FanHouse

On Deck is FanHouse's look at the day's most intriguing baseball matchups

So in the last 48 hours the Milwaukee Brewers have added CC Sabathia to their rotation, and the Chicago Cubs picked up Rich Harden to add to theirs. All the Phillies have managed to do in during that span was lose two games in the standings.

The Phillies have now lost four in a row, and unfortunately for them their losing streak directly coincides with a four-game win streak by the New York Mets. Now both the Mets and Marlins sit only a game and a half behind the Phillies. So the pressure is on the Phillies to add an arm of their own to the rotation.

If you look around the National League right now, things aren't set up too well for Philadelphia. The Brewers now have Ben Sheets and Sabathia. The Cubs have Harden, Carlos Zambrano, and Ryan Dempster. In Arizona the Diamondbacks feature Brandon Webb and Dan Haren at the top of their rotation, while in Los Angeles the Dodgers have a NL-best 3.70 ERA.

The Phillies have Cole Hamels and, um, Jamie Moyer? While the Phillies have the fifth best team ERA in the National League, Hamels is the only member of their rotation who has an ERA under 4.00. Their offense may be pretty dangerous, but once the playoffs start (if the Phillies get there) it's pitchers who dominate, and the Phillies just don't have enough of them.

So when will the Phillies make their move in the NL Arms Race?




Philadelphia Phillies (48-43) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (51-40) - ESPN 7:05PM Est.

While it's not likely that the Phillies will add another pitcher before the first pitch tonight, the only thing that's probably on their mind at the moment is putting an end to this four-game losing streak. They'd also like to remember how to hit and win at home, as they've now lost nine of their last ten at Citizen's Bank, with the offense hitting an impressive .196 during that span.

J.A. Happ will be making his second start of the season (and third of his career) for the Phils, as he's recently replaced the vanquished Brett Myers in the rotation. Happ only allowed three hits and two runs in his first start against the Mets last week, but he only lasted 4.2 innings and walked four batters. Of course, Happ's last start also happens to be the last game the Phillies actually won, so they'd gladly take the same effort if it results in another win.

Mark Mulder will go for the Cardinals, who much like the Phillies, have to be looking at the moves the Brewers and Cubs made and thinking to themselves "oh crap." The Cardinals have suddenly gone from a team that could push the Cubs into September to an afterthought in the NL Central. If Mulder can somehow return to the form of his 2005 season, it would be just like the Cardinals adding a new arm to the staff.

Mulder will be making his first start in ten months tonight and is 0-1 with a 5.20 ERA in three career starts against Philadelphia.

New York Mets (46-44) vs. San Francisco Giants (39-51) - 7:10PM Est.

The Mets have won their last four games to get right back into the NL East tonight, and they've been scoring a few runs while doing so. The Mets have outscored their opponents 43-19 in their last six games, and it would be nice if they gave some of that offensive support to Johan Santana for once.

In his last six starts, Johan has gone 0-4 despite the fact he has an ERA of 2.48 in that span. The reason for this is because his teammates have given him a grand total of 11 runs of support in those games, and are hitting .197.

It won't be too easy for the Mets to get runs tonight either, as they're facing a pitcher who's won six of his last eight starts in Jonathan Sanchez. Sanchez is 6-1 with a 3.31 ERA the last eight times he's pitched, and he's been tough on the Mets in his career. In three starts Sanchez is 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA, including a win against them earlier this season.

Boston Red Sox (54-39) vs. Minnesota Twins (50-40) - 1:05PM Est.

The Red Sox have responded to being swept by the Rays last week by winning their last two and cooling off what was a red-hot Minnesota Twins team the last couple of days. A win today, and the Sawx will have their first series sweep of the Twins in three years.

The man in charge of getting that job done will be Josh Beckett, who finally ended a three-game winless streak in his last start against the Yankees on Friday. Beckett has pitched pretty well at Fenway this year, going 4-1 there despite his 4.32 ERA (his ERA on the road is only 3.31 yet he's 4-4). He's made two starts against Minnesota in his career, and he's 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA.

Livan Hernandez goes for the Twins who would like to get back in the win column this afternoon. It will be Livan's first outing outside the Metrodome in a while, as his last four starts all came at home, and I don't think he's incredibly happy about it.

Livan is 2-4 with a 7.00 ERA in eight road starts this season, and his numbers aren't much better against Boston. In three career starts, Livan is 1-2 with a 9.00 ERA.

Everybody Else

• Yankees vs. Rays - 1:05PM
• Padres vs. Marlins - 3:35PM
• Tigers vs. Indians - 7:05PM
• Pirates vs. Astros - 7:05PM
• Blue Jays vs. Orioles - 7:07PM
• Nationals vs. Diamondbacks - 7:10PM
• Brewers vs. Rockies - 8:05PM
• Rangers vs. Angels - 8:05PM
• Cubs vs. Reds - 8:05PM
• Royals vs. White Sox - 8:10PM
• Athletics vs. Mariners - 10:05PM
• Dodgers vs. Braves - 10:10PM