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Bradley, Rangers host slumping Phillies

Jun 28, 2008 - 1:10 PM Philadelphia (43-38) at Texas (41-40), 8:05 pm EDT

ARLINGTON, Texas (Ticker) -- Milton Bradley and the high-powered offense of the Texas Rangers will host the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday in the middle contest of a three-game interleague series.

Bradley, who leads the American League with a .330 batting average, delivered the go-ahead home run Friday as the Rangers rallied for an 8-7 win in the series opener.

Texas' top-ranked offense will also get a boost from Josh Hamilton, who leads the majors with 78 RBI this season. He is batting .310 with 19 home runs.

Philadelphia, which is trying to avoid its third straight loss, will hope to hang on to its one-game lead in the National League East. The club has lost seven of its previous eight contests.

Phillies ace Cole Hamels (7-5, 3.27 ERA) will attempt to reverse that trend. The 24-year-old lefthander yielded three runs and six hits with no walks and four strikeouts over seven frames in Sunday's 3-2 loss to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The Rangers will counter with former Phillie Vicente Padilla (10-3, 3.74), who is seeking his fourth straight win in as many starts. The righthander, who has won eight of his last nine decisions, is looking to join Cleveland's Cliff Lee, Anaheim's Joe Saunders and Arizona's Brandon Webb as the major's only 11-game winners.