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A lot went well for the Phillies last night, Halladay was outstanding for the third time in a row and Utley and Howard both homered against a lefty, but the bullpen faltered and the Phils fell 5-3 to the Pirates.

The Phillies started the seventh with a 3-1 lead. Bastardo allowed a solo homer in the seventh that cut the lead to one. Adams started the eighth and allowed all four of the men he faced to reach base, which led to two more Pirate runs. Horst allowed a run in the ninth as Pittsburgh got some help from a slightly flukey two-out triple.

Pittsburgh starter lefty Wandy Rodriguez came into the game with an 0.56 ERA, having not allowed a home run in his three starts this season. Utley and Howard have both been struggling terribly against lefties, but both hit solo home runs off of Rodriguez to help the Phils to their early lead. It wasn’t enough, though, as the Phils scored three runs or less for the eleventh time in 13 games.

The Phillies are 9-13 on the year after losing 5-3 to the Pittsburgh Pirates last night. The Pirates lead the series two games to one with game four this afternoon.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing a run on one hit and two walks. The hit was a single and he struck out eight.

He has a 1.71 ERA and an 0.62 ratio over his last three starts. Thanks to two terrible starts to start the year, he has a 5.08 ERA for the season.

Starling Marte was the first batter of the game in the top of the first and walked. He stole second before Travis Snider struck out looking for the first out. Andrew McCutchen struck out looking for the second. Marte stole third with Garrett Jones at the plate, but Halladay got Jones looking to leave Marte stranded.

Up 1-0, Halladay set the Pirates down in order in the second.

He struck out two in a 1-2-3 third.

Jones walked with two outs in the fourth and Halladay hit the next batter Walker. Alvarez was next and singled softly into center, scoring Jones to tie the game at 1-1. Halladay struck Martin out looking to leave the runners at first and second.

Up 2-1, Halladay set the Pirates down in order in the fifth and again in the sixth.

Bastardo started the seventh with a 3-1 lead and Alvarez homered to right with one out. 3-2. Martin went down on a ground out for the second out before righty Gaby Sanchez hit for the shortstop John McDonald. Sanchez grounded to Howard to end the frame.

Alvarez came in to the series hitting 125/222/232 for the year. He’s 4-for-8 with two home runs in the set so far.

First home run, or earned run of any kind, that Bastardo has allowed this season in 8 1/3 innings over nine appearances.

Adams started the eighth. Jose Tabata hit for the pitcher Vin Mazzaro and drew a walk to start the inning. Marte moved him up to second with a single. Snider was next and he showed bunt, then swung away and singled to right, scoring Tabata to tie the game at 3-3 with men on first and third. McCutchen walked to load the bases and Horst came in to pitch to the lefty Jones. Righty Brandon Inge hit for Jones and singled to left. Everyone moved up a base and Marte scored to make it 4-3. Walker was next with the bases still loaded and nobody out. He hit a ball to first. Howard came home and Quintero went to first in time to complete the double-play. Alvarez grounded to Utley to leave runners at second and third.

Adams faced four hitters in the game without getting an out. Two singles and two walks. 4.00 ERA and a 1.44 ratio over nine innings in 11 appearances.

Horst returned for the ninth. Barmes singled to left with one and moved up to second on a ground out by Tabata. Marte was next and blooped a ball down the first base line, which went off of Utley’s glove in right for a triple. Barmes scored and it was 5-3. Righty Michael McKenry hit for the pitcher Mark Melancon and flew to left to leave Marte at third.

It would have been a nice play, but Utley usually catches the ball hit by Marte that went for a triple. He had made a long run, but was in position to make an over-the-shoulder basket catch and didn’t come up with the ball. Cost the Phillies a run.

Horst allows a single to the first man he faces in the eighth with the run charged to Adams, but then does a great job to get out of that frame without further damage before allowing a run in the ninth with the help of Marte’s unlikely triple.

He drops his ERA to 6.52 by allowing a run over two innings. Opponents are hitting .342 against him in the early going.

Overall the pen goes three innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits and two walks. Horst threw 27 pitches in the game, Adams 21 and Bastardo 16.

The Phillie lineup against lefty Wandy Rodriguez went (1) Rollins (2) Utley (3) Young (4) Howard (5) Mayberry (6) Brown (7) Revere (8) Quintero. Utley moves up to second in the order with Young third against the lefty. Quintero catches Halladay again.

