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The Phils did it again last night, winning in extra-innings for the second straight day to take their fourth in a row. Down to their last strike with two outs in the ninth, pinch-hitter John Mayberry launched a two-run homer off of right-handed closer Huston Street that sent the game into extra-innings. Victorino led off the tenth with a solo home run that proved to be the game-winner as the Phils took the first of three in Colorado, 4-3.

Madson and Bastardo continue to shine at the back of the pen for the Phils, throwing two shutout innings in last night’s game. They have each now pitched three days in a row — over those three games they have combined to allow two hits in 5 1/3 shutout innings and the Phils have won two one-run games. For the year, Bastardo and Madson have combined to throw 80 innings in which they’ve pitched to a 1.58 ERA with an 0.93 ratio and struck out 90.

The Phillies are 69-39 on the year after beating the Colorado Rockies 4-3 in ten innings last night. They have won four games in a row and are 30 games over .500 for the first time on the year. They are in first place in the NL East, seven games ahead of the Braves. Seven games is their biggest lead in the division on the year.

Hamels got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a two-run homer. He struck out five.

He set the Rockies down in order in the bottom of the first.

Ty Wigginton singled with one out in the second and stole second before Chris Nelson struck out for the second out. It brought Seth Smith to the plate and the lefty hit a 2-1 pitch out to center, putting the Rockies up 2-0. Chris Iannetta grounded to third for the third out.

Hamels has been fantastic at preventing home runs this year, cutting his home run rate about in half compared to his career numbers. Lefties have fared better against him than righties for the season — they came into the game hitting 237/272/381 against Hamels while righties had hit 200/248/292.

He threw a 1-2-3 third. Rollins made a very nice play on a ball hit up the middle by Eric Young for the second out, fielding deep near second base, spinning and throwing to first in time to get the speedy Young.

Wigginton and Nelson singled back-to-back with two outs in the fourth, putting men on first and third for Smith. Hamels got him this time, getting Smith on a ground ball to first to leave both runners stranded.

The pitcher Jhoulys Chacin singled with one out in the fifth and moved to second when Young singled behind him. Hamels walked Dexter Fowler on five pitches and the bases were loaded. He got out of it, though, striking Mark Ellis out on three pitches and Troy Tulowitzki swinging 3-2.

Five men left on base for the Rockies in the fourth and fifth. Two big strikeouts for Hamels in the fifth keeps Colorado off the board after loading the bases with one out.

Hamels threw a 1-2-3 sixth.

The Colorado lead was cut to 2-1 when Stutes started the seventh. Iannetta led off and the righty hit a 1-0 pitch out to left center, making it 3-1. Stutes got the next two before walking Fowler, but Ruiz threw Fowler out trying to steal second to end the inning.

Stutes was back to pitch the eighth. He walked Tulowitzki with one out, but got Wigginton and Nelson on a pair of fly balls to leave him at first.

Stutes has allowed at least one run in four of his last seven appearances, throwing to a 5.23 ERA with a 1.35 ratio.

Bastardo started the ninth with the game tied at 3-3. Smith led off with a single to left and Iannetta bunted him to second with the first out. Switch-hitter Jonathan Herrera hit for the pitcher Huston Street and grounded to short with Smith moving to third and two down. Ryan Spilborghs grounded to short to leave Smith at third.

The single by Smith is the only hit or walk that Bastardo has allowed in his last five appearances.

Madson started the tenth with a 4-3 lead. He set Colorado down in order, getting Fowler on a fly ball to center, Ellis on a ground ball to short and Tulowitzki on a popup to second.

Madson has now made eight appearances since returning from the DL in mid-July, allowing one run in 7 1/3 innings on four hits and a walk.

Stutes threw 39 pitches in the game. Bastardo 18 and Madson eight. Madson and Bastardo have each thrown three days in a row.

The Phillies lineup against righty Jhoulys Chacin went (1) Rollins (2) Victorino (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Pence (6) Ibanez (7) Polanco (8) Ruiz. Victorino continues to hit second with Pence fifth. Polanco back in the lineup and hitting seventh.

Utley walked with two outs in the top of the first, but Howard flew to left to leave him stranded.

Ibanez walked with one out in the second and moved to second when Polanco followed with a single to left center. Ruiz hit into a double-play to end the threat.

Down 2-0, Rollins was hit by a pitch with one out in the third. Victorino was next and hit a ball back up the middle that was deflected by Chacin and went to Tulowitzki. Tulowitzki made a nice play, picking the ball and flipping to second for the second out. Utley was next and he doubled to right. Smith played it nicely off the wall in right, though, and Ellis cut his throw and made a strong throw home where Victorino was tagged out on a close play to end the frame.

