The Arizona Diamondbacks close out the first half of the season with 3 games against another first place National League team, the Philadelphia Phillies in the City of Brotherly Love. It’ll be a classic case of hitting vs. pitching, as Philly boasts the last two NL MVPs in their lineup in Ryan Howard and Jimmy Rollins, while second baseman Chase Utley is one of the leading contenders to win the hardware this year. Arizona will counter with 6 career Cy Young Awards between Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb, who will start the 2nd and 3rd games of the series, respectively.

Last year, the Diamondbacks swept a 3-game series at Citizens’ Bank Park, racking up 20 runs in the process. That was last year, though, as the Diamondbacks offense continues to struggle this year. That’s not the case with the Phillies, who rank second in the National League in runs scored and HRs, and they have three players in Utley, Howard and Pat Burrell, who have already hit 20 or more home runs on the season.

Philadelphia Phillies(50-43, 1st place in NL East, 1.5 games ahead of NY Mets and Florida)

Manager: Charlie Manuel (4th year with Phillies, 312-267)

Offensive Leaders:

AVG: Chase Utley, .294

Runs: Chase Utley, 67

Hits: Chase Utley, 104

HR: Ryan Howard, 27

RBI: Ryan Howard, 83

SB: Shane Victorino and Jimmy Rollins, 22

Pitching Leaders:

INN: Cole Hamels, 135 2/3

Wins: Cole Hamels, 9

ERA: Cole Hamels, 3.18

Strikeouts: Cole Hamels, 118

Saves: Brad Lidge, 20

Bottom Line: The Phillies are currently sitting atop a very competitive NL East. Young upstart Florida, and the red-hot New York Mets are right on their heels, just 1 1/2 games back. Chase Utley, the starting second baseman for the NL in Tuesday’s midsummer classic, is having an MVP-type season, posting 25 home runs, 69 rbi, and a team-leading .294 average. First baseman Ryan Howard, who didn’t make the All-Star team despite leading the National League in homers and rbi, is putting up monster numbers, both positive and negative. Howard is hitting only .234 entering the series, and has struck out an eye-popping 125 times so far. To put that in perspective for Diamondback fans, that’s 19 more strikeouts than Mark Reynolds has this season.

On the pitching side, the Phillies’ ace Cole Hamels is having another solid season, ranking 2nd in the NL with 118 strikeouts. Brad Lidge, who was thrown on the scrap heap by Houston a year ago, is arguably the best closer in the game right now. He’s perfect in 20 save opportunities this season, has struck out 51 in only 28 innings and has a miniscule ERA of 0.95. Outside of Utley, Lidge is the only Phillie All-Star.

Philadelphia’s Pitchers vs. Arizona

Tonight: Kyle Kendrick (2008: 8-3, 4.39 ERA; career vs. Diamondbacks: 0-0, 4.50 ERA)

Saturday: Adam Eaton (2008: 3-7, 5.20 ERA; career vs. Diamondbacks: 3-5, 4.23 ERA)

Sunday: Cole Hamels (2008: 9-6, 3.18 ERA; career vs. Diamondbacks: 1-0, 1.59 ERA)

Arizona Diamondbacks (46-46, 1st place in NL West, 1 game ahead of Los Angeles)

Manager: Bob Melvin (4th year with Diamondbacks, 289-288)

Offensive Leaders:

AVG: Conor Jackson, .302

Runs: Mark Reynolds, 59

Hits: Orlando Hudson, 94

HR: Mark Reynolds, 18

RBI: Mark Reynolds, 54

SB: Conor Jackson, 6

Pitching Leaders:

INN: Dan Haren, 125 2/3

Wins: Brandon Webb, 13

ERA: Dan Haren, 2.72

Strikeouts: Dan Haren, 112

Saves: Brandon Lyon 19

Bottom Line: The Diamondbacks didn’t exactly play great baseball in winning 2 of 3 in Washington against the Nationals. They were shut out once, and in last night’s win, blew 2 leads in the late innings before salvaging a 7-5 win. The offense showed signs of life, exploding for 5 runs and 7 hits in the 10th and 11th innings last night. But, the Diamondbacks did go homer-less in DC. If that is repeated in hitter-friendly Citizens’ Bank Park, they could be in trouble against the high-octane Phillies.

Injuries are a huge concern. Eric Byrnes is out for the season. Juan Cruz, Edgar Gonzalez and Chris Snyder are all on the disabled list. And right fielder Justin Upton is on the shelf until after the All-Star break at least. These injuries have fueled speculation that the Diamondbacks are in the market for a free agent signing or a trade. Some of the names that have been mentioned are Barry Bonds, Raul Ibanez, Kenny Lofton, or the recently released Richie Sexson, who played a handful of games for the D-Backs in ‘04.

Another concern for Arizona has been their fielding. The Diamondbacks are tied with Cincinnati and Washington for the 3rd-most errors in the National League with 65. Mark Reynolds nearly cost Arizona the game Thursday by making three errors, including two costly miscues in the 9th inning alone.

Arizona’s pitchers vs. Philadelphia:

Tonight: Doug Davis (2008: 3-4, 3.74 ERA; career vs. Phillies: 2-1, 2.92 ERA)

Saturday: Randy Johnson (2008: 5-7, 5.18 ERA; career vs. Phillies: 10-3, 2.61 ERA)

Sunday: Brandon Webb (2008: 13-4, 3.27 ERA; career vs. Phillies: 3-3, 3.68 ERA)

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