Rollins started the bottom of the first with a single, but was thrown out by McCutchen as he went for two. It cost the Phils a run, cause Utley was next and he hit a 1-0 pitch out to right, putting the Phils on top 1-0. Young and Howard went down behind Utley.

Brown singled to center with one out in the second. Revere was next and grounded to short with Brown moving up to second and two down. Quintero grounded to first to leave Brown stranded.

Halladay and Rollins both struck out as the Phils went in order in the third.

It was 1-1 when the Phillies hit in the fourth. Young struck out swinging for the first out, but Howard was next and he pounded a hanging 0-2 breaking ball way out to right for a home run, putting the Phils back up at 2-1. Mayberry followed with a walk and moved up to second when Brown hit a routine grounder to Walker at second that was booted for an error. Revere popped to short for the second out and Quintero was walked intentionally to pitch to Halladay with the bases loaded. Halladay struck out swinging to leave them loaded.

I wouldn’t walk Quintero intentionally very often. Howard hit the ball really far. Great to see him homer off the lefty, but that was a really bad pitch.

Rollins doubled down the third base line to start the fifth and Utley followed with a bunt single that put runners on first and third. Young was next and grounded to third. Alvarez fielded and went to second for the first out of the inning. When the throw went to second, Rollins broke for home. Walker took the throw at second and threw home. The ball beat Rollins by a wide margin and he was tagged out for the second out of the frame. Howard lined to first to leave Young at first.

Miserable base-running by Rollins as the Phils fail to score after putting runners on first and third with nobody out.

Revere singled with two outs in the sixth and moved up to third when Quintero followed with a single. With the lefty Rodriguez still on the mound for Pittsburgh, Frandsen hit for Halladay and singled to center, scoring Revere to put the Phils up 3-1 with men on first and second. Righty Vin Mazzaro took over for Rodriguez and got Rollins to ground to second to leave the runners stranded.

Halladay had thrown 95 pitches in the game.

The lead was cut to 3-2 when Mazzaro set the Phillies down in order in the seventh.

Righty Mark Melancon started the eighth with the Pirates leading 4-3. Brown singled with one out, but Revere hit into a double-play behind him.

Righty Jason Grilli started the ninth with Pittsburgh up 5-3. Nix hit for Quintero and flew to right for the first out. Carrera hit for Horst and was hit by a pitch, but Rollins fouled out behind him and Utley struck out swinging to end the game.

Carrera is 1-for-8 with the Phils, but with a .364 on-base percentage thanks to a walk and two hit by pitches.

Rollins was 2-for-5 with a double. He’s 7-for-his-last-17. He hasn’t drawn a walk in his last 42 plate appearances.

Utley 2-for-5 with a long home run off of a lefty. 211/286/464 against lefties for the season.

Young 0-for-4. He actually hit into yet another double-play, although it doesn’t count as an official GDP due to the unusual nature of the play and Rollins’s base-running decision. 4-for-his-last-l7 with four singles.

Howard 1-for-4 with a long home run against a lefty on an 0-2 pitch. 142/182/381 against lefties.

Mayberry 0-for-3 with a walk. 235/297/382 over his last 37 plate appearances.

Brown 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. He came into the game 2-for-his-last-21.

Revere 1-for-4 to up his average to .207. He has one extra-base hit in 93 plate appearances and has walked in about 4.3% of his plate appearances.

Quintero 1-for-2 with a walk. 3-for-his-last-5 with a double and a walk has his line for the year up to 313/353/438.

Lee (2-1, 2.83) faces righty James McDonald (2-2, 4.12) this afternoon. Lee has had one bad start in four tries this year, which came in his most recent outing as he allowed five runs in five frames against the Cards. He’s allowed just 22 hits and four walks over 28 2/3 innings while striking out 23. McDonald has walked 12 over 19 2/3 innings in his four starts. Opponents are hitting just .216 against him, but on-basing .341. Cause he walks everyone, you see.

The Phillies have played two games since Friday, beating the Astros 7-1 behind dominating pitching yesterday after a 15-7 loss to the Rays on Saturday.

The Phils one-hit Houston yesterday. Hamels allowed a run on one hit and one walk over five innings and was followed by four shutout innings from the pen in which the relievers didn’t allow a hit, walked one and struck out six.

