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Lohse, Phillies look to continue home streak

Aug 8, 2007 - 2:03 PM Florida (52-61) at Philadelphia (59-53) 7:05 pm EDT

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Phillies will look for the recently-acquired Kyle Lohse to last much longer in his latest start.

The Phillies will turn to Lohse as they aim for a fifth straight win at Citizens Bank Park in the middle game of a three-game series with the Florida Marlins on Wednesday.

Philadelphia crushed Florida, 11-1, on Tuesday behind the bat of Ryan Howard and the pitching arm of veteran Jamie Moyer. Howard, the reigning National League MVP, belted two home runs and the 44-year-old Moyer tossed six strong innings to improve to 6-0 in six career starts vs. the Marlins.

Philadelphia, which has won four straight here, is also 9-2 in its last 11 at home.

The Phillies next hand the ball to Lohse (6-12, 4.61 ERA), who was acquired from the Cincinnati Reds at the trade deadline.

The righthander had an abbreviated debut with Philadelphia on Thursday after getting hit by a line drive on his right forearm in the first inning against the Chicago Cubs. That was not the only trouble for Lohse, who allowed a run, two hits as well as hitting two batters in that opening frame. However, his new teammates rallied for a 10-6 victory.

Lohse, making his first start at home for Philadelphia, is 1-1 in two career starts vs. Florida.

The Marlins counter with Dontrelle Willis (7-11, 4.91), who is looking to snap the longest losing streak of his career. The lefthander is 0-8 with a 5.01 ERA over his last 12 starts. It has not helped that his teammates have been held to three runs or less in all but one of those outings.

The Marlins ace has handled the Phillies recently, going 3-0 in his last five starts vs. them. Overall, Willis is 8-5 with a 3.80 ERA in 19 career outings vs. Philadelphia - his most outings against one franchise.

The Marlins have lost eight of nine on the road.