Phillies 3 - 4 Giants
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Phils target rare sweep in San Francisco

May 8, 2013 - 2:29 PM (Sports Network) - Aiming to inch closer to the .500 mark, the Philadelphia Phillies look to sweep a series in San Francisco for the first time in 29 years on Wednesday afternoon in the finale of a three-game set with the Giants.

After getting outscored 16-2 in back-to-back games by the NL-worst Miami Marlins, the Phillies have opened their set against the defending champion Giants with a pair of 6-2 victories. That has them in position to sweep their first three-game series in San Francisco since May 18-20, 1984.

Philadelphia swept San Francisco in three games at home during the 2006 campaign, while the Giants won four of six against the Phils a season ago.

Kyle Kendrick allowed just two runs and six hits over seven innings of Tuesday's win, striking out six without a walk to improve to 4-1 on the season.

Chase Utley had three hits, including a homer, drove in two runs and scored twice, while Ryan Howard also went deep in the win. It marked the 50th time that the two have homered in the same game, the most by a pair of teammates in club history.

Jimmy Rollins and Michael Young also drove in a run each as the Phils moved to 16-18 on the year.

"We're getting guys over, we're putting bunts down," Utley said of his team's offense. "We're definitely doing the little things right now which is big, especially against a team like this."

Marco Scutaro went 2-for-4 with an RBI double to extend his hitting streak to seven straight games and Angel Pagan knocked in a run for the Giants, who have dropped back-to-back games following a six-game winning streak.

Tim Lincecum was tagged for five runs on nine hits and three walks to absorb the loss, fanning seven.

"He was real good at times and other times he just made some mistakes," San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said of Lincecum. "He had good stuff tonight, but along with that, he had trouble commanding the fastball at times."

The California-born Jonathan Pettibone will make his fourth career start today for the Phillies and has pitched well since replacing the injured John Lannan in the rotation.

Pettibone picked up his second victory on Friday, holding the Miami Marlins to a run on five hits over 6 1/3 innings of a 4-1 win. Though he allowed a solo homer, the offense also backed him up with three solo shots of their own and the 22-year-old righty helped himself by not walking a batter.

He is 2-0 with a 3.24 earned run average.

"I just wanted to make a statement when I got up here -- just staying aggressive," Pettibone said on the Phillies' website. "I've been able to do that since I've been up here."

Pettibone will face the Giants for the first time in his second career road start. He won at the New York Mets on April 27.

Five days shy of his 35th birthday, Barry Zito takes the hill for the Giants in today's finale.

Zito returned to form a bit in a no-decision versus the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday. His club managed a 2-1 win after the lefty yielded a run on six hits and four walks. However, 95 pitches forced Zito out after five-plus innings.

That outing came six days after he did not factor into an 8-7 loss at the San Diego Padres. Zito was charged with six runs over 3 2/3 innings, though only one run was earned.

Zito is 3-1 with a 3.06 ERA through six starts this season and 3-3 lifetime versus the Phillies with a 4.60 ERA in seven meetings.






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