Nix homered for the Phils in the game. He second home run of the spring and first in an official spring game. He continued his recent surge with a 2-for-3 day that upped his line to 231/286/346.

Michael Young is also hot and also had two hits. 2-for-3 with a double puts him at 371/405/514.

Freddy Galvis 3-for-4 with a double. 308/325/564. Seven extra-base hits and 11 strikeouts in 39 at-bats. Tied with Fields for second on the team in strikeouts behind Howard. Tied with Frandsen and Howard for the team lead in extra-base hits.

Kratz 1-for-3 with a walk and two RBI. He’s hitting .222.

Frandsen 1-for-5 and hitting 355/375/742. Revere 0-for-3. Mayberry 0-for-2 to drop his line to 225/279/350. Utley is at 167/333/208 after going 0-for-3. Howard was 0-for-3 and struck out twice, dropping his line to 333/357/718.

Ruf left the game after being hit by a pitch, but is, apparently, okay. He’s hitting .188 this spring with a .281 slugging percentage in 32 at-bats despite recent signs of life.

The pitching was fantastic. Hamels allowed a double to the first batter he faced in the bottom of the first, Tyler Greene, and Greene came around to score on a pair of ground outs. That’s the only run or hit Hamels would allow in five innings. He walked just one, dropping his ERA on the day to 0.90 after three starts and ten innings. The start against the Dominican Republic in which he got hammered wasn’t an unofficial outing, so his official numbers are great — 0.90 ERA with an 0.70 ratio and seven strikeouts and one walk in ten frames.

Cloyd, Miner, Horst and De Fratus all threw a scoreless inning after Hamels left. They combined to allow one walk, which Miner issued in the seventh.

Cloyd has been awful this spring, but drops his ERA to 10.80 with the scoreless inning.

Miner has also struggled and also has a 10.80 ERA.

Horst’s ERA drops to 12.00. Ten hits, including four home runs, and three walks over six innings gives him a 2.17 ratio. After striking out two in his frame yesterday he’s struck out four in six innings.

De Fratus drops his ERA to 7.50 after six innings. Seven hits and three walks over six innings gives him a 1.67 ratio. Unlike some of the other relievers who gave up a ton of home runs early (Horst and Valdes especially), De Fratus has yet to allow a home run.

Saturday was a different story as the Rays pounded out 15 runs against Phillie pitching. Lannan, Rosenberg and Bastardo combined to allow 13 runs in five innings. Rosenberg and Bastardo were charged with nine runs and got just three outs between them.

Howard homered, his fourth of the spring.

Brown went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. He’s hitting 432/523/730. If he strikes out in every one of his next 20 plate appearances, he’ll be hitting .281 and slugging .474.

Revere was 3-for-4 with a double in the game. After going 0-for-3 yesterday, he’s at 325/357/375.

Humberto Quintero had three hits. 3-for-4 with three singles and three RBI has him at 300/333/300 (3-for-10 with three singles and a walk).

Lannan started the game. He threw a 1-2-3 first and a 1-2-3 second. Brown made his first error of the spring in the fourth as the Rays scored four times — all four runs were earned despite the error as the Rays got three singles and a two-run homer in the frame. Lannan allowed a leadoff double in the fourth, but got the next three hitters to keep Tampa Bay off the board.

Overall, Lannan went four innings in the game, allowing four runs on five hits without walking anyone. After three starts and five innings he’s thrown to a 9.00 ERA with a 1.44 ratio. The two-run homer that Sean Rodriguez hit off of him in the four-run third is the only home run he’s allowed, but opponents are hitting .286 against him.

Papelbon and Diekman both threw scoreless innings in the game, which is especially welcomed in Papelbon’s case. Papelbon drops his ERA to 27.00 in his first spring appearance that’s been non-terrible. Diekman has struck out ten in six innings while throwing to a 3.00 ERA.

Durbin pitched the sixth and allowed a run on two hits and a walk. He has a 9.00 ERA and a 2.00 ratio after four innings. Opponents are hitting .438 against him.

Bastardo started the seventh. He faced eight hitters and was charged with four runs, only one of which was earned, on three singles and a walk. He hit a batter and another reached on a Mayberry error at first while getting two outs. JC Ramirez took over with two outs and men on first and second and got the final out on a fly ball to left.