The Phils went in order in the fourth.

Ruiz doubled with one out in the fifth, but Hamels and Rollins both struck out behind him.

The Phils went in order in the sixth.

Pence led off the seventh with a single. Ibanez was next and hit a high fly ball to deep center field. Fowler seemed to lose track of it and the ball fell on the track for a double. Pence scored, cutting the lead to 2-1. Polanco grounded to short and Ruiz popped to the pitcher for the first two outs. With the righty Chacin still pitching for Colorado, Gload hit for Hamels and grounded to second for the third out.

The Phils can’t bring Ibanez home from second with nobody out. Polanco doesn’t move him to third with the first out of the inning.

Down 3-1, Victorino singled with one out in the eighth. Lefty Matt Reynolds came in to pitch to Utley and Utley singled to left, moving Victorino up to second. Howard grounded to second for the second out with the runners moving up to second and third. Righty Rafael Betancourt took over for Reynolds and struck out Pence to leave the runners at second and third.

Huston Street was on in the ninth with a two-run lead. He struck out Ibanez for the first out and got Polanco to fly to center for the second. Ruiz was next and he doubled to left. Mayberry hit for Stutes. He got behind 1-2, then worked the count full and fouled off two pitches before hitting a ball out to left center, tying the game at 3-3. Rollins flew to center for the third out.

Domonic Brown, the would-be second legitimate lefty power threat off the bench behind Gload, is in Triple-A, so Mayberry has to hit against the righty. Worked out pretty well.

Victorino led off the ninth and he hit a 3-2 pitch out to left off of lefty Rex Brothers, putting the Phils up 4-3. Utley and Howard both struck out behind him before Pence popped to short.

Rollins was 0-for-4 in the game. 7-for-his-last-21 with three walks.

Victorino 2-for-5 with home run. His .528 slugging percentage is the best on the team. 367/457/633 in 71 plate appearances since the beginning of July.

Utley 2-for-4 with a walk and a double. 8-for-his-last-22 with four extra-base hits.

Howard 0-for-5. 1-for-10 since going 4-for-4 on Saturday.

Pence 1-for-5. 3-for-14 with a double for the Phillies so far.

Ibanez 1-for-3 with a walk and a double. He’s 11-for-his-last-34 with four doubles and three home runs. 277/314/507 over his last 312 plate appearances after hitting 154/238/209 in his first 101 plate appearances on the year.

Polanco 1-for-4 and couldn’t move Ibanez to third with the first out of the seventh. He’s a Polancoish 3-for-9 with three singles and no walks since returning from the DL.

Ruiz 2-for-4 with two doubles. 343/450/537 in 82 plate appearances since July 2.

Kyle Kendrick (5-5, 3.52) faces righty Aaron Cook (2-5, 5.05) tonight. Cook didn’t pitch until June this year, recovering from a broken finger. In the nine starts he’s made he’s been hit hard, allowing 68 hits and 21 walks in 51 2/3 innings. His best start of the year came his last time out when he threw seven shutout innings against the Dodgers. Kendrick still can’t get lefties out — they’re hitting 266/372/516 against him for the year compared to 263/292/366 for righties.

Oswalt allowed two runs in six innings for the IronPigs last night. He is expected return this weekend to start against the Giants.

The Phillies are 3-0 in the last three games that Vance Worley has started — that’s pretty impressive in itself, but it’s even more impressive given that they’ve scored a total of four runs in those games.

In last night’s game, Worley allowed two singles and two walks over seven shutout innings and Michael Martinez drove in the only run of the contest, scoring Brown from second with a seventh-inning single.

Over his last four starts, Worley has thrown to an 0.72 ERA and an 0.92 ratio over 25 innings.

The Phillies are 54-32 on the year after beating the Florida Marlins 1-0 last night. They have won six of their last eight and three of four to start July.

Worley got the start for the Phillies and went seven shutout innings, allowing two singles and two walks. He struck out six and dropped his ERA on the year to 2.20. The Phils are 6-2 in the eight games he’s started this season.

He threw a 1-2-3 first.

Hanley Ramirez singled to start the second and Logan Morrison popped to third behind him for the first out . Mike Stanton was next and hit a ground ball to third. Polanco went to Utley to force Ramirez for the second out. Utley didn’t have much of a chance to double-up Stanton, but threw to first anyway and his throw was bad. Howard didn’t handle it, but luckily it did not get far enough away from him to allow Stanton to take second. Stanton stole second before Bryan Petersen flew to left to leave him stranded.

