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The Phils scored just five runs in their double-header with the Marlins yesterday, but thanks to some outstanding work from their starting pitchers it was enough to get a sweep. Kendrick threw five strong innings in the day game in his first start since August 24. Lee was brilliant in the night game, but lost his complete-game shutout when Jose Lopez tied the game with a homer on an 0-2 pitch with two outs in the ninth. The Phils won it in the tenth.

The Phils also got four shutout innings from the pen in Kendrick’s game, although the relievers didn’t pitch particularly well, allowing six hits and three walks over four frames.

It’s going to take some good pitching to get the Phils some wins these days — they have scored a total of 14 runs over their last seven games.

The night game of the double-header saw the return of Chase Utley to the starting lineup. He and Rollins started the same game for the first time since August 21.

The Phils won the day game of the double-header 3-1. RBI-doubles by Pence and Ibanez put them up 2-0 in the bottom of the first. Kendrick gave up a solo homer to Logan Morrison in the top of the fifth, the first hit he had allowed, cutting the lead to 2-1. Polanco walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh to extend the lead to 3-1. The Fish loaded the bases in the eighth and put their first two runners on in the ninth, but Lidge and Madson kept them off the board.

Bastardo had yet another worrisome outing in the game. He started the eighth and faced three batters, getting one out and allowing a double and a walk. Over his last four appearances, eight of the 11 batters that Bastardo has faced have reached base on three hits and five walks. That’s a problem for a Phillies team with no other left-handed relief options and only one lefty in the pen when Bastardo is pitching well.

The Phils won the night game 2-1 on a walkoff double to the gap in left-center by Howard in the bottom of the tenth.

The Phillies are 97-51 on the year after beating the Florida Marlins 2-1 last night in the second game of a day/night double-header. The Phils sweep the double-header and are in first place in the NL East, 12 games ahead of the Braves. The Phils won 97 games in 2010, but only two teams in the history of the organization (’76 and ’77) have won more than 97.

Cliff Lee got the start for the Phillies in the night game and allowed a run over nine innings on five hits. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, a double and a home run. He struck out 12 and didn’t walk a batter.

In the first he got Emilio Bonifacio on a ground ball to second for the first out before Bryan Petersen doubled to right. Mike Stanton was next and Lee hit him with a pitch, putting men on first and second. Jose Lopez flew to left for the second out and Omar Infante struck out swinging to leave both runners stranded.

Donnie Murphy singled to start the second. Lee struck Matt Dominguez out for the first out and got Brett Hayes to ground into a double-play behind him.

Pitcher Alex Sanabia led off the third and struck out looking. Bonifacio flew to center for the second out and Petersen lined softly to short.

Lee got the first two in the fourth before Infante singled to center. He struck Murphy out swinging 0-2 to leave Infante at first.

Dominguez started the fifth with a single, but Lee struck out Hayes trying to hit and Sanabia trying to bunt for the first two outs. Bonifacio grounded to second for the third out.

Lee struck out Stanton and Lopez in the sixth.

Up 1-0, he set the Marlins down in order in the seventh.

Righty Gaby Sanchez hit for Hayes and grounded to second for the first out in the eighth. John Buck hit for the pitcher Steve Cishek and struck out for the second. Bonifacio struck out looking 0-2 for the third.

Lee struck out Petersen for the first out in the ninth. Stanton was next and ripped a line drive to left, but Ibanez made a fantastic diving catch for the second out. Lee got ahead of Lopez 0-2 and made a terrible pitch, a high fastball that Lopez hit out to left, tying the game at 1-1. Infante grounded to second for the third out.

Schwimer started the tenth for the Phils. He struck Murphy out for the first out before Dobbs hit for Dominguez. Schwimer got the lefty Dobbs on a popup to Martinez for the second out. Lefty Logan Morrison hit for the pitcher Edward Mujica and Morrison struck him out looking 1-2.

That’s the best of Schwimer’s seven career appearances and it came at a good time. He threw 15 pitches in the game.

The Phillies lineup against righty Alex Sanabia went (1) Rollins (2) Mayberry (3) Utley (4) Pence (5) Ibanez (6) Gload (7) Ruiz (8) Orr. Golly. Victorino on the bench with Mayberry in center and hitting second. Utley back to play second and hit third. Gload plays first with Howard on the bench. Orr at third with Polanco watching.

Mayberry singled with one out in the bottom of the first, but Utley and Pence both flew out behind him.

Gload singled with one out in the second and took second on a wild pitch. He was left there when Ruiz flew to left and Orr struck out swinging.

The Phils went in order in the third on fly balls by Lee, Rollins and Mayberry, all to center.

Utley, Pence and Ibanez all struck out in the fourth.

Gload singled to left to start the fifth and Ruiz flew to right behind him. Orr was next and hit a ball hard that was knocked down by the pitcher Sanabia. Sanabia picked up the ball and threw to second, forcing Gload for the second out with Orr safe at first. Lee moved Orr up to second with an infield single, but Rollins popped to the third baseman Dominguez in foul territory to end the inning.

Mayberry led off the sixth and hit a 2-0 pitch out down the left field line for a homer that put the Phils up 1-0. Utley grounded to short for the first out before Pence doubled to right. Ibanez moved Pence to third with a ground out to first, but Gload struck out swinging to leave him stranded.

The Phils went in order in the seventh.

Utley singled with two outs in the eighth, but Pence struck out swinging behind him to leave him at first.

The game was tied at 1-1 when the Phillies hit in the bottom of the ninth. Ibanez and Ruiz both struck out as the Phils went in order.

Righty Burke Badenhop started the tenth for the Fish and couldn’t throw strikes. He walked Martinez on four pitches and threw three straight balls to Howard before finally getting one over. Howard hammered his 3-1 pitch to the gap in left-center and the ball landed on the warning track. Martinez raced around to score, giving the Phils a 2-1 win.

Howard breaks out of an 0-for-15 slump with a huge swing to win the game.

Rollins was 0-for-4 in the game with a strikeout. 1-for-5 in the double-header. 3-for-his-last-13 with three singles.

Mayberry 2-for-4 with his 14th home run. He has a .615 slugging percentage since the All-Star break, which is the best on the team. There are 148 NL players who have at least 100 plate appearances in the second half — Mayberry’s .615 slugging percentage is fifth-best (although he just barely makes the cut with 118 plate appearances).

Utley 1-for-4. 2-for-5 with two singles in the double-header.

