Phillies look to win third straight series, at home against Indians

The Phillies break apart a stretch of 16 road games with a trio of contestsat home against the Indians Friday.

And they’ll kick off the mini-homestand with a new starting pitcher, Adam Morgan, fresh from Triple-A.

Morgan will oppose Cleveland ace Corey Kluber in the series opener, who went eight innings of one-run baseball in his most recent start while striking out 10. Prior to his domination of the Tigers last week, Kluber had been off to a rough start to the season.

Morgan — who narrowly missed the Phillies’ roster this spring — will replace Charlie Morton in the rotation at least for now, after posting a 3.57 ERA in the minors.

In Game 2 Saturday, Jerad Eickhoff will look to reestablish his curveball against Indians’ starter Trevor Bauer (who steps in as an injury replacement just like Morgan). Eickhoff made a few mistakes against the Brewers in his last start and will look to bounce back by utlizinghis breaking ball the way he did earlier in the year.

The finale starts at 2:35 (due to the Broad Street Run) and will pit Vince Velasquez, fresh off a win in Washington against Danny Salazar, who has had control issues early.

Offensively the Phillies have picked things up, thanks in large part to the impressive on base percentage posted by Odubel Herrera. They’ve also gotten clutch hits from Maikel Franco, and both will be key players as Philly looks to win it’s third straight series.