Having erupted for 13 hits on Sunday, the Phillies hope the bats remain alive as the division leading Chicago Cubs visit Philadelphia for a three-game set beginning Monday night.

The Cubs are 17-8 on the road this season and have dominated the Eastern Division, winning eight of nine contests including a three-game sweep of the Phillies in Chicago two weeks ago.

Monday: LHP Jon Lester (6-3, 2.29) vs. LHP Adam Morgan (1-4, 7.07)

Tuesday: RHP Kyle Hendricks (4-4, 2.84) vs. RHP Jerad Eickhoff (2-8, 3.93)

Wednesday: RHP Jason Hammel (7-1, 2.14) vs. RHP Vince Velasquez (5-2, 3.67)

Recent history: The Phillies scored a combined five runs while leaving Chicago with three consecutive losses, marking the first time the Phillies were swept at Wrigley Field since July of 1995.

Cubs notes: The Cubs are averaging 5.4 runs a game, second only to Boston in the majors ... Led by Ben Zobrist (38) and Anthony Rizzo (35), the team leads the majors in walks with 250 ... Despite the high average run total, the bats have fallen a bit quiet over the last week as the team is hitting just .196 ... The Cubs enter tonight having won 10 of their last 12 games.

Phillies notes: Center fielder Odubel Herrera tied his career high with four hits yesterday in the Phillies 8-1 win over Milwaukee ... Tommy Joseph hit .438 (7-16), 2B, HR, 2 RBI with a 1.125 OPS and three multi-hit games in the series against the Brewers ... Cameron Rupp is hitting .385 over the last 11 games and also has thrown out three of the last seven potential base stealers.

Up next: The Phillies have a day off on Thursday before opening a weekend series in Washington against the Nationals.
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Follow Patrick on Twitter: @PGordonPBR

BY PATRICK GORDON
Managing Editor
pgordon@philadelphiabaseballreview.com

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