Pence 1-for-4 with a double and two strikeouts. He could probably use some rest before it’s all over, too.

Ibanez 0-for-4 and struck out twice. 2-for-8 with a double in the double-header. 289/347/467 so far in September.

Gload 2-for-4 with a strikeout. That’s just the second time this year he has had more than one hit in a game. He’s 6-for-his-last-15 (.400). Just two walks in 100 plate appearances for the year.

Ruiz 0-for-4 with a strikeout. 1-for-5 on the day. 361/430/470 over his last 94 plate appearances.

Orr 0-for-3 and struck out twice. 0-for-6 with four strikeouts in the double-header. 2-for-his-last-19.

Vance Worley (11-2, 2.92) faces lefty Jaime Garcia (12-7, 3.68) tonight. Garcia started against the Phillies on May 17 and held them to an unearned run on five hits and walk over eight innings. The Phillies are 14-1 in the last 15 games that Worley has started. He’s thrown to a 4.34 ERA in his first three starts in September and opponents have hit .307 against him.

The Phils completed their series with the Brewers this weekend, taking two of the final three games to take three of four in the series. The series concludes a stretch of seven games against two of the National League’s best teams in which the Phils went 6-1.

On Friday the Phils won game two of the series 5-3. Howard hit a three-run homer in the top of the first to put the Phils up 3-0, which is how it stayed until the seventh. In the seventh, RBI-singles by Ibanez and Ruiz extended the lead to 5-0. Howard didn’t allow a run until the bottom of the seventh, when a leadoff double by Casey McGehee led to a run on a sac fly by Yuniesky Betancourt, cutting the lead to 5-1. Bastardo started the ninth and allowed the only two batters he faced to reach on single and a walk. Both came in to score after Madson took over for Bastardo, but the Phils held on for the win.

Over his last three appearances, Bastardo has now faced eight batters. Six of them have reached base on two hits and four walks.

Saturday the Phils won 3-2 in ten innings. Pence put the Phils up 1-0 with a home run in the top of the first, but the Brewers tied it up in the bottom of the second on an RBI-single by Betancourt. Lee gave up a second run in the fourth when Ryan Braun led off with a single, Prince Fielder followed with a double and Braun came in on a ground out by Casey McGehee to put the Brewers up 2-1. Polanco tied things up at 2-2 with a two-out homer to center in the fifth. Ibanez led off the tenth with a double and Ruiz tried to bunt him to third, but LaTroy Hawkins threw the ball away and Ibanez scored to put the Phils up to stay at 3-2. Lidge, Stutes and Madson combined to throw three scoreless innings in the game after Lee held the Brewers to two runs over seven innings.

The Phils lost yesterday’s game 3-2, dropping a game started by Worley for the first time in 15 outings.

The Phillies are 94-49 on the year after falling to the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2 yesterday afternoon. The Phils take two of the last three games in the series and three of four in the set overall. After a win on Saturday the Phillies were 46 games over .500 for the first time in the history of the organization. They are in first place in the NL East, 12 games ahead of the second-place Braves.

Worley got the start for the Phillies and went 6 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits and a walk. Four of the hits went for extra-bases, all doubles. He struck out seven.

Corey Hart led off the bottom of the first with a single and Nyjer Morgan bunted him to second with the first out. Braun grounded to second for the second out with Hart moving up to third. Worley struck Fielder out looking 3-2 to leave Hart at third.

Worley walked Rickie Weeks to start the second, but struck Taylor Green out behind him for the first out. Betancourt moved Weeks to second with a single to left and a wild pitch by Worley allowed the runners to take second and third. Jonathan Lucroy grounded to second, with Orr going to Howard for the second out as Weeks scored (1-0) and Betancourt moved up to third. The pitcher Yovani Gallardo grounded to short to end the inning.

Morgan doubled to right with one out in the third and moved up to third on a ground out by Braun. Fielder popped to Martinez at short for the third out.

Worley hit Weeks with his first pitch in the bottom of the fourth, but got Green, Betancourt and Lucroy in order behind Weeks.

Gallardo doubled to right on a ball that Pence either didn’t see well or didn’t play well. Worley struck out Hart before Gallardo took third on a balk. Morgan flew to right with Gallardo holding for the second out and Braun flew to Pence deep in right for the third out.

Worley started the sixth up 2-1. He allowed a leadoff single to Fielder, but got the next three hitters in order.

Hart doubled to left with two outs in the seventh. Morgan followed that with a double to right, plating Hart and tying the game at 2-2. Braun was next and singled into right. Morgan scored and Milwaukee led 3-2. Schwimer took over for Worley and struck Fielder out swinging 2-2 to leave Braun at first.

Just the second of five appearances for Schwimer on the year in which he isn’t charged with at least one run.

Herndon pitched the eighth. He walked Craig Counsell with one out, but got the next two hitters behind him.

First appearance for Herndon since his 69-pitch outing on September 4.

Herndon threw 19 pitches and Schwimer five. Nobody in the pen has pitched more than one day in a row.

The Phillies lineup against righty Yovani Gallardo went (1) Victorino (2) Polanco (3) Pence (4) Howard (5) Ibanez (6) Orr (7) Schneider (8) Martinez. Orr at second and Martinez at short with Rollins active but on the bench and Valdez sidelined after hurting his left hamstring stealing a base on Saturday. Schneider catches the day game with Ruiz on the bench.

The Phils went in order in the first.

Howard led off the second with a single, but Ibanez, Orr and Schneider all struck out behind him.

Down 1-0, Worley walked with one out in the third. Victorino was next and he grounded to second with Worley forced at second for the second out. Victorino stole second before Polanco grounded to short to set the Phils down.

Howard and Ibanez struck out as the Phils went in order in the fourth.

Orr struck out swinging on a wild pitch to start the fifth and made it safely to first. Orr stole second as Schneider struck out again for the first out. Martinez moved Orr to third with a ground out, but Worley struck out to leave Orr at third.

Phils waste the leadoff strikeout by Orr.

Victorino led off the sixth and homered to right center to tie the game at 1-1. Polanco and Pence went down behind him before Howard hit a 3-2 pitch out to right-center to put the Phils up 2-1. Ibanez struck out for the third out.

The Phillies went in order in the seventh.

Down 3-2 and with righty Francisco Rodriguez pitching for Milwaukee, Gload hit for Schwimer to start the inning and singled to right. Mayberry ran for Gload at first and Victorino flew to right for the first out. Polanco grounded to third with Mayberry forced at second for the second out. Pence moved Polanco to third with a single, but Howard grounded to second to end the frame.