Bastardo’s ERA rises to 3.86 after five appearances.

Rosenberg started the eighth. He faced six batters, getting one out, which came on a bunt, and allowed five runs, only four of which were earned due to an error by Martinez at second to start the inning. After the error to start the frame, Rosenberg allowed two singles, a double and a two-run homer. He ends the ugly outing with a 24.30 ERA and a 4.50 ratio. Opponents have hit .571 in his 3 1/3 official spring innings.

Kyle Simon took over for Rosenberg and got the last two outs in the eighth. He faced five batters and was charged with one run, allowing two walks and a single, which upped his spring ERA to 6.00.

The Phillies do not play today.

This article suggests that Aumont, De Fratus, Stutes, Diekman, Horst and Valdes are at the front of a competition for three spots in the pen.

Many transactions. The Phillies released Joe Mather. Mather was 1-for-11 with a walk for the Phils this spring.

Adam Morgan reassigned to Minor League camp, as were JC Ramirez, Kyle Simon, Tommy Joseph, Cody Asche and Michael Martinez.

I appreciate the effort from the Phils, but for me it’s still too little, too late on Martinez.

This article says: “Four players who are on the 40-man roster were optioned to the minors: Pitcher Joe Savery, pitcher Ethan Martin, pitcher Jonathan Pettibone, outfielder Zach Collier. Savery’s option was immediate. The options of Martin, Pettibone and Collier won’t take effect until Monday.”

Game Score is an enormously flawed stat, but looking at the Start Log data for 2012 does help demonstrate part of what was wrong for the Phillies last year.

The average Game Score for a start by a Phillies pitcher in ’12 was 54.2, which is the lowest it has been since 2009. There were only two starters for the Phils in 2012 who posted an average Game Score for the year better than the team’s average of 54.2 — Hamels averaged 59.74 in his 31 starts and Lee averaged 58.93 in his 30. Halladay, notably, joined Worley, Blanton, Kendrick, Valdes, Cloyd and Rosenberg in the group of starters under the team’s 54.2 average.

In 2011, Halladay, Hamels and Lee all averaged Game Scores above 60.

The Phils had six games in 2012 in which their starter threw to a Game Score better than 80. Here are the teams six best starts for 2012 by Game Score:

April 5, Halladay 83. Phillies beat the Pirates 1-0 on Opening Day as Halladay allows two hits and no walks over eight shutout innings.

April 18, Lee 85. By Game Score, this is the second-best start of the year for the Phillies in 2012. Lee strikes out seven in ten shutout innings. Bastardo started the bottom of the eleventh in a scoreless tie and the Giants got an unearned run on two singles and a Wigginton error.

May 3, Blanton 87. Best start of the year for the Phillies by Game Score. Blanton throws a complete-game, three hit shutout and the Phils top the Braves 4-0. He threw just 88 pitches in the game.

August 7, Hamels 83. Best start of the year for Hamels as he throws a complete game, allowing five hits and no walks while striking out six. Howard hits a two-run homer in the top of the first as the Phils score three runs on their way to a 3-0 win over Atlanta.

August 10, Halladay 82. The only pitcher to make two starts with Game Scores over 80, Halladay allowed a run on two hits and no walks while striking out eight as the Phils topped the Cardinals 3-1, breaking a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run shot by Utley.

August 19, Kendrick 82. The third Game Score of 80 plus in a 12-day period for the Phils. Kendrick makes his best start of the year, allowing three hits and a walk over eight shutout innings while striking out seven. The Phillies score five runs charged to Randy Wolf in the first three innings and roll to an 8-0 win.

For the Phillies it was their first season since 2008 in which they didn’t get a start with a Game Score better than 90.

In 2011, Lee threw a complete-game shutout of the Nats on April 14, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out 12 and posting a Game Score of 92.

Halladay threw a perfect game on May 29, 2010 with a Game Score of 98.

There were two starts with a Game Score above 90 in 2009. On August 19, Lee struck out 11, walked none and allowed two singles in a complete game against the Snakes. The Phils won 8-1 and Lee’s Game Score was 92. On September 1, Hamels allowed two hits and a walk while striking out nine in a complete game shutout as the Phils topped the Giants 1-0. 91 Game Score in that start for Hamels.

