Phillies-Astros game notes: Hamels vs. Happ

Phillies (94-50) vs. Astros (50-97), 8:05 p.m. on WPHL

Starting Pitchers
Phillies: Cole Hamels (14-7, 2.60) is looking to match his career high for victories, set in 2007. He pitched a four-hit complete game against the Brewers last Thursday, earning his first victory since August 6. Hamels is 3-2 with a 4.82 ERA in eight lifetime starts against the Astros.

Astros: J.A. Happ (5-15, 5.77) is enduring a brutal season for Houston. He surrendered four runs in five innings in his last start, a 5-4 loss to Pittsburgh last Wednesday. In one career start against his former team (August 25, 2010), Happ gave up two runs over 6 13 innings.

Previous games
The Phillies dropped Monday's series opener, 5-1, as Pete Orr's RBI single was the only hit against Brett Myers. Roy Oswalt didn't have his best stuff and the Phillies didn't play good defense behind him in losing to the major leagues' worst team.

Head-to-head
The Phillies swept the Astros in the first series of the season, including a wild comeback on opening day. The Phillies hit .349 while scoring 21 runs in the three games. This is their second and final series of the season.

Who's hot?
Hunter Pence is batting .325 since coming over from Houston. He is hitting .406 over his last eight games. Astros slugger Carlos Lee is batting .395 with five homers and 15 RBIs in his last 21 games, while reaching base safely in all of them. He hit a two-run homer against Oswalt in Monday's contest.

Storylines
The Phillies can clinch a playoff spot with a win against Houston or a loss by St. Louis. It would be their fifth consecutive postseason berth. The Phillies are trying to avoid a rare three-game losing streak. They haven't dropped that many in a row since a four-game slide May 31 to June 4. Happ is trying to avoid becoming the first Astro since 2000 (Jose Lima and Chris Holt) to lose 16 games. Another loss would set a season high for the Astros franchise. Hamels is 0-2 with a 6.85 ERA in his last four starts vs. Houston.