Phillies (27-53) vs. Brewers (32-48)
6:35 p.m. on CSN
Even the majors' second-worst team has outclassed the Phillies all week.
The Brewers, who have created five games of distance between themselves and the MLB-worst Phils, have outscored them this week 20-12. They've outhit them 43-27.
Five different Brewers have had at least a three-hit game in this series: Jonathan Lucroy, Ryan Braun twice, Scooter Gennett, Gerardo Parra and even last night's pitcher, Kyle Lohse.
All this from a Brewers club that entered the series hitting .238 on the season. We're halfway into the season and they've raised their team batting average by six points in three games. That is no easy feat, and really speaks to how poorly the Phillies' pitching staff has performed.
Here are four other notes to get you set for tonight's action:
Halfway there
Tonight's game is the Phillies' 81st of the season. A loss would make them 27-54, which, if you paid attention in third grade, means they've lost two games for every win so far.
MLB
Yikes.
The Phillies are well on pace for 100-plus losses. In fact, right now their pace is 54-108. Since the MLB schedule went to 162 games in 1962, the Phillies have never lost more than 99 games in a season. They haven't lost as many as 108 games since 1945.
It's been bad. Worse than expected. There have been bright spots, sure, but this team is just so challenged offensively and with its starting pitching that it really needs to luck itself into wins.
Things will get even bleaker if/when Cole Hamels and Jonathan Papelbon are traded. The Phillies already have too many mediocre pitchers in their rotation, and unless Aaron Nola comes up to replace Hamels in the rotation, things could get even more average and less exciting.
Billingsley's back
Chad Billingsley is finally back from a trip to the DL with right shoulder soreness. Billingsley, signed by the Phillies this past offseason after requiring elbow surgery in consecutive seasons, has made just three starts.
He allowed five runs in five innings in each of his first two outings, and then went on the 15-day DL after his best start, a six-inning, two-run performance against the Diamondback back on May 15.
Billingsley missed about seven weeks with the injury. He made three rehab starts at Lehigh Valley, going 1-1 and allowing six earned runs in 10⅔ innings. In his final rehab outing, he allowed just one run over five innings and threw 79 pitches.
The longtime Los Angeles Dodger has faced the Brewers nine times (seven starts) and gone 2-2 with a 4.53 ERA. But because the most recent meeting was 2012, only three current Brewers have more than five plate appearances against him.
Braun is 4 for 14 (.286) with four singles, no walks, no extra-base hits and four strikeouts. Parra is 9 for 36 (.250) with two doubles, six RBIs and 13 strikeouts. Aramis Ramirez is 8 for 24 (.333) with two doubles, a triple and a homer.
What happened to Garza?
At one point, Matt Garza was seen as a frontline starting pitcher. He was never an ace, but he was a sought-after No. 2 or No. 3 starter. He was traded from the Rays to the Cubs for a couple prospects including Chris Archer, and then went from Chicago to Texas for more prospects.
The Brewers signed him to a four-year, $50 million contract in January 2014. He has not come close to living up to that price tag, going 12-18 with a 4.32 ERA and 1.31 WHIP in 256⅓ innings with the Brew Crew. This season, he's 4-10 with a 5.52 ERA and 1.53 WHIP.
So what happened? How did a pitcher with an electric fastball and decent breaking pitches fall apart? His fastball velocity has not waned significantly. His heater averages 92.7 mph this season compared to 93.2 for his career. It's just been a matter of command. Too many fastballs in the middle of the plate. In 267 at-bats ending with Garza's fastball this season, his opponents have hit .307 with 12 home runs.
And it has never helped that Garza is among the most emotional and demonstrative pitchers in the game. When things aren't going his way, it's always evident in his face and histrionics.
This and that
• After Maikel Franco's back-to-back five-RBI games in the Bronx last week, he went 4 for his next 26. But last night he broke back out, becoming the first Phillies rookie with three doubles in a game since Adolfo Phillips on Sept. 6, 1965.
Franco is hitting .305 with a .906 OPS, 12 doubles, a triple, 10 homers and 34 RBIs in 44 games.
• Ryan Howard is 0 for 13 with five strikeouts against Garza in the regular season.
• Since being recalled from Triple A, Jake Diekman has allowed one run in eight innings to lower his ERA to 5.22. He's struck out 10, but allowed 12 baserunners (six hits, six walks) over that span. Lefties are 0 for 8 against him since the Phils brought him back up.