This Q&A from the Phillies web site speculates that Michael Young could play some first base against lefties this year if Howard continues to struggle against them. Mayberry and Ruf seem like good candidates as well. Mayberry seems like the one of that trio who would not be terrible defensively at the position he was playing (left field, presumably) if he was in the lineup and not at first, which presumably makes it less likely he would be there than Ruf or Young if Howard was on the bench against a lefty.

This suggests that the Phillies and Bastardo have avoided arbitration by agreeing to a one-year, $1.4 million deal.

Article on 22-year-old lefty Adam Morgan here. Morgan threw to a 3.35 ERA in 158 2/3 innings over 27 appearances, 26 of which were starts, between Clearwater and Reading in 2012.

This article discusses the possibility that Michael Young will hit between Utley and Howard in 2013.

This article suggests the Phillies are seriously considering signing Delmon Young.

Update: The Phillies signed Delmon Young to a one-year, $750,000 deal. I would have guessed he would get more money than that. At least on paper, that’s a really good deal for the Phils to land the MVP of last year’s ALCS. No word yet they plan to play on paper next year, though. So brace yourself for the possibility there might be a bump or two ahead.

This says Young could earn as much as $3.5 million if all incentives are reached.

Young earned $6.75 million in 2012.

The Phillies went 12-18 in Cliff Lee’s starts last year, which was odd given that Lee was in the top ten in the NL in ERA, ratio, strikeouts and WAR for pitchers. While Lee was off his outstanding 2011 pace, he was still very good and a lot had to go wrong for the Phillies in his starts for them to go 12-18. A lot did.

Here are some of the lowlights:

• The Phillies scored 3.60 runs per game in the games started by Lee and 4.36 in the games he did not start. They scored a total of three runs in the first three games he started in 2012 and a total of three runs in the last three games he started in 2012 and the Phils went 0-6 in those games. 3.60 runs per game of offense in their starts is the worst mark for any starting pitcher who started more than one game for the team in ’12 (although Worley was close behind at 3.61 runs of offense per game he started).
• The Phillies went 10-11 in the 21 games in which Lee delivered a quality start. In those 21 games he threw to a 1.86 ERA with an 0.97 ratio. The Phillies went 52-26 in quality starts that were made by any pitcher other than Lee.
• The bullpen pitched to a 4.82 ERA with a 1.43 ratio in the 30 games that Lee started. In the 132 games that he didn’t start, the bullpen pitched to a 3.79 ERA with a 1.27 ratio.

So Lee was good, the offense was bad, the bullpen was bad and even when Lee pitched well the Phillies didn’t win. There’s got to be more than a little plain old bad luck in there as well. You wouldn’t expect your team to go 10-11 in the games where their starting pitcher throws to a 1.86 ERA and a ratio under one.

Seven of the 18 games the Phillies lost that Lee started were one-run games.

The Phillies were 4-12 in the first 16 games that Lee started. Over those 16 starts, the Phils managed to lose a game in which Lee threw 10 shutout innings, another in which he struck out 12 while allowing two runs over 7 2/3 innings and a third in which he allowed a run on two hits and a walk over eight frames.

That’s not to say Lee excelled at all times during those first 16 starts. That simply wasn’t the case. Most notably, from June 10 to June 29 (outings 10 to 13 on the year), Lee made four starts bad starts in a row, throwing to a 7.30 ERA in those outings and puffing his ERA on the year from 2.92 to 4.13. After June 29, Lee pitched to a 2.44 ERA over his last 17 starts and the Phils went 9-8 in those games.

Bastardo filed for arbitration yesterday.

The Nats appear to have agreed to a deal with right-handed reliever Rafael Soriano that will pay Soriano $28 million over the next two years. Soriano has been very good in two of the last three years.

This suggests that the Phillies may have interest in right-handed pitcher Brandon Webb. It doesn’t suggests that Webb has become an outfielder. Now 33, Webb had six good years with the Diamondbacks from 2003 to 2008, throwing to a 3.24 ERA over 198 appearances, 197 of which were starts. He has been slowed by shoulder problems since, throwing just 16 innings between the majors and minors since the start of 2009.

