Here Comes the Kid...and his young friend.

The Cincinatti Reds are in town and that means The Kid, Ken Griffey, Jr. will have the opportunity to hit his 600th career home in Philadelphia. Junior is not in the starting lineup tonight. Griffey's new teammate, Jay Bruce, is now in town and he has been given the opportunity to bat in front of Ken Griffey, Jr.

Through 6 games and 22 at-bats to start his career, Bruce is hitting .591 with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs. He's also walked 6 times and struck out once during that span. Bruce is rated the #1 prospect by many media and scout outlets.

Enough with the Reds, the Phillies come into tonight leading the National League East for the first time in June in recent memory. MVP candidate, Chase Utley, continues to rake in the numbers and earned player of the week honors, after hitting his 20th home run and knocking in his 50th RBI on the season. The Phillies have gone 5-1 on their current homestand and at least 1 winning would guarantee a winning home stand. The Phillies need to try their best to win 3 of 4 from their series and hope for a split at the worst.
The Phillies battled all weekend with the Marlins to take over first place and they have to expect to continue to battle with the Marlins as well the Braves and resurging Mets through and past the All-Star Break. The Phillies offense has continued their ability to spark the team and at times, they make it look it is easier for them to perform when they are down early rather than up. I'm not sure if the explanation is pitch selection or just chance, but recently, it seems to be the case.

The Phillies have won 9 of their last 12 and every pitching rotation recorded a win in their last start except for ace, Cole Hamels. Here's a look at the pitching match-ups.

Tonight: Bronson Arroyo (4-4, 5.29 ERA) vs. Kyle Kendrick (4-2, 4.84 ERA)
Arroyo is 3-0 in his last 5 starts. He last faced the Phillies on April 7 giving up 4 home runs and 5 ER in 5 2/3 innings, but he did strike out 6.

Kendrick has given the Phillies the opportunity to win 7 of his last 8 starts. Kyle Kendrick is coming off his best start of the year against Colorado, when he gave up 2runs, while striking out 5 and walking one.

Tomorrow: Aaron Harang (2-7, 3.81 ERA) vs. Adam Eaton (1-3, 4.99 ERA)
Aaron Harang is coming off his worst start of the year, but it was largely due to him pitching 4 innings out of the bullpen during the Reds 18-inning game a few weeks ago.

Adam Eaton earned his first win of the year in his last start and he has 6 quality starts on the year. To put it bruntly, Eaton either pitches well or really, really, really bad -- which is a big reason why his ERA is so high. In his last start against the Reds, he pitches 7 2/3 innings, but earned a no-decision.

Wednesday: Edinson Volquez (7-2, 1.46 ERA) vs. Brett Myers (3-6, 5.52 ERA)
Volquez has pitched superb this season and there are no signs of him slowing down. Volquez was traded by the Rangers for Josh Hamilton and both players have excelled for their respective teams. Volquez earned his first win of the season against the Phillies

Brett Myers last start was a tale of two pitches. In his first inning of work, he looked like the Brett of early in the year, allowing 3 runs, but he shut the Marlins out for the rest of the game. Myers struck out 11 and was able to locate with higher velocity after the first inning.

Thursday: Homer Bailey (0-0, --) vs. Cole Hamels (5-4, 3.73 ERA)
Homer Bailey is making his first start of the year for the Reds. Last year, the Phillies lineup hit him up pretty hard. Last year, he gave up 6 earned in 1.2 innings of work against the Phils. Ryan Howard hit a home run off Bailey this year.

Cole Hamels is coming off back-to-back bad starts, but he'll hope to rebound against the Reds. For his first 2008 win, Hamels pitched 7 strong innings against the Reds, only allowing 1 earned and 5 hits.