Emilio Bonifacio singled with two outs in the third and stole second before Omar Infante grounded to third to end the inning.

Worley had thrown 46 pitches through three innings.

He walked Gaby Sanchez on a 3-2 pitch to start the bottom of the fourth, but struck Ramirez and Morrison both out looking for the first two outs. Stanton flew to center to leave Sanchez at first.

John Buck walked with one out in the fifth and the pitcher Ricky Nolasco bunted him to second with the second out. Bonifacio was next and hit a ground ball to first. Howard flipped to Worley covering first and Bonifacio was called out to end the inning. Bonifacio was ejected after pointing out that Worley didn’t really tag him and throwing his helmet.

Worley set Florida down in order in the sixth.

He had thrown 89 pitches through six innings.

Up 1-0, Worley set Florida down in order in the seventh.

Stutes threw a 1-2-3 eighth with the Phils still up a run. Lefty Dewayne Wise hit for Choate and grounded to second for the second out.

Bastardo started the ninth. Infante led off and hit a foul ball down the first base line. Utley, Brown and Howard all converged and Utley and Brown both tried to catch the ball. It was knocked out of Utley’s glove and Infante got another chance, but flew to right for the first out. Bastardo walked Sanchez on a 3-2 pitch that bounced, but got Ramirez swinging 0-2 for the second out and Morrison on a fly ball to right to end the game.

Bastardo threw 19 pitches in the game and Stutes nine. Stutes has pitched two days in a row.

The Phillies lineup against righty Ricky Nolasco went (1) Rollins (2) Polanco (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Ibanez (6) Brown (7) Schneider (8) Martinez. Martinez plays center with Victorino sidelined with a sore thumb. Schneider catches with Ruiz on the bench.

Utley singled with two outs in the first, but Howard grounded to first behind him.

Brown reached on an infield single with one out in the second, but Schneider and Martinez went down behind him.

Worley led off the third and hit a ball that was deflected by a diving Ramirez and right to Infante — Infante threw to first in time to get Worley for the first out. Rollins singled and stole second on a pitchout before Polanco walked. It put men on first and second with one out for Utley. Utley grounded to third with Polanco forced at second for the second out. Howard struck out looking to leave men stranded on the corners.

Schneider singled with two outs in the fourth. Martinez grounded to the pitcher behind him for the third out, dropping his average on the year to .182.

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

Brown singled to start the seventh and moved to second when Schneider followed with a walk. It brought Martinez to the plate and he singled into center on the first pitch of his at-bat. Peterson charged and made a nice throw home, but Brown slid in and was called safe as Buck applied a high tag. It looked like Brown might have missed the plate with his lead foot, but the Phils got the call and led 1-0 with nobody out and men on first and second. Worley struck out trying to bunt for the first out. Rollins grounded out for the second with Martinez forced at second. Polanco grounded to second to leave the runners stranded at the corners.

The Phils went in order in the eighth.

Brown walked to start the ninth on a close 3-2 pitch. The catcher Buck didn’t like the call and was ejected. Ruiz, who had taken over for Schneider behind the plate in the eighth, bunted Brown to second with the first out. Martinez flew to right for the second. With lefty Michael Dunn on the mound, Francisco hit for Stutes. Righty Edward Mujica came in to pitch and Gload hit for Francisco and flew to the warning track in left to set the Phillies down.

Couple of close calls in the game that the Marlins didn’t get, but the pitch Brown walked on looked like a ball to me.

Rollins was 1-for-4. He’s 5-for-his-last-28.

Polanco 0-for-3 with a walk. 0-for-his-last-15.

Utley 1-for-4. After hitting 222/364/370 in May, Utley hit 297/387/473 in June and is hitting 313/389/563 in the first four games of July.

Howard 0-for-4 with a strikeout. 3-for-his-last-17.

Ibanez 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. 1-for-his-last-14.

Brown 2-for-3. 9-for-his-last-27.

Schneider 1-for-2 to raise his average to .164 on the year after 61 at-bats.

Martinez 1-for-4 with the game’s only RBI. He’s hitting 191/222/235 on the year in 68 at-bats.

Cole Hamels (9-4, 2.41) faces righty Chris Volstad (4-7, 5.01) tonight. Volstad has had three good starts in a row, throwing to a 1.31 ERA in 20 2/3 innings over his last three outings. Lefties have pounded him this year, 311/381/592, while righties have hit just 256/271/351. Hamels left his last start after four innings after Boston’s Adrian Gonzalez smashed a line drive off of the palm of his non-pitching hand. He hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any of his last seven starts, throwing to a 1.49 ERA over 48 1/3 innings.