The Phillies signed Juan Cruz to a minor league deal. Love this move. I’ve always been a huge fan of Cruz. I forget why, cause his results haven’t been especially good and he walks too many hitters to be consistently successful. Cruz is a 34-year-old right-handed pitcher with a 4.05 ERA and a 1.41 career ratio in 655 innings over 13 years. He’s had several miserable years, including 2003, 2005 and 2009. Over the last three years, he’s made 104 appearances, all in relief, and thrown to a 3.41 ERA with a 1.51 ratio. In 89 2/3 innings, he’s walked 51. His walk rate for his career is 4.8 batters per nine innings. The years when he’s been good he still walked a ton of people, just didn’t allow many hits.

In the most recent post, I took a guess at the hitters who might start the year with the Phillies as well as the guys contending for the other spots. Here’s today’s guess about the pitchers:

Lannan and Bastardo are the guys I feel least sure of among the eight pitchers I have on the team. But I think they both start the year on the staff with Lannan serving as the fifth starter. Halladay, Hamels, Lee, Kendrick, Papelbon and Adams seem like locks if they are healthy, although I think it’s possible, but unlikely, that Kendrick could be pitching out of the pen at the start of the year.

If those eight guys did make the opening day roster for the Phils, it would leave the pitching staff with four open slots (assuming the team starts the year with 12 pitchers).

Of those four spots, one should go to a long man, or at least someone who could pitch more than one inning, and at least one other would go to a lefty.

The Phillies have a lot of options when it comes to the second lefty in the pen. Horst and Valdes were both very good in 2012 and I think it’s possible they both make the team to start the year. If it’s just one of them, I’d give Horst an advantage over Valdes. I think Horst is pretty close to a lock to start the year with the team.

I think the issue of who will be the long man out of the pen is more complicated. Kendrick is the guy best-suited for that role, but the Phillies would likely prefer to have him pitch out of the rotation, coming off of a 2012 in which he threw to a 2.43 ERA over his last ten starts. Cloyd, Ethan Martin or Jonathan Pettibone seem like the candidates to make the team that are mostly likely to be able to give the Phillies more than one inning, but I have a little trouble seeing the Phillies carrying one of them to pitch out of the pen to start the year. My guess at this point would be that the Phillies don’t have a true long man out of the pen to start the year.

So if Horst takes one of the four open spots, that leaves the Phils with three.

The guy I feel next strongest about is Aumont, given the combination of his upside and some promising results in 2012. I’ll slot him into the tenth spot.

I think it’s really wide open after that. At this point I’ll take Valdes, based on his impressive 2012, for the eleventh slot. Beyond that I see it as close to a toss-up between Stutes and De Fratus as front-runners for the final spot. Stutes is coming off of a significant injury that sidelined him for much of 2012 and both should contribute to the team this year. Stutes helped the Phils a lot in 2011 and De Fratus has had several very impressive years in the minors in a row.

I’ll pick De Fratus for the twelfth spot.

So that gives the Phils 12 pitchers — Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Kendrick, Lannan, Papelbon, Adams, Bastardo, Horst, Aumont, Valdes and De Fratus. Five starters, seven relievers. Three lefties out of the pen and no long man in relief.

If that’s the staff heading into 2013, I expect we’ll all feel a whole lot more comfortable with the pitching than we do with the hitting to start the year.

This article from the Phillies web site adds Michael Cuddyer to the list of players the Phils might be pursuing that includes Hairston, Wells and Soriano.

This article suggests that if the outfield situation stays the same, we may see Brown getting a chance to be the everyday guy in right field to start the year with a platoon in left that includes some combination of the lefty Nix and righties Ruf and Mayberry. Mayberry seems like he should be a candidate to get some at-bats at first base against left-handed pitching as well.

There are a bunch of problems in left if that proves to be the case. One is that it’s hugely unlikely that Laynce Nix is going to be able to take all or maybe even most of the at-bats against righties in left field in 2013. Nix is 32 and has never gotten more than 400 plate appearances in a season. Phillie left fielders are going to get around 480 plate appearances against right-handed pitching in 2013. Nix has never had more than 321 plate appearances against righties in a season. So it seems likely that some parts of that platoon would be hitting a lot against righties. I don’t think you want to see a whole lot more of Mayberry hitting against righties given his 229/291/335 line against them in 2012. We’ll see on Ruf. He was 5-for-17 against righties last year with a home run.

The other important problem with Nix as the left-handed part of a platoon in left is that Nix, despite his left-handedness, isn’t exactly a fabulous hitter against right-handed pitching anyway. His career line against righties is 253/297/447. Last year he got just 117 plate appearances against righties, but put up a 248/316/390 line. So Nix probably couldn’t completely man a left-handed platoon in left anyway and if he could, you might not want him to.

