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Phillies look to stay in playoff chase against Pirates

Aug 18, 2007 - 1:53 PM Philadelphia (65-56) at Pittsburgh (50-70) 7:05 pm EDT

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Phillies climbed into a tie for the National League wild card on Friday. They will look to stay there when they visit the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.

The Phillies did what they do best on Friday, outslugging the Pirates en route to an 11-8 victory. That win pushed them into a tie with the San Diego Padres (65-56) in the wild card race and left them three games behind the New York Mets (68-53) in the NL East.

Philadelphia leads the National League in runs scored and ranks near the top in batting average, often bailing out a pitching staff that ranks 12th in the NL with a 4.76 ERA.

Trying to improve on that team ERA on Saturday will be veteran Jamie Moyer (11-8, 4.68 ERA). The 44-year-old lefthander has earned wins in each of his last four decisions, compiling a 3.48 ERA over that span.

Moyer counts a win over the Pirates during the stretch, holding them to an unearned run and six hits over seven frames of an 8-1 win on July 27.

Pittsburgh will counter with lefthander Paul Maholm (8-14, 4.38). The 25-year-old former first-round pick is coming off a complete game victory over the San Francisco Giants in which he surrendered one run and three hits last Sunday.

He is 1-1 with a 5.73 ERA in two career starts against the Phillies.