Question for the day is whether or not it makes sense for the Phillies to play Ben Francisco in left field against left-handed pitching instead of Raul Ibanez regularly in 2011.

I think the answer for the day is no. But not because Ibanez is a better hitter against lefties. He’s not. In big part, it’s cause there’s only one of Francisco.

Here’s what Francisco has done against lefties for his career:

And Ibanez:

It makes sense that Francisco would be the better hitter against lefties. And he is. Ibanez has hit for a slightly higher average over his career, but just about everything else favors Francisco. Against lefties, Francisco has struck out less (16.4% of plate appearances compared to 19.8% of plate appearances for Ibanez) and walked more (10.5% for Francisco and 6.9% for Ibanez). Francisco has also been more likely to deliver an extra-base hit — 9.6% of plate appearances for Francisco and 8.5% for Ibanez.

Francisco has just been a better hitter against lefties over his career than Ibanez has.

The problem is that Francisco can only play one of the corner outfield positions at a time and Domonic Brown has 14 rather unimpressive career plate appearances against lefties. The question for Brown in 2011, at least to start the year, isn’t whether he’s good enough to play right field every day. It’s whether or not he’s good enough to play right field against righties. Regardless of the answer to that question, until Brown demonstrates that he’s ready, Francisco needs to be in the lineup against left-handed pitching and I think it’s likely he will be.

Given how things have gone for Brown early this spring training, Francisco might be seeing a whole lot of time in right no matter who is pitching.

The Phils beat the Blue Jays 6-3 yesterday. Halladay, JC Ramirez and Michael Stutes combined to strike out eight in six shutout innings. Juan Perez allowed a run in his inning and Scott Mathieson two in his. Matt Anderson threw a scoreless eighth (this article says he hit 96-mph on the radar guy while doing it). Brown was 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts, he’s 0-for-9 in official spring action. Francisco 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI — he’s 4-for-7 with three extra-base hits.

On Sunday, Blanton went three shutout innings, but the Phils lost to the Yankees 7-3. Justin De Fratus and Michael Schwimmer both were charged with runs and Brad Lidge gave up a solo homer in the ninth. Francisco was 2-for-4 with a home run and all three of the Phillie RBI.

Saturday they beat the Yanks 5-4. Hamels allowed an unearned run over two innings and Worley threw two scoreless frames. Pete Orr and Josh Barfield handled second for the Phils and combined to go 3-for-5 with an RBI. Francisco was 1-for-1 with a walk and a triple.

Cliff Lee pitches today as the 2-1 Phils face the Tigers.

This says that Bastardo will make his spring debut on Friday.

Chase Utley has tendinitis in his right knee and will play, well, some time.

Ditto for the committees working on the speeches for Bastardo, Herndon, Baez and Romero.

Kyle Kendrick was on a nifty little run coming into last night’s game. He had strung together three very nice starts in a row, throwing to a 1.86 ERA in those games as the Phils won all three. It ended with a thud last night, though, as he didn’t make it out of the fourth and was charged with six runs over 3 1/3 innings against the Dodgers.

The worse news is that the bullpen wasn’t any better. They allowed nine runs on ten hits and four walks over 5 2/3 innings. Thanks to the combo of bad starting pitching and bad relief pitching, the Phils managed to lose a game in which they scored nine runs. That’s tough to do. Since the start of the 2005 season the Phils are 132-4 in games where they’ve scored more than eight runs and 37-3 when scoring nine.

The game was also notable for the construction of the Phillies roster. The Phils gave John Mayberry’s roster to spot to Bastardo, which means they have 12 hitters and 13 pitchers active. They started last night’s game with four hitters (Schneider, Sweeney, Dobbs and Francisco) on the bench. Things didn’t work out well as Polanco and Ruiz both left early, Schneider had to stay in for a big at-bat late against a lefty and Hamels pinch-hit with two men on base for the final out of the game.

The Phillies are 62-50 on the year after losing to the Dodgers 15-9 last night. They are in second place in the NL East and 2 1/2 games behind the Braves.

Kendrick got the start for the Phillies and went 3 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits and two walks. Only five of the runs were earned and seven of the eight hits were singles. The other was a double. He struck out one and saw his ERA puff to 4.60.

Scott Podsednik started the game with a single and was running on the pitch when Ryan Theriot grounded out to short. It put a man on second with one out for Andre Ethier and Ethier singled into center, scoring Podsednik to put LA up 1-0. James Loney flew to center and Casey Blake popped to Ruiz to end the frame.