Darin Ruf homered twice last night, but it wasn’t enough for the Phillies as they fell to the Nats 4-2.

Rosenberg came up with a solid effort, getting the start in what was sure to be a bullpen game for the Phils. He pitched well and left after four frames with the score tied at 1-1. The bullpen wasn’t real good after that, though. Lindblom and Bastardo both struggled and the Phils were lucky they combined to allow just three runs over the two innings that they threw.

Ruf’s pair of solo shots accounted for all of the runs the Phillies scored in the game.

The Phillies are 81-80 on the year losing to the Washington Nationals 4-2 last night. The loss snaps a three-game win streak for the Phils. They are in third place in the NL East, 16 games out of first, and have been eliminated from playoff contention.

Rosenberg got the start for the Phillies and went four innings, allowing a run on three hits and two walks. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a double. He struck out three and dropped his ERA on the year to 6.12.

He struck out Tyler Moore in a 1-2-3 bottom of the first.

Adam LaRoche walked to start the second and moved to second when Chad Tracy followed with a single. Rosenberg struck Mark DeRosa out swinging for the first out before Roger Bernadina walked to load the bases. Rosenberg struck Sandy Leon out swinging for the second out and got the pitcher Tom Gorzelanny on a ground ball to third to leave the bases loaded.

Two walks and a single in the frame, but Rosenberg gets out of it with the help of two big strikeouts. No run for the Nats with one out and a man on third as he gets Leon swinging 0-2.

Rosenberg set the Nats down in order in the third.

The Phillies led 1-0 when LaRoche doubled off of Rosenberg to start the fourth. Tracy moved LaRoche up to third with a ground out before Roger Bernadina singled to left, scoring LaRoche to tie the game at 1-1. Rosenberg picked Bernadina off of first to end the inning.

Diekman started the fifth and gave up a leadoff single to Leon. Switch-hitter Danny Espinosa hit for the pitcher Christian Garcia and struck out swinging for the first out. Steve Lombardozzi was next and grounded to third with Leon forced at second for the second out. Bryce Harper was next and moved Lombardozzi to third with a single to right. Harper stole second before Diekman struck Moore out swinging 3-2 to leave the runners at second and third.

Diekman allows two hits in the frame, but puts up a zero. He’s been charged with one run in six innings over nine appearances since the start of September, but with a 1.83 ratio. He’s walked five in six innings.

Lindblom started the sixth. LaRoche was the first batter he faced and the lefty hit a 1-0 pitch out to right, putting Washington up 2-1. Tracy walked and moved to second when DeRosa followed with a single. Bernadina popped out to Frandsen for the first out before Lindblom hit Leon with a pitch, loading the bases for righty Eury Perez. Perez grounded to short with Martinez coming home to force Tracy for the second out. With the bases still loaded, Mayberry singled into center, moving everyone up a base and plating DeRosa to extend the Washington lead to 3-1. Righty Kurt Suzuki hit for the pitcher Zach Duke and grounded to short to end the inning.

Not a good inning for Lindblom, who faces eight hitters and allows two singles, a home run, a walk and hits a batter. He was lucky to only allow two innings in the frame.

Over his last two appearances, Lindblom has allowed three runs on five hits and two walks over 1 1/3 innings.

For the year, Lindblom has a 4.96 ERA and a 1.50 ratio when not pitching in Dodger Stadium. He threw 25 2/3 innings in Dodger Stadium this year, allowing three runs. All three of the runs came on a solo homer.

Horst struck out LaRoche and Tracy in a 1-2-3 seventh.

Horst hasn’t allowed a hit or a walk over his last three appearances, striking out four over 2 2/3 innings. He was pitching for the second day in a row.

Bastardo started the eighth with the Phillies down 3-2. The Nats quickly loaded the bases with nobody out — DeRosa doubled, Bernadina was hit by a pitch and Leon walked. Perez was next and again grounded to short. Martinez again fielded and came home for the force, this time getting DeRosa for the first out. Lombardozzi was next and flew to center for the second out. Bernadina tagged and scored from third. 4-2. Righty Ian Desmond hit for the pitcher Tyler Clippard and flew to Brown in right to leave the runners at first and second.