Gload still has to be replaced by a pinch-runner with his hip after reaching base to start the inning. That costs the Phils a bench player and a good one in this case in Mayberry. The Phils used two pinch-hitters in the ninth and they went 0-for-2. If Rollins can hit they surely would have used him, but I’m not sure they wouldn’t have used Mayberry even against the righty Axford instead of Bowker if Mayberry had been available. He wasn’t.

Righty John Axford started the ninth for Milwaukee with a one-run lead. He struck Ibanez out for the first out before Orr singled to center. Rollins hit for Schneider and struck out swinging for the second out. Martinez was next and drew a walk, pushing Orr to second as the tying run. Bowker hit for Herndon and popped to third to end the game.

Victorino was 1-for-4 with a home run in the game. 3-for-19 in the four-game set with a double and a home run. He’s hitting 295/371/516 for the year but just 204/278/327 so far in September.

Polanco 0-for-4 yesterday. 5-for-18 with a home run in the series. 278/332/343 for the year. His home run in Saturday’s game was his first since June 10.

Pence 1-for-4 with a strikeout yesterday. 7-for-17 in the series with two walks, a double, a triple and a home run. 320/393/551 in 147 at-bats with the Phillies.

Howard 2-for-4 with his 33rd home run of the year. 3-for-8 with two walks and two home runs in the series. 254/348/501 for the year. He has hit seven home runs in his last 59 plate appearances.

Ibanez 0-for-4 and struck out four times. 3-for-11 with a double in the series. 247/293/425 for the year. He’s hitting 201/250/312 away from home this season.

Orr was 1-for-4 and struck out three times. 4-for-9 with a walk in the series. 253/317/293 in 75 at-bats with the Phils for the year.

Schneider was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in his only action in the series. He’s hitting 167/235/259 in 108 plate appearances for the season.

Martinez 0-for-3 with a walk. 2-for-9 with two walks in the series. 209/264/304 on the year.

Oswalt (7-8, 3.72) faces righty Brett Myers (4-13, 4.66) tonight in Houston. Myers saw his ERA shoot up to 4.95 after allowing seven runs to the Rockies in five innings on August 22, but has made three appearances since in which he has allowed just three runs in 16 2/3 innings (one of the appearances was a two-inning relief outing). He has allowed 31 home runs in 189 1/3 innings for the year. Oswalt faced his former team in his first start of the season, holding the Astros to two runs over six innings on April 3. In keeping with the guys-playing-on-the-wrong-team theme, Pence homered off of Oswalt in that game. It’s like an Esher drawing.

It has been a magical season for the Phillies so far in 2011. But not for everyone. Several key players have struggled overall despite the amazing success of the team. Last night two of the guys who have struggled made enormous contributions as the Phils topped the Braves 3-2 on a walkoff single by Gload to complete a three-game sweep.

Oswalt threw seven strong innings in the game for the Phils, throwing in the low 90′s coming off of two worrisome starts in a row. Coming into the outing, Oswalt had thrown to a 4.79 ERA over his last seven outings. He looked great last night, though, especially early as he started the game tossing five shutout innings in which he struck out six.

The Phils hit in the bottom of the ninth with the game knotted at 2-2. With one man out and men on first and second, Manuel called on Gload to hit against righty Peter Moylan and Gload delivered in a big way, ripping a ball down the right field line for a game-winner. It was a huge hit for Gload in a season where he has been slowed by a hip injury — he came into last night’s game just 5-for-his-last-39.

The Phillies are 91-48 after beating the Atlanta Braves 3-2 last night. With the win the Phils complete the three-game sweep of Atlanta and extend their lead over the Braves in the NL East to 10 1/2 games. They are 43 games above .500 for the first time in the history of the organization.

Oswalt got the start for the Phillies and went seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits and four walks. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a double. He struck out seven. Two of his last four starts have been very good.

Oswalt got Michael Bourn on a ground ball to second for the first out of the game. Martin Prado was next and hit a ball to short that Martinez muffed for an error. It put a man on first for Chipper Jones, but Chipper hit a ball back to the mound and Oswalt went to second as the Phils turned two.

Oswalt walked Brian McCann on a 3-2 pitch to start the second. He struck Dan Uggla out swinging for the first out and got Eric Hinske to fly to left for the second. Jason Heyward walked 3-2, though, and the Braves had runners on first and second for Alex Gonzalez. Oswalt struck him out on three pitches, getting him swinging to leave both runners stranded.

Oswalt started the third with a 1-0 lead. He struck out the pitcher Brandon Beachy for the first out and Michael Bourn for the second. Prado grounded to short to end the frame.

Oswalt struck Uggla and McCann both out swinging in a 1-2-3 fourth.

He walked Heyward with one out in the fifth. Gonzalez flew to right for the second out. Beachy hit a ground ball to short. Martinez fielded and looked to flip to Utley for the force, but Utley was already headed for the dugout. Martinez beat Heyward to second for the force to end the frame.

Bourn doubled to center to start the sixth. Prado tried to bunt him to third, but popped it up to Oswalt for the first out. Chipper was next and he singled into center, scoring Bourn to tie the game at 1-1. Oswalt struck McCann out for the second out before walking Uggla. Hinske popped out to Polanco in foul territory to leave both runners stranded.

Heyward started the seventh with a single to center and Gonzalez bunted him to second with the first out. Freeman was next and he singled into center, scoring Heyward to put Atlanta up 2-1. Bourn and Prado both flew to right to leave Freeman at first.

Bastardo started the eighth and Chipper singled to center to start the inning. McCann walked behind Jones, putting men on first and second for Uggla. Uggla hit a ground ball to third. Polanco fielded, stepped on third and threw to second to complete a double-play that left the Braves with two down and a man on first. Righty Matt Diaz hit for the pitcher Eric O’Flaherty and flew to right on a ball that Pence took in foul territory for the third out.

Bastardo keeps the Braves off the board with the help of the big double-play by Polanco, but doesn’t look fantastic. This comes off of his most recent outing on Saturday in which he walked the only two hitters he faced, so four of the last six batters he has faced in his last two outings have reached on three walks and a single. On the plus side, he does have a 1.66 ERA for the year and opponents are hitting .114 against him.

