video thumbnail

LAD@ARI: Eovaldi five-hits D-backs over six to win

Amid an important stretch of games leading up to the July 31 Trade Deadline, the Phillies hope to carry momentum from their first series win in nearly a month into another road series against the Dodgers.

The last-place Phillies, who at 39-51 are 14 games behind the first-place Nationals in the National League East, arrive in Los Angeles after two straight wins over Colorado at Coors Field.

The Dodgers (48-42), who swept a four-game series at Philadelphia in early June, lost their second straight to the Padres on Sunday. Against the Phillies, they will face Joe Blanton (7-8, 4.98), who gave up five earned runs in 6 1/3 innings in his last outing and has been prone to giving up the home run.

Nathan Eovaldi (1-5, 4.21), originally slated to start for the Dodgers on Tuesday, was bumped to Monday after Chad Billingsley was scratched from Sunday's start, forcing Chris Capuano to pitch a day ahead of schedule.

Eovaldi is coming off his first win of the season, when he held the Diamondbacks to one run on five hits in six innings. The right-hander, who has been hindered by poor run support this season, was backed by four runs from his offense in the victory.

"It was nice to get the early run support," Eovaldi said after the game. "We had good plays behind me. We stayed on their starter, so it was nice."

The same formula could work for the Dodgers on Monday, especially with outfielders Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier back in the fold.

Phillies: Doc to officially return on Tuesday
What was speculated for several days become official on Sunday, when the Phillies announced that Roy Halladay would start Tuesday's game against the Dodgers. The two-time Cy Young Award winner has been sidelined with a strained right lat since May 28.

After pitching three innings in a rehab start with Class A Clearwater on Thursday, Halladay (4-5, 3.98) threw a 30-pitch bullpen session at Coors Field on Saturday. The right-hander said afterward that he felt good.

Halladay will likely be on a pitch count on Tuesday, but the number of pitches is unknown. Regardless, Doc's return should help bolster a Phillies pitching staff that has missed its top ace.

• Both Chase Utley and Ryan Howard were not in the starting lineup on Sunday, but the duo is expected back in the lineup for the series opener against the Dodgers. The club has been giving Utley and Howard, both of whom recently returned from long-term injuries, a day off every three games.

"Right now, for Howard and Utley, it's two on, one [off]," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "But I want to build it up to three and four, and then turn them loose. I'll always give them a break during the week, but I'd like to get them as many games as possible."

Dodgers: Billingsley dealing with elbow inflammation
Billingsley was scratched from his scheduled start on Sunday with right elbow pain and said after the game that MRI results showed "flexor muscle and inflammation strain or whatever you want to call it."

"As far as what they saw, I have to go back and get another [MRI] to get a little bit of a better view of it," said an optimistic Billingsley, who will go back for testing again on Monday.

Billingsley had been battling the pain for a while, according to manager Don Mattingly. The right-hander wasn't sharp during a bullpen session on Friday and told trainer Sue Falsone that his elbow was "barky," following a "touch-and-feel" session on Saturday.

"My only issue about it is not letting anybody know, so we could be paying attention to this thing," Mattingly said of Billingsley. "Sue and those guys go to school a long time and they are pretty smart. They can't really help you if you don't talk to them. They are not mind readers."

Capuano, originally slated to start Monday's series opener, started Sunday and was tagged with the loss. He allowed four unearned runs on five hits in 6 2/3 innings and was not helped by shoddy defense, as the Dodgers committed five errors.

• After returning to the lineup on Friday, Kemp was given the day off on Sunday in an effort to ease him back into playing regularly. Kemp, who is 5-for-9 with a double in two games since returning, had been sidelined with left hamstring injuries for the better part of the last two months.

Kemp is expected back in the lineup for the series opener against the Phillies on Monday.

Worth noting
• Blanton is 1-0 with a 3.52 ERA in five career regular-season starts against the Dodgers. He did not face them when the two clubs played in early June.

• Monday will be Eovaldi's first career start against Philadelphia.

• Phillies outfield prospect Tyson Gillies, who had not played since suffering a concussion on May 26, started in center field for Double-A Reading on Sunday. He went 2-for-3.

Gillies, 23, was acquired by the Phillies in December 2009, as part of the deal that sent Cliff Lee to the Mariners.

MLB.com Comments