• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Brewers host Phillies, look to maintain lead over Cubs

Aug 4, 2007 - 2:11 PM Philadelphia (57-52) at Milwaukee (59-51) 7:05 pm EDT

MILWAUKEE (Ticker) -- The Milwaukee Brewers are back where they want to be.

The Brewers will attempt to solidify their hold on first place in the National League Central when they continue their weekend series with the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday.

Milwaukee, which had been in first since April 21, briefly fell into second in the Central on Thursday behind the Chicago Cubs after dropping a 12-4 decision to the New York Mets.

However, the Mets did them a favor and beat the red-hot Cubs (57-51), 6-2, on Friday. Combined with their 2-1 win over Philadelphia, the Brewers moved one game ahead.

Yovani Gallardo outdueled fellow rookie Kyle Kendrick, yielding a run and striking out seven in 6 2/3 innings.

Milwaukee will see if it can continue the momentum behind David Bush (9-8, 4.87 ERA).

The righthander picked up a win in relief on Tuesday, throwing a scoreless inning in a 4-2 win over New York in 13 innings. Other than that, Bush has lost his past two starts, including a 6-5 setback at the Cincinnati Reds on July 26 in which he allowed four runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Cole Hamels (12-5, 3.50) takes the mound for the Phillies, who trail New York (62-47) by five games in the NL East. Hamels dominated the Cubs on Sunday, limiting them to one run and three hits eight innings.

Jimmy Rollins singled in the first inning of Friday's loss to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. He is 4-for-10 with a homer vs. Bush.