Madson pitched the ninth with the game tied at 2-2. Heyward led off with an infield single and Gonzalez bunted him to second with the first out. Freeman popped to short for the second and Bourn grounded to short to end the frame.

Madson has thrown 7 1/3 shutout innings over his last eight appearances. He was pitching for the second straight day and threw 11 pitches in the game. Bastardo threw 16 pitches.

The Phillies lineup against righty Brandon Beachy went (1) Victorino (2) Polanco (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Pence (6) Ibanez (7) Ruiz (8) Martinez. Martinez at short with Rollins sidelined.

The Phils went in order in the first.

Howard and Pence both struck out to start the second, but Ibanez was next and he hit a 3-2 pitch out to right-center, putting the Phils up 1-0. Ruiz flew to right for the third out.

Martinez and Victorino struck out as the Phils went in order in the third.

Beachy set them down 1-2-3 again in the fourth.

Pence struck out for the first out as the Phils went in order again in the fifth.

The game was tied at 1-1 when the Phillies hit in the sixth. Victorino walked on four pitches with two outs and moved to third when Polanco followed with a single to right. Lefty Eric O’Flaherty took over for Beachy and hit Utley on the helmet with a pitch, loading the bases. Howard struck out swinging at a 2-2 pitch to end the inning and leave the bases loaded.

The original ruling was that Heyward had caught Polanco’s sinking line drive to right, but that was overruled and Fredi Gonzalez was ejected arguing. Looked like the ball was trapped by Heyward.

Down 2-1, the Phils went in order in the seventh.

With lefty Jonny Venters on the mound for the Braves, Mayberry hit for Martinez to start the eighth and singled to right. Valdez hit for Bastardo and bunted Mayberry to second with the first out. Victorino struck out swinging for the second out, but Polanco lined a single to right. Mayberry raced around third and came in to score as Heyward’s throw was way up the third base line, tying the game at 2-2. Francisco hit for Utley, who had been hit in the head with a pitch in the sixth, and drew a walk. Howard struck out swinging to leave the runners at first and second.

Big strikeout for Victorino after Mayberry gets bunted to second, but Polanco picks him up with the RBI-single.

Ibanez walked with one out in the ninth and moved to second when Ruiz followed with a single. With righty Peter Moylan on the mound for the Braves, Gload hit for Madson. He got behind 0-2, but hit a 1-2 pitch past Freeman and down the right field line. Would have been a double, but Ibanez scored to give the Phils a 3-2 win.

Victorino was 0-for-3 with a walk and three strikeouts. 2-for-11 with three walks in the three-game series. 300/379/523 for the year. 196/305/314 over his last 59 plate appearances. He’s high on the list of Phillies who look to me like they could use some rest.

Polanco 2-for-4 with a huge RBI. 5-for-12 in the series and twice hit by a pitch. 278/333/336 on the year. 236/293/270 in 329 plate appearances since the end of April.

Utley 0-for-2 and hit by a pitch. This says that Utley will not fly to Milwaukee. 3-for-12 with a triple and a home run in the series. 262/344/441 for the year. 206/264/363 over his last 110 plate appearances.

Howard was 0-for-4, struck out three times and left five men on base. 3-for-10 with three walks and a home run in the series. 262/368/570 over his last 125 plate appearances with ten home runs. He’s hitting 252/345/491 for the season.

Pence 0-for-4 and struck out twice. 4-for-11 with a walk and two doubles in the series. 308/363/484 for the year. 308/383/523 in 149 plate appearances with the Phillies. He’s now hit to the same .308 average with the Astros and the Phillies, but gotten on base more and hit with more power while with the Phils.

Ibanez 1-for-3 with a walk and a home run, which was the only extra-base hit of the game for the Phils (Gload was denied a double by winning the thing). 4-for-7 with a double, a walk, a home run and four RBI in the series after sitting against a righty in game one. He’s at 247/293/426 for the year. He’s walking in about 6.2% of his plate appearances this season, which is his worst rate since 1998.

Ruiz 1-for-4. 2-for-8 with a walk and two RBI in the series. 280/373/382 for the year. He’s hitting .250 at home and .309 on the road. He’s on-based .377 over his last 1,214 plate appearances.

Martinez 0-for-2 with a strikeout and an error. 0-for-7 with two walks in the series. 209/259/308 for the year.

Cole Hamels (13-7, 2.63) faces lefty Chris Narveson (10-6, 4.26) tonight in Milwaukee. Narveson has pitched well over his last seven outings, throwing to a 2.70 ERA. He hasn’t gone more than 5 1/3 innings in any of his last three starts. Hamels hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his last seven starts. His home runs are up a little of late — he allowed two in his last start and has given up four over his past 33 innings. He only allowed eight in 152 innings to start the season.

Coming off a bizarre weekend in which the Phils suffered from a lack of depth in their pen, Cliff Lee was fantastic last night as the Phils hammered the Braves on their way to a 9-0 win. Lee threw a complete game shutout without allowing a walk or an extra-base hit.

Over his last six starts, Lee has allowed two runs in 48 2/3 innings. In those six starts he has surrendered just 28 hits in 48 2/3 innings.

It was a real nice break for the bullpen, which curiously seemed not to have enough bodies against the Marlins this weekend despite the expanded September rosters. With Kendrick away for the birth of a child, the weirdness started on Saturday. Pitching for the third straight day, Bastardo started the eighth with a 4-3 lead and walked the first two batters he faced. Herndon took over for him and allowed home runs to three of the six batters he faced. The Phils lost that game 8-4. The next day, Herndon threw 69 pitches over 3 2/3 innings and the Phils lost in 14. It’s a little tough to understand why the Phillies simply didn’t have more relievers available for those games. Herndon shouldn’t be throwing 69 pitches in a game, he shouldn’t be doing it the day after he throws 20 pitches and he especially shouldn’t be doing it in September.

The Phillies are 89-48 on the year after pounding the Atlanta Braves 9-0 last night. The Phils remain in first place in the NL East, 8 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta.

Lee got the start for the Phillies and threw a complete game shutout, holding the Braves to five singles. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out six. He threw 100 pitches in the game.

He got Michael Bourn on a ground ball to second to start the game. Martin Prado was next and he grounded to short for the second out before Brian McCann singled to right. Lee struck Dan Uggla out swinging 1-2 to set the Braves down.

Matt Diaz led off the second with an infield single with the Phils up 2-0. Lee got the next three, striking Freddie Freeman out swinging, getting Alex Gonzalez on a fly ball to left and left-handed hitting left fielder Jose Constanza on a grounder to second.

