7:05pm - Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA
Joe Blanton, RHP (7-6, 3.88) v. Doug Davis, LHP (7-10, 3.59)
The finale of the series will pit the Phillies' top righty, Joe Blanton, against the crafty veteran Doug Davis. Blanton has been one of Philadelphia's most consistent starters despite his mediocre record. His counterpart, Davis, has had similar luck with a poor record to show for another solid season. The Phillies will look to complete the sweep against the Diamondbacks and go a season-high 20 games over .500.
Blanton has pitched well all season, and will look to factor in the decision tonight by going deep in the game. After Phillies pitching has surrendered just one earned run in the first two games of the series, Blanton will have a tough act to follow. In limited experience against Diamondback hitters, he has allowed a .400 batting average against. In order for Blanton to have success, he will need to work inside on all of the D'Back righties, especially Mark Reynolds, who has gone 0-for-7 with five strikeouts in the series thus far.
Doug Davis takes the mound for the Diamondbacks and looks to try to salvage the series. Over his career, Davis has been a steady, soft-tossing lefty and has won about half of his games. He has excellent numbers against current Phillies hitters, holding them to a .179 average in 108 plate appearances. However, the Phils offense is starting to click and they have been more patient of late. This is a big result of Ryan Howard, who is red hot right now, batting .351 with five home runs and 15 RBIs in the last 10 games.
In the final game of the series, the Phillies will need to avoid looking ahead to the series with their rival Mets this weekend. If Joe Blanton can bring the same strong effort and the Phillies hitters continue to rake, they can complete the sweep. However, it will most likely not be as easy as the first two games were.
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