(My Sportsbook) - The Philadelphia Phillies and San Francisco Giants wrap up their three-game series tonight at SBC Park, as the teams meet for the final time this season.

The Phillies have won four of the five meetings between the clubs this season.

Philadelphia, which continues its 12-game road trip, leads the Houston Astros by one-half game in the wild card race, while Florida is just one game out. The Phillies are also just 3 1/2 games behind the Atlanta Braves for the top spot in the NL East.

On Tuesday, Ryan Howard ended 4-for-5 with a solo homer and three runs batted in to propel the Phillies past the Giants, 10-2. Howard also scored three times and Pat Burrell went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored for the Phillies, who have won three of four and five of their last eight games.

Vicente Padilla (7-11) picked up the win, allowing two runs and three hits in eight strong innings. He retired 14 consecutive batters at one point and yielded two runs or less for the seventh time in his last nine starts.

Randy Winn, Omar Vizquel and Todd Linden each had doubles to account for all three of San Francisco's hits. The Giants have lost four of their last six games overall.

Brett Tomko (7-14) was touched for five runs in three innings of work in Tuesday's loss. It was the fourth consecutive loss for Tomko.

San Francisco still has a chance in the weak NL West. Despite being 15 games under .500, the Giants are seven games behind the division- leading San Diego Padres.

Philadelphia sends veteran Cory Lidle to the mound tonight. He is 1-4 in his last seven starts and has worked more than five innings just once during that stretch.

The 33-year-old Lidle is 0-3 with a 4.33 ERA lifetime against San Francisco. The righthander is 6-5 with a 3.66 ERA away from home this season and was credited with his only complete game of the year on the road. He will be making his 26th start of the season.

The Giants counter with 25-year-old righty Brad Hennessey, who has lost two straight decisions and will be making his 14th start of the year. He is 1-1 with a 9.00 ERA in his career against the Phillies, and is 1-2 with a 6.10 ERA at SBC Park this season.

San Francisco, which will also host the Mets and Rockies on the current stand, is just 26-34 at home this year.

Philadelphia, which will also visit the Arizona Diamondbacks, New York Mets and Washington Nationals on the swing, is 28-31 as the visitor this year.

This is the second trip to the west coast for Philadelphia this month. The Phillies won two of three in Los Angeles from August 9-11, then swept three from San Diego from August 12-14.