The strikeout of Freeman for the first out of the inning was Lee’s 200th for the season.

Lee struck pitcher Derek Lowe out to start the third and got Bourn and Prado behind him. Bourn hit a hard ground ball to first off the body of Howard, but Howard picked it up and tagged Bourn as he flew past for the second out.

Lee got McCann, Uggla and Diaz in order in the fourth. Diaz hammered a ball to right center, but Victorino took it on the warning track after a long run for the third out.

Up 5-0, Lee struck out Freeman and Constanza in a 1-2-3 fifth. Howard made a long run and a sliding basket catch near the fence in foul territory to retire Gonzalez for the second out.

Up 7-0, he set the Braves down in order in the sixth.

Uggla reached on an infield single with one out in the seventh, but Lee got Diaz to ground into a double-play behind him.

Freeman started the eighth with a single into center, but Gonzalez grounded back to Lee behind him and Lee threw to Martinez at second to start the double-play. Constanza was next and he reached on an infield single. Righty Jack Wilson hit for the pitcher Peter Moylan and Lee got Wilson to ground to third for the third out.

Up 9-0, Lee set the Braves down in order in the ninth. He struck out Bourn, got Prado on a ground ball to short and McCann on a ground ball to second.

The Phillies lineup against righty Derek Lowe went (1) Victorino (2) Polanco (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Pence (6) Mayberry (7) Ruiz (8) Martinez. Martinez plays short with Rollins on the DL and Valdez on the bench. Mayberry in left against the righty with the lefty Ibanez on the bench. Ibanez was 6-for-45 (.133) against Lowe for his career around the time Manuel was figuring out his lineup.

Polanco singled off the glove of Bourn in center with one out in the first and moved to third when Utley followed with a single to right. Howard walked on four pitches and the bases were loaded for Pence. Pence singled to left, scoring Polanco and Utley to put the Phils up 2-0 with men on first and second with one out. Mayberry struck out swinging 2-2 for the second out and Ruiz grounded to third to end the inning.

The Phils went in order in the second.

Howard singled with two outs in the third. Pence grounded to second behind him.

Mayberry walked to start the fourth. Ruiz was next and hit a ball to short that Gonzalez didn’t handle for an error, putting men on first and second with nobody out. Martinez bunted the runners to second and third with the first out. Lee grounded to first with the runners holding for the second, but Victorino picked him up, singling to left to bring both runners in (4-0). Victorino took second as the throw came to the plate and Ruiz slid in safely on a close play. With Polanco at the plate, Victorino stole third and tried to come home when the ball wasn’t handled by McCann, but McCann threw to Lowe covering and Ruiz was tagged out to end the inning.

With one out in the fifth, Utley hit a popup that went unhandled for a triple. Lowe walked Howard intentionally, putting men on first and third for Pence. Pence doubled to right, scoring Utley (5-0) and sending Howard to third. Mayberry walked to load the bases. Ruiz hit the first pitch of his at-bat into center, scoring Howard and Pence (7-0) and moving Mayberry to second. Martinez grounded to first for the second out with the runners moving up to second and third. Lee struck out swinging 1-2 to leave both runners stranded.

Second walk for Mayberry in two plate appearances.

Polanco was hit by a Scott Linebrink pitch with one out in the sixth. He took second on one wild pitch by Linebrink and third on another before Utley flew to center. Polanco tagged and tried to score, but Bourn threw him out to end the inning.

Howard led off the seventh and got ahead of Linebrink 3-0 before hitting a 3-1 pitch out to right center. 8-0. Righty Peter Moylan took over for Linebrink and got Pence, Mayberry and Ruiz in order. Pence hit the ball well to left, but was retired on a leaping catch by Constanza for the first out.

Lee singled off of righty Arodys Vizcaino with one out in the eighth and Victorino walked behind him. Polanco followed with a single to left that scored Lee and put the Phils up 9-0 with one out and men on first and second. Utley flew to center for the second out, with Victorino tagging and moving up to third. Howard flew to center to leave both runners stranded.

Victorino was 1-for-4 with a walk and two RBI in the game. He’s 2-for-his-last-14 and hitting 205/300/341 over his last 50 plate appearances.

Polanco 2-for-4 with an RBI. He’s 6-for-his-last-28 (.214). Of the 83 NL players with 400 plate appearances for the season, his .335 slugging percentage is 81st.

Utley 2-for-5 with a triple. He’s 4-for-his-last-30 (.133).

Howard 2-for-3 with two walks and a home run. He’s 7-for-16 with seven walks and two home runs in the first five games of September.

Pence 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Constanza made a nice play in left to take another hit away from him. Pence was 2-for-his-last-16 coming into the game.

Mayberry 0-for-2 with two walks. 3-for-his-last-21. He’s on-basing .329 for the year and .322 against righties.

Ruiz 1-for-4 with two RBI. 5-for-his-last-14 and 302/392/403 over his last 299 plate appearances.

Martinez was 0-for-3. Of the 181 NL players with 175 plate appearances for the season, his .257 on-base percentage is 179th.

Worley (10-1, 2.87) faces righty Tim Hudson (14-8, 3.05) tonight. Hudson has a 2.27 ERA over his last 16 starts. In two starts against the Phils this year he’s 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA. The Phillies have won 13 games that Worley has started in a row. He’s been a little less impressive his last few times out, throwing to a 4.64 ERA over his last six starts.

Over the weekend, the Phils lost two of three to the Marlins.

