who close out their regular season at home versus the Phillies from Sept. 26-28, will try to avoid losing three in a row for the first time since July 31-Aug. 2.

Tim Hudson was charged with six hits and four runs over six frames in last night's loss, which featured Dan Uggla's 33rd homer of the season but also the Braves going 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

"Towards the top of our lineup we were scuffling a little bit," Atlanta's Chipper Jones said. "When the top scuffles a little bit you struggle to score runs, get behind early and you put some pressure on yourself."

These two NL East rivals entered this series having split 12 previous overall meetings and six in Philadelphia, but the Phillies now go for the sweep behind Roy Oswalt, who finally cracked the win column against the Braves back in April and will try to top the division rivals for the second time in his career.

Oswalt went 0-3 over his first nine games against Atlanta before holding them to one earned run in six innings of an April 9 victory. The right-hander lowered his career earned run average in this matchup to 5.56 after working around five hits and a pair of walks.

Oswalt has won three of his last four decisions overall and is coming off a win at Florida on Friday. The 34-year-old was charged with three runs on eight hits over 6 1/3 innings while recording seven strikeouts.

"I threw a lot of pitches early. I really didn't find my mechanics until the fourth inning," Oswalt said. "I felt pretty good after that."

The win pushed Oswalt's season record to 7-8 with a 3.80 ERA in 18 starts.

Hoping to get the Braves into the win column is Brandon Beachy, who has posted four straight victorious decisions since his last loss on July 19.

Beachy won back-to-back starts before getting a no-decision versus the Dodgers on Friday. The right-hander was touched for three runs on four hits and three walks while striking out seven over six innings. He has 135 punchouts in 120 1/3 innings this year to go along with a 7-2 mark and 3.37 ERA.

The 25-year-old will be making a sixth stab at his first career win over the Phillies, going 0-3 with a 4.50 ERA in the first five encounters.