Jay Gibbons started the second with a single and moved to second when Jamey Carroll walked behind him. Brad Ausmus hit into a double-play and Kendrick struck the pitcher Vicente Padilla out to leave Gibbons stranded at third.

Theriot singled with one out in the third. Ethier followed that with an RBI-double that make it 2-0. Loney walked to put men on first and second. Blake hit a ground ball to third. Polanco fielded and threw to second to force Loney for the second out. With two down and men on first and third, Gibbons lined a single to right and Ethier scored. 3-0. Carroll grounded to short for the third out.

Kendrick continues to struggle against lefties. Ethier 2-for-2 with a double and two RBI through the first three innings. Werth made a really nice play on a line drive by Podsednik for the first out or the inning would have been worse.

Ausmus singled to center to start the fourth. Padilla was next and put down a bunt that was fielded by Kendrick. Kendrick threw to second, but Rollins didn’t handle the throw and was charged with an error. With nobody out and men on first and second, Podsednik singled to right to load the bases. Theriot hit a fly ball to right for the first out. It was deep enough for Ausmus to tag and score (4-0) and Padilla to take third. Bastardo came in to pitch to Ethier and Ethier singled to right. Padilla scored (5-0) and LA had men on first and second. Loney singled. Podsednik scored to make it 6-0 with Ethier taking second. Blake singled. Ethier scored (7-0) and Podsednik took third. Bastardo struck out the lefty Gibbons for the second out and got Carroll on a line drive to third to finally end the frame.

Not exactly a triumphant return for Bastardo in his first action since the middle of June. He faced five hitters and allowed single, single, single before getting a big strike out and a line out.

The lead was cut to 7-1 when Herndon threw a 1-2-3 fifth.

Perhaps still in shock at seeing a 1-2-3 frame, Manuel brought Herndon back to pitch the sixth with the LA lead cut to 7-4. Theriot singled and stole second before Ethier walked. Loney doubled to right, Theriot scored (8-4) and Ethier went to third. Blake hit a fly ball to right. Ethier tagged and scored (9-4) and Loney took third. Gibbons hit a 1-1 pitch out to right for a two-run homer. 11-4. Carroll grounded out for the second out before Ausmus hit a ball to short that Rollins didn’t handle for his second error of the game. Reed Johnson hit for the pitcher and popped to second for the third out.

Herndon has now allowed 52 hits in 37 1/3 innings on the year. Opponents are hitting .342 against him for the season.

Baez started the seventh with the Phillies losing 11-5. With one out, Theriot reached on an infield single on a ball that was deflected by Polanco. Ethier moved him to second with a single and the game was delayed for a brief ceremony celebrating his 1,000th hit of the game. Loney was next and hit a ground ball back to the mound. Baez fielded and threw to second for the second out. He walked Blake to load the bases. Righty Matt Kemp hit for the pitcher and singled to right. Theriot and Loney scored to make it 13-5. Baez got Carroll on a ground ball to third to set the Dodgers down.

Baez has a 7.88 ERA and a 2.19 ratio over his last 18 appearances.

Contreras pitched the eighth with the Phils down 13-7. He gave up a leadoff walk to Ausmus and then got the next three hitters.

Romero started the ninth. He hit Ethier with his first pitch, which at least spared us all another ceremony. Struck out Loney for the first out before Blake hit a two-run homer to left. 15-7. Then pitcher George Sherrill hit for himself and walked. Durbin entered the game and struck out Carroll and Ausmus to leave Sherrill at first.

That’s pretty awful. Romero has allowed runs in each of his last three appearances. In those games he has been charged with five runs on three hits (including two home runs), three walks and a hit batter. His ERA for the season has gone from 2.59 to 4.38. He has walked 23 batters in 24 2/3 innings.

The Phillies lineup against righty Vicente Padilla went (1) Rollins (2) Polanco (3) Gload (4) Ibanez (5) Werth (6) Brown (7) Ruiz (8) Valdez. Gload at first against the righty and Brown in right. Valdez plays second with Utley on the DL, making his 63rd start of the year.

Down 1-0, Gload singled with two outs in the first. Ibanez grounded to second for the third out.

Werth started the second with a single, but Brown hit into a double-play behind him. Ruiz flew to center for the third out.

Down 3-0, the Phils went in order in the third.

Polanco singled to start the fourth with the Phillies down 7-0. Gload flew to left for the first out before Ibanez walked. Werth walked as well and the bases were loaded for Brown. Brown flew to right for the second out. Polanco tagged and scored to cut the lead to 7-1. Ruiz struck out looking to leave the runners stranded on first and second.