On Friday the Phils won the series opener 5-3 to improve to 42 games over .500 for the first time in team history. Oswalt pitched into the seventh inning, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing three runs while striking out seven. Victorino led off the game with a triple and game in to score when Polanco followed with a sac fly, putting the Phils up 1-0. The Fish got the run back in the bottom of the first thanks to a leadoff double by Emilio Bonifacio, tying the game at 1-1. Omar Infante led off the third with a double and came around to score, too, putting Florida up 2-1. The Phils pulled ahead to stay in the fifth. Pence led off and reached on error by Bonifacio and Mayberry followed that with a two-run shot. 3-2 Phils. The Phils loaded the bases without a hit in the top of the sixth before Mayberry’s sac fly plated Utley to make it 4-2. Oswalt gave up a solo homer to Jose Lopez in the bottom of the inning, cutting the lead to 4-3. Victorino led off the seventh with a single and took second on a misplay by Mike Stanton in right, moved to third on a ground out and came in to score on a wild pitch. 5-3. Oswalt left with one out in the seventh. After his exit, Stutes, Bastardo and Madson closed out the game, combining to allow one hit over 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

The Phils lost the second game of the series 8-4 on Saturday. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second on a two-run triple by Valdez, which was followed by an infield single by a hustling Hamels. Hamels allowed a two-run homer to Mike Cameron in the bottom of the second, though, and a solo shot to Stanton in the third that tied the game at 3-3. Hamels drove in another run in the fourth when his two-out single brought Ruiz home from second, putting the Phils back on top 4-3. Bastardo took over for Hamels in the eighth and walked the first two men he faced. Herndon took over for him and gave up a long three-run homer to Gaby Sanchez, which was followed by a solo homer by Cameron and another solo homer by Dobbs and put the Marlins up to stay at 8-4. The Phils allowed five home runs in the game. In the eighth, Bastardo faced two batters and walked them both. Herndon faced six batters and allowed a three-run homer and two solo shots.

On Sunday the Phils lost 5-4 in 14 innings. Bonifacio tripled off of Halladay to start the bottom of the first and came in to score on a single by Infante to put Florida up 1-0. The Phils pulled ahead 2-1 in the top of the second with two runs on three hits and a big throwing error by Dobbs. Florida tied the game up again in the bottom of the third when Sanchez doubled ahead of a Logan Morrison ground ball to first in which Halladay couldn’t handle the toss from Howard when covering first. The Marlins took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth on singles by Bryan Petersen, Buck and Lopez, but the Phils jumped back ahead 4-3 on a two-run single by Howard in the seventh. Schwimer took over for Halladay in the bottom of the seventh and gave up a walk and a double to the first to men he faced. Schwimer managed to limit the damage to one run, with a ground out by Sanchez plating Infante to tie the game at 4-4. It stayed scoreless until the bottom of the 14th, when Herndon walked Cameron with the bases loaded to force in Bonifacio as the winning run.

Herndon threw 69 pitches in relief for the Phillies in the game, walking seven in 3 2/3 innings. The Phillies played the game under protest after a play in the sixth inning in which Pence hit a ball to right field that was originally ruled a double. It appeared a fan reached out to interfere with the ball, the play was reviewed and the call changed to an out. I’d guess the Phils have close to no chance of a successful protest. The Florida fielder (Petersen) was interfered with — the ball wasn’t going to be a home run so they play shouldn’t have been reviewed to start with, but it was close enough to being a home run that it’s reasonable to suggest that was the focus of the review.

There have been some low moments in Phillies history, but yesterday marks one of the high ones. With a 6-4 win over the Reds, the Phils completed a four-game sweep and moved to 41 games above .500, which ties them for the best mark in the history of the organization.

For the only time in the series, the Phillies didn’t get outstanding starting pitching in yesterday’s game. Worley pitched well early, but gave up a three-run homer in the seventh before leaving charged with four runs. The bullpen was very good, though, throwing three shutout frames after he left in which they held the Reds to just one walk and struck out five. The pitching overall held the Reds to six runs in the four-game set, three of which came on one swing — a pinch-hit three-run homer by Chris Heisey off of Worley yesterday.

The Phils outscored the Reds 21-6 in the four game series. Howard and Martinez both homered yesterday. The Phils hit eight long balls in the series — three for Howard and two for Pence with Ibanez, Martinez and Victorino all hitting one.

The Phillies are 87-46 after beating the Cincinnati Reds 6-4 yesterday afternoon. With the win the Phils complete a sweep of the four-game series. They are in first place in the NL East, 7 1/2 games of the second-place Braves. The Phils were also 41 games over .500 in August of 1976.

Worley got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk. Four of the hits went for extra-bases, three doubles and a homer. He struck out seven. Worley allowed two home runs in 62 1/3 innings to start the season. Since then he has allowed five in 42 innings.

Brandon Phillips singled to right to start the bottom of the first. Worley got Edgar Renteria and Joey Votto on a pair of fly balls before Jay Bruce flew to center to leave Phillips at first.

Worley started the second with a 3-0 lead. He walked Juan Francisco on four pitches and Yonder Alonso moved Francisco up to second with a single into center. Worley got out of it, though, striking Drew Stubbs out looking 0-2 for the first out, Ryan Hanigan looking 2-2 and getting the pitcher Mike Leake on a ground ball to third to leave both runners stranded.

Phillips doubled to start the third. Renteria was next and hit a ball to short, which Valdez made a fantastic diving play on, fielding and throwing to first for the first out with Phillips moving up to third. Votto followed with a fly ball to center, deep enough for Phillips to tag and score, cutting the lead to 3-1. Bruce singled to right before Worley struck Francisco out looking to end the inning.

First run allowed by a Phillies’s starting pitcher in the series.

Worley set the Reds down in order in the fourth.

First 1-2-3 inning for Worley and the first time that the leadoff hitter had not reached based. He had thrown 53 pitches through four innings.

Worley got Leake and Phillips to start the fifth before Renteria hit a ball that Ibanez may have misread. It landed for a double. Worley got ahead of Votto 2-0 and struck him out looking 2-2 to end the inning with Renteria at second.

Up 4-1, Worley set the Reds down in order in the sixth.

He started the seventh with a 6-1 lead. Stubbs led off and doubled over Victorino’s head in center. Hanigan moved Stubbs to third with a single. Righty Chris Heisey hit for the pitcher Jeremy Horst and Heisey lined an 0-1 pitch out to right for a three-run homer that made it 6-4. Lidge took over for Worley and struck Phillips out for the first out before walking Renteria. Bastardo took over to face the lefty Votto and got Votto to hit into an inning-ending double-play.

Heisey makes it a game again with the pinch-hit three-run homer. Lidge continues to walk way too many hitters, walking one of the two guys he faces. He has a 1.74 ERA for the year, but has walked ten in 10 1/3 innings.

Bastardo was back for the eighth and struck out the side, getting Bruce , Francisco and Alonso all swinging.

Golly. Bastardo dropped his ERA on the year to 1.38 with 1 2/3 scoreless innings. He has struck out 65 in 52 1/3 innings. This says that the .112 average opponents have hit against him is the best in history for any pitcher who has thrown more than 50 innings.

Madson pitched the ninth. He got Stubbs swinging 1-2 for the first out and Hanigan on a ground ball to third for the second. Righty Ramon Hernandez hit for the pitcher Francisco Cordero and Madson got him on a ground ball to short to end the game.

