8

Final 1 2 3   4 5 6   7 8 9   R H E Philadelphia 0 0 0 4 0 0 3 1 0 8 12 0 Arizona 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 1 0 5 9 0

5

  W: V. Worley (2-1)   L: J. Collmenter (0-2)   S: J. Papelbon (6)

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By NOEY KUPCHAN

(AP) -- While the Philadelphia Phillies' Vance Worley may not be as recognizable a name as some of the other pitchers on his team, he was every bit as dominant during his last start.

Worley, however, could have his hands full with an Arizona Diamondbacks club coming off its best offensive display of the young season.

With their bats seemingly back on track, the Diamondbacks try for a seventh win in nine home meetings with the Phillies as the teams continue a three-game set Tuesday night.

Worley (1-1, 2.37 ERA), who went 11-3 with a 3.01 ERA as a rookie in 2011, seems to have picked up where he left off. The 24-year-old right-hander has been especially good on the road, allowing one run in 13 innings over two starts.

"His confidence level is big," manager Charlie Manuel told the Phillies' official website. "He can definitely rebound when he gets in jams. He can turn it up."

Worley was at his best in Thursday's 2-0 win at San Diego, striking out a career-high 11 over seven innings of four-hit ball.

"It just happened (Thursday)," Worley said of the strikeouts. "I definitely don't try to strike guys out. (Thursday) they were just swinging and missing. I don't know how many punchouts looking there were, but there were a handful."

A repeat performance could be hard to come by against the Diamondbacks (9-8), who after hitting .196 over their previous six games, collected a season-high 16 hits and posted their highest run total of the year during Monday's 9-5 win.

After being slowed by a jammed left thumb, Justin Upton looked like his old self again, going 2 for 3 with his first homer, two runs scored and two RBIs.

"I'm starting to feel better," Upton said. "The doc kind of gave me the go-ahead that it's not going to get any worse, so I'll just play through it. It's been good so far ... Now I'm able to really get in the cage and get some work in and it's kind of paying off."

Upton is batting .348 with three homers in 14 career home games against the Phillies (7-10).

Sitting last in the NL East after winning the last five division titles, Philadelphia struggled against Diamondbacks starter Wade Miley and was held scoreless through eight innings Monday before putting together a five-run ninth. Shane Victorino hit a three-run homer and Carlos Ruiz connected on a solo shot.

"Let's look at the positive," Victorino said. "Let's look at never giving up, putting up a fight that last inning. Getting five runs is a positive thing to look at."

The Phillies appear to have a favorable matchup Tuesday against Josh Collmenter (0-1, 10.22), who continues to stick in Arizona's rotation despite fan clamor for top prospect Trevor Bauer.

After surrendering 11 runs in just seven innings over his first two starts, Collmenter allowed four in 5 1-3 frames of Thursday's 10-2 loss to Atlanta. The soft-tossing right-hander threw a season-high 98 pitches.

"I got back to what I was doing," he told the Diamondbacks' official website. "I finally felt really comfortable on the mound. I felt like I was throwing the ball like I always had, not forcing anything. I was throwing it, not trying to guide it. I'll continue to work on it through my bullpen and on to the next start."

In his only start against Philadelphia, Collmenter gave up two runs, eight hits and struck out a career-high eight over 6 2-3 innings of a 3-2 road win Aug. 16.

Updated April 24, 2012