Like Lindblom in the sixth, Bastardo was fortunate to allow as few runs as he did. Washington loads the bases with nobody out and winds up scoring just one.

Bastardo came into the game having not been charged with a run over 4 1/3 innings in his last six appearances.

The bullpen went four innings in the game, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks while striking out four. Lindblom and Bastardo both didn’t pitch well, but were able to limit the damage.

Horst threw 14 pitches in the game and has thrown two days in a row. Lindblom threw 24 pitches last night. Bastardo 19 and Diekman 17. Rosenberg surely cannot go today after 54 pitches over four innings.

The Phillies lineup against lefty Tom Gorzelanny went (1) Frandsen (2) Mayberry (3) Utley (4) Wigginton (5) Ruf (6) Brown (7) Kratz (8) Martinez. Martinez continues to play short with Rollins sidelined with a sore calf. Wigginton at first against the lefty with Howard down. Ruf hits fifth and plays left. Kratz catches with Ruiz likely to go in this afternoon’s finale.

Frandsen and Mayberry struck out back-to-back to start the top of the first before Utley drew a walk. Wigginton moved Utley up to third with a single, but Ruf struck out swinging to leave the runners at the corners.

Timing, Darin, timing.

Kratz walked with one out in the second, but Martinez grounded into a double-play behind him.

Frandsen doubled with one out in the third. Mayberry was next and hit a ball that DeRosa didn’t handle at short for an error, putting runners on the corners with one down for Utley. Utley hit a ball to first. LaRoche fielded and came home, where Frandsen was caught up and eventually tagged out for the second out. With two down and runners on second and third, Wigginton struck out swinging to end the frame.

Nothing for the Phils after putting men on first and third with one out.

Ruf led off the fourth and hit a 2-2 pitch out to left, putting the Phils up 1-0. Brown and Kratz went down before Martinez singled to left. Righty Christian Garcia came in to pitch to Rosenberg and got him on a popup to Tracy at third in foul territory.

It was 1-1 when Garcia set the Phillies down in order in the fifth.

Lefty Zach Duke started the sixth and walked the leadoff man Wigginton. Ruf struck out for the first out before Brown moved Wigginton to second with a single. Kratz lined softly to short for the second out. Martinez hit a ball back up the middle and off the pitcher’s glove for a single that loaded the bases. Ruiz hit for Diekman and grounded to short to end the frame.

Frandsen doubled to left off of righty Ryan Mattheus to start the seventh with the Phils down 3-1. Mayberry struck out, Utley struck out and Wigginton flew to left to leave him at second.

Nice to see Frandsen, who has been pounding lefties, double off of the righty.

Ruf led off the eighth and homered to left off of righty Tyler Clippard on an 0-2 pitch, cutting the Washington lead to 3-2. Kratz singled with one out in the frame, but Martinez and Orr went down behind him to leave him at first.

Tyler Clippard is a good right-handed pitcher and Ruf homers off of him down 0-2 in the count. Clippard has really struggled of late, throwing to an 8.76 ERA over his last 13 appearances, but that’s still impressive.

Righty Drew Storen set the Phillies down in order in the ninth. Nix hit for Bastardo and grounded to short to end the game.

Frandsen 2-for-5 with two doubles. 4-for-his-last-9.

Mayberry 0-for-5 and struck out twice. 3-for-his-last-36 with a double and 13 strikeouts.

Utley 0-for-3 with a walk. 1-for-his-last-10.

Wigginton 1-for-3 with a walk. 4-for-his-last-11 with a walk.

Ruf 2-for-4 with two strikeouts and two solo homers. 11-for-31 on the year with six extra-base hits, including three home runs, and nine RBI. Ten strikeouts and one walk, which was intentional, in 33 plate appearances.

Brown 1-for-4. 200/293/340 against lefties for the year.

Kratz 1-for-3 with a walk. 181/224/292 over his last 76 plate appearances.

Martinez 2-for-4 with two singles. 11-for-his-last-33 with three doubles.

Lee (6-8, 3.12) faces righty Edwin Jackson (9-11, 4.13) this afternoon. Lee has an 0.93 ERA in his ten starts since the end of July. Jackson has allowed 16 home runs to left-handed batters on the season, which is a lot. Rollins, who almost surely won’t play in the game, is 4-for-6 against him this year with two homers.