Valdez singled to start the fifth. Schneider, who had taken over defensively for Ruiz in the top of the inning, flew to left for the first out before Rollins moved Valdez to third with a single. Polanco grounded to third with Valdez scoring to make it 7-2 and Rollins moving to second. Gload hit a 1-0 pitch out to right. 7-4. Ibanez grounded to first for the third out.

They were losing 11-4 when they hit in the sixth. Brown hit his first career homer with one out, connecting on an 0-1 pitch from Ronald Belisario to cut the lead to 11-5. Francisco hit for Herndon and grounded to first for the second out. Valdez grounded to short for the third.

They were down 13-5 when they hit in the seventh. With two outs and righty Carlos Monasterios on the mound, Dobbs hit for Polanco and singled to left. Gload followed that with his second homer of the game and the lead was cut to 13-7. Ibanez grounded to second for the third out.

This says that Polanco left the game because of left triceps tendinitis.

With two outs in the eighth and Monasterios still pitching, Sweeney hit for Contreras and reached on an infield single on a ball deflected by the pitcher. Valdez moved him to second with a single and lefty George Sherrill came in to pitch to Schneider. Schneider flew to center for the third out.

With Ruiz out of the game, the Phillies couldn’t hit for Schneider. They had used all of their hitters on the bench already anyway.

The Phils were down 15-7 when they hit in the ninth. Rollins led off with a single and Dobbs flew out behind him. Gload hit a ground ball to second and Rollins was forced at second for the second out. Ibanez singled and Werth walked and the bases were loaded for Brown. Brown doubled to left, scoring Gload and Ibanez to make it 15-9. Out of hitters, Hamels hit for Contreras and flew to left to end the game with runners stranded at second and third.

Ibanez gets a single off the lefty Sherrill in the inning for his only hit of the game.

Rollins was 2-for-5 and made two errors. 333/429/400 over his last seven games.

Polanco 1-for-3 with an RBI. He’s 13-for-35 (.371) in August.

Gload was 3-for-5 with two home runs and four RBI. 406/500/719 over 39 plate appearances since the end of the day on July 18.

Ibanez 1-for-4 with a walk. 360/446/550 over his last 111 plate appearances.

Werth was 1-for-3 with a single and two walks in the game. He’s hitting 393/500/631 over his last 104 plate appearances. After going 1-for-10 with seven strikeouts in the first two games against the Marlins he has gone 9-for-his-last-18 with two doubles, a homer and five walks.

Brown 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBI. Still looking for his first walk after 38 plate appearances and on-basing .237.

Ruiz was 0-for-2. He’s 0-for-his-last-7 with four strikeouts.

Valdez 2-for-4.

Roy Oswalt (6-13, 3.50) faces righty Chad Billingsley (9-6, 3.82) tonight. Oswalt has a 4.38 ERA and a 1.46 ratio in his two starts with the Phils this season. Billingsley has allowed three runs in 27 2/3 innings over his last four starts, throwing to an 0.98 ERA and an 0.94 ratio.

The Phillies have scored just 23 runs in their last six games, which is about 3.8 runs per game. Thanks to a monster start by the offense, though, they are still on pace to score more runs than they did last year. Here’s how the numbers for the 2010 pace compare to what they did last year:

Overall, the Phillies are scoring more runs. They are hitting fewer home runs, but getting more hits, striking out less and walking more. The combination of the Rollins injury and the fact that Victorino never ever gets on base has their rate of stolen bases down to about half of what it was in 2009.

Ruiz’s walk rate is way up. After walking in about 12.4% of his plate appearances in 2009 he’s walked in 21.2% of them in 2010. That has him on pace to walk 108 times this year. He’s still looking for his first home run and has just three extra-base hits, all doubles. He’s slugging just .327, nearly a hundred points lower than his .425 from ’09.

Howard has walked less and struck out less. He’s on pace to walk 39 times and strike out 139 coming off a year he drew 75 walks and struck out 186 times. He’s on pace for 31 home runs and 131 RBI — Utley and his .429 on-base percentage have contributed to his early RBI total.

Like Ruiz, Utley’s walk rate is up a lot in 2010. 12.8% in ’09 and 19.4% in 2010. He’ll walk 147 times if he keeps getting walks at this rate. He won’t. 46 home runs and just 116 RBI at this pace. He’s actually getting hits at a slightly lower rate in ’10 than he did in ’09, but has the same .282 batting average. He’s slugging .564 this year after slugging .508 in 2009.