Madson has thrown two days in a row and threw 14 pitches in the game. Bastardo 18 and Lidge nine.

The Phillies lineup against righty Mike Leake went (1) Victorino (2) Martinez (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Pence (6) Ibanez (7) Schneider (8) Valdez. Schneider catches the day game after a night game. Valdez plays short with Rollins on the DL. Martinez plays third with Polanco on the bench. Ibanez in left against the righty with Mayberry on the bench. Martinez doesn’t really belong hitting second, no matter how many games you’ve won or who is hurt. I assume Manuel does it that way to keep the other players hitting in the same spot in the order, but I think I’d just go with something other than the who can’t hit hitting second.

The Phillies went in order in the first.

Pence doubled to left with one out in the second and Ibanez walked behind him. Schneider was next and he singled to left, scoring Pence to put the Phils up 1-0 with one out and men on first and second. Valdez reached on an infield single to load the bases before Worley singled into center. Ibanez scored from third (2-0) and Schneider tried to score from second but was thrown out by Stubbs for the second out. With men on first and second, Victorino singled into left, scoring Valdez (3-0) and pushing Worley to second. Martinez flew to right to leave both runners stranded.

RBI-single for Worley after Halladay knocked in three runs with a double in game two.

Utley, Howard and Pence went in order in the third.

With the lead cut to 3-1, the Phillies went in order in the fourth.

Victorino singled to right with one out in the fifth. Martinez was next and hit the ball hard, but Votto took the line drive and stepped on first to double-off Victorino and set the Phillies down.

Martinez hit that ball well, just into bad luck.

With one out in the sixth, Howard hit a 1-0 pitch out to right-center, putting the Phils up 4-1. Pence flew to center for the second out before Ibanez hit a ball to first that went under the glove of Votto for a two-base error. Schneider struck out swinging 3-2 to leave Ibanez at second.

Valdez singled off of righty Jared Burton to start the seventh. Worley bunted him to second with the first out. Victorino grounded to second with Valdez moving up to third. Martinez was next and he hit a 3-2 pitch out to right for a two-run homer, putting the Phils up 6-1. Utley and Howard singled back-to-back before Pence grounded to short to leave them on the bases.

Again Martinez hits the ball hard, this time out of the yard.

The Phils went in order in the eighth. With lefty Bill Bray on the mound for the Reds, Ruiz hit for Schneider and flew to left for the second out.

With righty Francisco Cordero pitching for Cincy, Gload hit for Bastardo and singled to left to start the ninth. Mayberry ran for Gload at first, but Victorino, Martinez and Utley all grounded out to keep the Phils off the board.

With Bowker available on the bench, Manuel gives the at-bat to Gload. Gload still being run for on the bases with his hip problem. Gload starts September with a hit after going 1-for-15 in August and coming into the game 3-for-his-last-29.

Victorino 2-for-5 with an RBI. 4-for-16 with three walks, a double and a home run in the four-game series. He’s hitting 307/382/538 for the year.

Martinez 1-for-5 with a two-run homer. He’s 8-for-his-last-52 (154/170/250) and hitting 212/249/312 for the season.

Utley 1-for-5 in the game and 3-for-18 with three singles and a walk in the series. 241/309/330 over his last 123 plate appearances. 272/355/444 for the season.

Howard was 2-for-4 with a home run yesterday and 4-for-18 with three home runs and five RBI in the series. 250/337/490.

Pence 1-for-4 with a double. 5-for-16 with a walk, a double and two home runs in the set. He’s hitting 312/366/492 for the year and 327/398/570 in 123 plate appearances with the Phils.

Ibanez 0-for-3 with a walk. 3-for-8 with a walk and a home run in the series. 240/280/416 for the year. Mayberry pinch ran yesterday and was 1-for-7 with a walk in the series to drop his line on the year to 264/329/514.

Schneider 1-for-3 with an RBI in his only action of the series. He’s hitting 176/248/275 for the year.

Valdez 2-for-4 in the game and 5-for-15 in the series. He’s hitting 247/292/335 for the year. 293/333/483 in 63 plate appearances since the beginning of August.

Oswalt (6-8, 3.77) faces lefty Brad Hand (1-4, 4.08) tonight in Florida. Hand had good numbers for the season before his most recent start, August 8 against the Braves, in which he allowed seven runs in five innings. He was sent back to the minors after that and returns to the Marlins for tonight’s start. He’s walked too many this year, giving up 25 walks in 39 2/3 innings. He’s especially walked a ton of right-handed batters — righties are hitting .211 against him for the year but on-basing .351 (he’s walked 24 of the 136 righties he has faced). Oswalt didn’t look good in his most recent start, which came against Florida a week ago today. He allowed six runs on 12 hits and a walk over 5 2/3 innings. John Buck hit a grand slam off of him in the sixth.

Cole Hamels returned from the DL looking fantastic last night. He held the Reds to a run on two hits over six innings while striking out seven as the Phils won 3-2. One of the two hits, a triple that led to the only run he allowed, came when the outfielder who was about to catch the ball on the warning track in right slipped and fell.

Victorino broke a 1-1 tie with two-run homer in the eighth.

The pen struggled in the bottom of the eighth last night as Stutes, with the help of some bad defense, allowed a run on three hits that got the Reds within one. For Stutes it was the eighth time in his last 16 appearances that he had been charged with at least one run. Over those 16 games he has thrown to a 5.66 ERA. You have to wonder if we’re going to start to see less of Stutes late in games, especially given how well Herndon has been pitching. Over his last 13 appearances, Herndon has allowed one run on 12 hits and a walk over 16 2/3 innings (0.54 ERA and an 0.78 ratio) while striking out 15.

Stutes’s outing could have been worse, too. With one lefty in the pen for the Phils, Bastardo pitched a scoreless seventh. That left the Phils without left-handed relief options and the eighth inning ended with Stutes getting a monster left-handed hitter, Joey Votto, to ground to second with runners on first and third and the Phils up by a run. The Phillies are going to need to put another lefty in their pen or start using the one they have, Bastardo, differently.

The Phillies are 84-46 on the year after beating the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 last night.

Hamels got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing a run on two hits and a walk. One of the hits was a triple that would have been caught if the outfielder about to catch it hadn’t slipped and fell. He struck out seven.

He struck Brandon Phillips out looking for the first out in the bottom of the first. Dave Sappelt was next and he struck out swinging for the second. Joey Votto flew to left to end the inning.

