Manny Machado and Padres take on Bryce Harper and Phillies for first time

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Phillies will meet Manny Machado and the Padres in San Diego

The Philadelphia Phillies (33-26) pay their lone visit to Petco Park this week to take on the host San Diego Padres (30-29) in a three-game series.

The Padres currently reside in third place in the National League West Division standings, 10.5 games in back (10 in the loss column) of the rampaging Los Angeles Dodgers.

After leading the division for a full week in the middle of April, the Padres slumped into a six-game losing streak. They followed that up by winning five in a row. But after appearing to have regained their equilibrium, the club has gone 14-18 over the last six weeks and slowly fallen off the pace.

Entering this series, San Diego has dropped two straight, three of their last four, and five of their last seven games. The Phillies will enter having dropped a season-worst four games in a row, and are now clinging to a one-game lead in the NL East Division.

A huge problem for the Padres has been their inability to score. They are just 13th of the 15 NL teams in runs scored and OPS. However, their hitters are fourth in the league in home runs, so they do have the ability to hit the ball out of the ballpark. This should be of particular concern to the Phillies, whose pitching staff has surrendered the most homers (92) in the National League.

Pitching has been their saving grace. The San Diego staff has combined to tie for the third-best batting average against figure (.240) in the entire NL and the seventh-best BAA mark and ninth-best ERA in all of Major League Baseball.

This series will end a pivotal 23-game stretch for the Phillies. Over the course of that three-and-a-half week endurance test they will have faced a tough gauntlet of opponents from outside their division, with 13 of the games coming on the road. The Phillies have gone 10-10 over the first 20 games, so a winning series would mean they came out ahead during what will arguably be the roughest part of their entire 2019 schedule.

Swept by Padres a year ago, Phillies return to Petco Park in first place

Host Padres swept the Phillies a year ago at this time

The Philadelphia Phillies will open a three-game weekend series with the San Diego Padres on Friday night. 

It will be important for them to recall what happened on their last visit to Petco Park last August and ensure that the same results do not repeat.

A year ago, at this same time, the Phillies were swept out of San Diego. The host Padres captured the three games by an 18-8 combined score.

That 2017 series between these two ball clubs held little importance. The Phillies were 30 games below the .500 mark and buried in last place in the NL East. The Padres were 14 under .500, in fourth place out in the NL West, and buried 14 games out of the Wildcard race.

But this year there is something at stake. The Phillies have completely flipped the standings from a year ago and are now in first place. 

They hold a one-game lead on the Atlanta Braves, who will host the Milwaukee Brewers in a game that should be nearly over by the time the Phillies game gets underway. The Phillies and Braves are actually tied in the all-important loss column.

The Phillies are coming off a series defeat after dropping two of three at Arizona to the host Diamondbacks. Going back over the last couple of weeks, the Phillies have roller-coastered their way to a 6-6 record.

Manager Gabe Kapler was quoted by Bob Nightengale of USA Today on Wednesday in Arizona on the team’s ability to step up when they have been challenged this season.

“One of the characteristics of this team is that we know how to take a punch. We get knocked down, but we pop right back up. [Expletive] days happen. You don’t get bent out of shape. … These guys know how to stay calm even when a storm is happening around us.’’

The Phillies didn’t get punched hard in Arizona, but they did take a couple of hard shots. The bullpen blew what should have been a victory on Monday night. The offense was completely handcuffed by Patrick Corbin and two relievers on Wednesday.

It will be important to demonstrate once again that they can pop right back up. They don’t want to lose this series to a last place team. Not if they want to be taken seriously as a division championship contender.

Orginally published at Phillies Nation as "Phillies look to avoid a second straight August debacle at Petco Park"