Rollins has just 31 plate appearances on the season, but was on a tear before his injury. He has a 391/516/739 line for the season so far. Even given how much time he has missed, he’s still on pace to get more walks overall in 2010 than he did in 2009. Right now he’s on a pace for 54 this year after walking 44 times in 2009. He has as many walks for the year (7) as Howard (5) and Polanco (2) combined. Victorino (5) also has fewer walks than Rollins for the year.

Ibanez is a mess. He’s on pace to hit eight homers and drive in 69 runs with a .219 average. His walks are way up, though, putting him on pace for the same 108 walks as Ruiz. He’s also striking out less, about 18.5% of his plate appearances compared to 21.1% in 2009. His rate of doubles and triples is the same as it was last year, so he could use some singles and homers. He’s actually on pace to hit 39 doubles this year after hitting 32 in 2009 — even though the rate is about the same he’s on pace to get more plate appearances this season.

Victorino isn’t doing a lot better. His hits are way down and his strikeouts are way up. He’s walking less, too, but his walk rate isn’t off as much as his hit rate. He’s on pace to strike out 116 times this year after whiffing just 71 times in ’09. He had 181 hits and 31 doubles last year — he’s on pace for 154 hits and 15 doubles in 2010. Three home runs in the early going has him on pace for 23, which would dwarf his career high of 14. Let’s hope it doesn’t come with a .225 batting average and a .263 on-base percentage. He’s also on pace to drive in 116 runs, but that might not even happen. His career high is 62. Howard is the only player on the team who has driven in more runs than Victorino so far this season.

Werth is on pace for 85 doubles. Really he is. Earl Webb is the single-season leader for doubles — he hit 67 for the Red Sox in 1931. Beyond that, Werth is walking at about the same rate he did last year, a tiny bit higher, but hitting .315 this season after hitting .268 in 2009. He has struck out in six of his last 13 plate appearances, but overall for the year his strikeout rate is down a bit. He’s on pace to strike out 147 times in 679 PA. Last year he whiffed 156 times in 676.

Lidge will be active for tonight’s game with Bastardo sent to Triple-A. That’s a mistake. They shouldn’t be trying to hold on to Herndon all year and should offer him back to the Angels. Yes you can see the potential and yes it looks like he might be really good some day. But the Phillies are trying to win the World Series this year, so it’s not a great time to carry a guy on your roster all season if he’s not ready. Unless he is on the DL for a long time, I’m going to be surprised if that’s possible. I also think you shouldn’t be counting on Romero as the only lefty out of the pen given that he’s thrown 17 2/3 innings since the end of 2008.

Stadium Journey has a review of Citizens Bank Park up here.

Update: Well, Bastardo is back now. Madson to the DL with a broken toe. Bastardo back.

It was bound to happen sooner or later, probably sooner, and now it has. After a fantastic start, the bullpen finally came up empty yesterday and with an exclamation point. The starting pitching has been a problem for the Phils. Roy Halladay has been magnificent early, but pretty much everyone else in the rotation has either been not good enough or not long enough or both. Yesterday their starter couldn’t go six innings yet again and the Phils took a 4-1 lead into the seventh inning. The pen surrendered six runs in the last three innings.

The problem is that impressive as the 7-1 start was for the Phillies, their formula for winning was flawed. It was mediocre starting pitching, strong work from the bullpen and scoring about eight runs a game. The issue with that is their starting pitching is better than mediocre, their bullpen is weak and as good as their offense is they aren’t going to score eight runs a game. They also aren’t going to play the Nationals and Astros every game.

So while that may have worked to start the season, and may work for short sprints, they’re going to need to come up with something else. I feel pretty good about their chances.

The Phillies are 7-2 on the season after losing to the Washington Nationals 7-5 yesterday.

Happ got the start for the Phillies and went 5 1/3 innings, allowing one run on three hits and six walks. The run was unearned. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a double. He walked six and didn’t strike out anyone. He keeps his 0.00 ERA for the season, but with a 1.65 ratio in just 10 1/3 innings pitched over two starts. The Phillies need him to pitch deeper into games, starting really soon.

He walked Nyjer Morgan on five pitches to start the game. Ian Desmond was next and he hit a ball slowly to Utley. Utley made a great play, flipping to Castro to start the double-play that cleared the bases. Just for a minute, though, cause Cristian Guzman followed and he walked, too. Adam Dunn hammered the ball, but Howard picked it nicely and beat Dunn to the bag to end the frame.

