The Phillies' free fall continued on Friday night against the Colorado Rockies, one of the few teams in the National League with a worse record than the Fightins. The bats are cold, now averaging 3.3 runs per game over their last 12, and the pitching staff simply isn't going to carry them through.
The Rocks are still the team to try to rebound against though, and there are two chances remaining to salvage a series win. Vance Worley (4-5, 3.54) takes on Jeremy Guthrie (3-8, 6.05) in Saturday night's 8:10 matchup.
Following his worst start of the season, Worley rebounded somewhat in his last outing, allowing three runs over six innings against the Braves -- good enough for a no decision, but resulting in another Phils' loss. He was effective against Colorado back in June though, giving up two in seven strong, but was tagged for an L anyway.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Philadelphia sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
After a stint as a reliever in the Rockies' four-man rotation experiment, Guthrie is starting once again, and has been better thus far. He went six and held the opponent to two in back-to-back games before the break. He also came out of the pen to shut down the Phillies for three innings in one of last month's tilts.
Neither pitcher has seen a whole lot of the other side, but Worley has generally been steady for the Phils, while Guthrie has twice led the league in losses. Not going to say the P-word, but that aside, the only way losing to Colorado benefits the home team is in the race for a higher draft pick.