San Francisco Giants (67-52) @ Philadelphia Phillies (66-51)

Date: Tuesday August 17th, 2010

Time: 6:10 pm EST

Preview: The San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies will start a three game series in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening. Both teams are fighting for both their division lead, and also for the National League wildcard. The two teams are tied for the wildcard spot coming into Tuesday’s game. The Giants are coming off a loss to the Padres, where ace Tim Lincecum was roughed up, and pulled early. Aubrey Huff leads the team with a .295 batting average, along with 20 homeruns and 68 runs batted in. The Giants are batting .260 as a team, which ranks 12th in all of baseball. San Francisco has relied on their pitching, which ranks 4th in baseball with a 3.49 earned run average. The Giants will send left hander Barry Zito to the mound on Tuesday. Zito is 8-6 on the season, with a 3.44. The 32 year old from Las Vegas has not won since his eight inning performance against the Mets on July 16th.

The Phillies will send Roy Oswalt to the mound in his fourth start with Philadelphia. In those three starts, the 32 year old right hander has won, lost and picked up a no decision. In three starts, Oswalt has allowed 15 hits in 19.1 innings, with 6 earned runs. Oswalt’s career record as a starting pitcher is 144-83. Philadelphia is led offensively by Placido Polanco’s .319 batting average, and Ryan Howard’s 23 homeruns and 81 runs batted in. Howard is currently on the disabled list, along with second basemen Chase Utley.

My MLB Betting Picks: Zito gets roughed up and the defending NL champions win. Phillies 9-5.