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Phillies looking to change interleague fortunes

Jun 24, 2008 - 1:03 PM Philadelphia (42-35) at Oakland (41-34) 10:05 pm EDT

OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- The Philadelphia Phillies have not enjoyed interleague play too much.

The Phillies will hope to snap a five-game losing streak Tuesday when they kick off a nine-game road trip spanning three different time zones with a meeting against the Oakland Athletics.

With its best hitters struggling, Philadelphia lost for the seventh time in eight contests Monday when it suffered a 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. During the club's losing skid, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard are a combined 4-for-34 with three of those hits coming in Monday's loss.

Utley ended an 0-for-24 slump in that contest, one that has lowered his batting average from .317 to .291 over a seven-game span. He still leads the Phillies, who will also travel to Texas and Atlanta on the road swing, with 22 home runs this season.

Athletics starter Joe Blanton (3-10, 4.81 ERA) is also struggling as the righthander has lost each of his previous four starts. He was roughed up for eight runs and seven hits and three walks over three innings during Wednesday's 11-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The 27-year-old Blanton has just one win since the beginning of May, losing six times in nine starts over that span.

He will be opposed by veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer (7-4, 4.09), who had his five-game winning streak snapped in his last start. The 45-year-old yielded two runs and four hits with five walks and four strikeouts over five frames in last Tuesday's 3-0 setback to the Boston Red Sox.