Jay Bruce lined to Utley to start the bottom of the second. Yonder Alonso grounded to first for the second out. Drew Stubbs got ahead 3-0, but Hamels came back and struck him out looking 3-2.

Hamels struck Edgar Renteria out swinging for the first out in the third. Ryan Hanigan was next and flew to right. Pitcher Homer Bailey grounded to second for the third out.

Phillips led off the fourth and hit a ball well to right center. Pence was in position to catch the ball on the edge of the track, but fell down. The ball dropped and Phillips had a triple. Hamels struck Sappelt out swinging for the first out, but Votto followed that with a ground out to second that scored Phillips and put the Reds up 1-0. Bruce grounded to third to set Cincy down.

With the score tied at 1-1, Hamels set the Reds down in order in the fifth.

Hanigan singled to right to start the sixth and Bailey bunted him to second with the first out. Phillips was next and flew to center, deep enough for Hanigan to tag and move up to third with two down. Hamels struck Sappelt out swinging to leave Hanigan at third.

Bastardo started the seventh and walked the lefty Votto on five pitches, but struck out Bruce, Alonso and Stubbs all in a row behind him.

Bastardo has allowed one run in 8 1/3 innings over his last eight appearances, giving up one hit and striking out 12. He has allowed 19 hits in 50 2/3 innings for the year.

Stutes started the eighth with a 3-1 lead. Renteria went down on a foul ball Howard took with a basket catch near the Cincinnati dugout for the first out before Hanigan singled to center. Lefty Fred Lewis hit for the pitcher Bailey and Stutes struck him out looking. Phillips was next and he singled to left on a ball deflected by Polanco, moving Hanigan up to third. Sappelt was next and chopped a ball to third that Polanco fielded. He threw to first in the dirt and Howard couldn’t scope it. Hanigan scored (3-2) and Phillips moved up to third as the ball got away from Howard. Sappelt was given a single on the play and Polanco was charged with an error, leaving runners on the corners with two down. Stutes got Votto on a ground ball to second to end the inning.

One lefty in the pen for the Phils and Bastardo had already pitched. They got lucky. Stutes pitching to Joey Votto in the bottom of the eighth with men on first and third and a one-run lead isn’t what you’re looking for. Stutes also stayed in the game to face the lefty Lewis as the tying run, but it’s not really the same thing. It’s not like the pen was exactly worn down with use, either, as the Phils hadn’t played in either of the two previous days.

Madson started the ninth. Bruce led off and chopped a ball past a diving Howard and into right for a single. Madson struck Alonso out swinging 0-2 for the first out. Stubbs was next and hit a one-hopper to first that would have been a double-play, except that Stubbs was running too and beat Utley’s relay to first. Stubbs stole second as the count went 2-0 on Renteria, but Madson got Renteria to ground to first to end the game.

Stutes threw 27 pitches in the game. Bastardo 18 and Madson 17. Everyone is well-rested after two days with no games over the weekend.

The Phillies lineup against righty Homer Bailey went (1) Victorino (2) Polanco (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Pence (6) Mayberry (7) Ruiz (8) Valdez. Ibanez continues to sit with a sore groin despite a pinch-hitting appearance on Friday. Mayberry starts in left against the righty. Valdez at short with Rollins on the DL.

Polanco and Utley struck out as the Phils went in order in the top of the first.

Howard, Pence and Mayberry went in order in the second.

Bailey set the Phillies down in order in the third, too.

Utley reached on an infield single with two outs in the fourth. Howard flew to center to leave him stranded.

The Phils trailed 1-0 when they hit in the fifth. Mayberry was next and hit a ground ball to first with Pence forced at second for the first out. Ruiz moved Mayberry to third with a single. Valdez was next and lined a ball to left that Sappelt played oddly, then dived at and missed. Valdez had a double, Mayberry scored to tied the game at 1-1 and Ruiz moved up to third. Hamels struck out swinging 2-2 for the second out. Victorino struck out looking at a 3-2 pitch to leave both runners stranded.

Phils can’t get any more after putting men on second and third with one out.

The Phils went in order in the sixth and again in the seventh.

Valdez started the seventh with a single to left. With the righty Bailey still on the mound for the Reds, Martinez hit for the pitcher Bastardo. He tried to bunt Valdez to second, but popped the bunt up to Votto in foul territory for the first out. Victorino was next and he hit the first pitch of his at-bat, a hanging curve ball, out to right for a two-run homer that put the Phils up 3-1. Polanco struck out behind him and Utley popped to short.

With the lead cut to 3-2, the Phils went in order in the ninth.

Victorino was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer. He’s 2-for-his-last-14.

Polanco 0-for-4, struck out three times and made an error at third. He has one extra-base hit, a double, in his last 104 at-bats.

Utley 1-for-4 and struck out twice.

Howard 0-for-4 and struck out twice. 3-for-his-last-24 with ten strikeouts.

Top four in the lineup for the Phils went 2-for-16 with eight strikeouts in the game.

Pence 1-for-4 with a weird fall-down on the warning track that helped Phillips triple.

Mayberry 0-for-4. 1-for-his-last-12.

Ruiz 1-for-3. 310/373/430 since the All-Star break.

Valdez 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. He doubled in the first run of the game for the Phils and singled ahead of Victorino to score the second. He’s hitting 304/353/543 in 46 at-bats so far in August.

Roy Halladay (15-5, 2.56) faces righty Bronson Arroyo (8-10, 5.02) tonight. Arroyo has had a miserable season, but threw eight shutout innings against the Marlins in his most recent start. Lefties are pounding him this year, hitting 324/376/590 against him for the season. He made one start against the Phillies this year, allowing nine runs in 2 2/3 innings on May 23. Halladay has made one start against the Reds this season, allowing three runs in seven innings on May 25.

Hamels is quoted here as saying: “Because it’s so late in the season, I want to be able to finish the season healthy and go into the postseason healthy.” Hopefully someone in the organization is in touch with the fact that the Phils still have about a fifth of their season left to play and aren’t actually in the post-season at this point. They aren’t really that close yet either. The magic number for the Brewers, who have played better than the Phils since the All-Star break and have a 10 1/2 game lead in the NL Central, is 18. The Marlins, who are 59-74 and 26 1/2 games behind the Phils in the NL East, could still finish ahead of the Phils in the division. That probably won’t even happen, but I’m just sayin.