"Following Roy Oswalt's strong seven-inning performance in a 9-2 win over St. Louis last Saturday, the Phillies lost each turn of a rotation cycle for the first time all year.

And so Oswalt is set to take the hill again tonight, aiming to break up a five-game losing streak in which the Phillies have failed to get on base, score, or support their pitchers.

Though, what might be more important than a win Thursday is another good game from Oswalt, who has struggled to put together a string of consistent efforts since returning from a second DL stint August 7.

Six of Oswalt's eight outings since then have been quality starts, but in several he had either disconcerting strikeout numbers, groundball-flyball splits, or hit totals."