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Phillies-Reds Preview

May 20, 2009 - 4:39 AM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Philadelphia (20-16) at Cincinnati (20-17), 7:10 p.m. EDT

Led by the league's best road record in 2008, the Philadelphia Phillies marched to a NL East title and a World Series championship. They're using a similar recipe for success this season.

Halfway through a 10-game road trip, Ryan Howard and the Phillies look to win a season-high sixth straight game Wednesday night when they continue a three-game series against the struggling Cincinnati Reds.

After sweeping a four-game series in Washington, Philadelphia (21-16) beat the Reds 4-3 in Tuesday's series opener to improve to a major league-best 13-4 on the road. The Phillies were an NL-best 44-37 away from home last season.

Philadelphia, which also won five straight April 24-28, has scored 37 runs during its winning streak after plating 14 in its previous five games - all at home.

"It's good we're on the road for some reason," Jimmy Rollins told the Phillies' official Web site. "These things don't happen at home right now."

Howard hit his third homer of the road trip Tuesday, and seven of his nine home runs on the season have come away from Philadelphia. He is just 2 for 11 lifetime against Wednesday's scheduled starter Aaron Harang (3-4, 3.44 ERA), but both of those hits were home runs.

The 46-year-old Jamie Moyer (3-3, 8.15) takes the mound for the Phillies looking to become the oldest pitcher to reach 250 wins. He hasn't been close to reaching the milestone lately.

Since allowing one run in six innings of a 13-2 win over Florida on April 26, Moyer has been tagged for 19 runs and 22 hits - including six homers - over 12 1-3 innings in his three May starts. Last Wednesday, the left-hander yielded seven runs and eight hits in 4 1-3 innings of a 9-2 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

"I don't think he's right," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "His command comes and goes. He has a hard time getting a feel for where he wants the ball to go. I've seen him go through stretches like this. I know how bad he wants to do good."

In his last start against Cincinnati (20-18) on June 27, 2007, Moyer allowed three runs and three hits with eight strikeouts in six innings of a 9-6 loss, but wasn't a factor in the decision. That was his first appearance against the Reds since 1991.

His last victory over Cincinnati came on May 27, 1987 - career victory No. 12.

With their offense scuffling, the Reds have lost a season-high four straight after winning six of seven.

Cincinnati has scored 12 runs and batted .167 while going 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position during the skid.

"We got runners in scoring position in the seventh, eighth and ninth, but we couldn't get that big hit," Reds manager Dusty Baker said after Tuesday's loss.

Cincinnati is playing without first baseman Joey Votto, who leads the team in batting (.366) and is tied with Brandon Phillips for most RBIs (27).

Votto, who is suffering from dizziness, had more tests Tuesday and more were scheduled for the next few days.

The inconsistent Harang looks to bounce back from another disappointing outing.

The right-hander's yielded at least five runs in three of his last six starts but has given up six total runs in the other three outings in that span. On Friday, Harang gave up five runs and eight hits in 6 1-3 innings of a 5-3 loss at San Diego.

He went 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA in two starts against the Phillies last season and hasn't defeated them since May 14, 2005 - a span of six starts.