Happ was up 1-0 when he started the second. Josh Willingham led off and flew to right for the first out. Rodriguez was next and he doubled to left. Justin Maxwell followed and walked on five pitches, putting men on first and second with one out. Alberto Gonzalez grounded to Howard for the second out, moving the runners up a base. It brought up the pitcher Scott Olsen with two outs and men on second and third. Happ got him on a popup to third to leave the runners stranded.

Happ walked Morgan again to start the third. He picked him off, too, with the throw going to Howard, but Howard threw the ball away for an error. Desmond bunted Morgan to third with the first out. Guzman brought Morgan home from third with a ground out to short, tying the game at 1-1. Dunn singled to left before Happ got Willingham to pop to second for the third out.

This gig probably involves a lot more backing up throws to second base than Ibanez had anticipated. Howard is really awful at throwing the ball to second. Anywhere else, too, probably, but you don’t get to see that quite as often. Four walks in three innings for Happ, two to lead off an inning.

Happ walked Maxwell with one out in the fourth, but got Gonzalez and the pitcher behind him to leave him stranded at first.

Morgan led off the fifth with a single to center, but Desmond popped to second for the first out and Guzman hit into a double-play.

At least he didn’t walk that time.

Dunn led off the sixth and Polanco made a fantastic catch near the stands with his back to home plate for the first out. Willingham was next and Happ walked him. Happ had thrown 97 pitches in the game and Manuel called on Contreras to pitch to the righty Rodriguez with one out and a man on first. Willingham stole second as the count went 0-2 on Rodriguez. Contreras struck out Rodriguez and Maxwell behind him to leave Willingham stranded.

Golly. Contreras has had an amazing start to the season. One hit in 3 2/3 innings while striking out six.

That was pretty much the end of the good day for the pen, though.

Bastardo started the seventh with a 4-1 lead. Gonzalez led off with a single and moved to second on a ground out by Harris. Morgan flew to left for the second out, but Desmond followed with a single that scored Gonzalez. 4-2. Guzman flew to left for the third out.

Bastardo was pitching having thrown 19 pitches the day before. On April 7 he threw one pitch and came back the next day to throw eight, which was the first time in his career he had thrown on back-to-back days.

On the other hand, Baez has thrown back-to-back days and it didn’t help him any. Dunn started the seventh with a homer. 4-3. Baez struck out Willingham, but then walked Rodriguez. Righty Ryan Zimmerman hit for the pitcher Tyler Clippard and homered to right. 5-4 Nats. Baez struck out Gonzalez for the second out and walked Harris. Harris stole second before Morgan grounded to second.

Madson pitched the ninth. Desmond led off with a single and stole second. Guzman struck out for the first out and Dunn moved Desmond to third with a ground out for the second. Willingham walked and Willy Tavares ran for him and stole second. Rodriguez hit a two-run single that put Washington up 7-4 before Madson struck out Capps to end the frame.

Baez threw 31 pitches and Madson 26. Bastardo 17 after 19 the day before and Contreras nine. Plus a long day in long relief for Figueroa in Wednesday’s game in which he threw 54 pitches.

Thank goodness for Roy Halladay. But while you can count on him to be very, very good, we shouldn’t be counting on him to be perfect every time.

The Phillies lineup against lefty Scott Olsen went (1) Victorino (2) Polanco (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Werth (6) Ibanez (7) Castro (8) Ruiz. Werth returns to the lineup after missing a game with his hip.

Victorino pounded a ball to left to start the bottom of the first, but Willingham took it on the track for the first out. Polanco grounded to third for the second, but Utley was next and delivered yet another home run to put the Phils up 1-0. Howard grounded to Guzman at second to end the inning.

The Phillies went in order in the second on ground outs by Werth and Ibanez and a strikeout by Castro.

The game was tied at 1-1 when the Phillies hit in the third. Ruiz led off and ripped a double to left. Happ was next and bunted the ball to first. Dunn fielded and threw to third where Ruiz was tagged out for the first out. Victorino flew to left and Polanco grounded to short.

Phils can’t execute the sacrifice and it means they don’t score after the leadoff double.

Werth walked with two outs in the fourth, but Ibanez struck out behind him.

Castro started the bottom of the fifth with a single. Ruiz struck out behind him. Happ bunted successfully this time, moving Castro to second with two down, but Victorino flew to right to end the inning.

Polanco singled to start the sixth. Utley struck out for the first out. Howard flew out to Morgan in left center field for the second out. Werth walked, putting men on first and second for Ibanez. Ibanez walked too and the bases were loaded for Castro. Castro delivered a single into right, scoring Polanco and Werth to put the Phillies up 3-1. Castro took second when the ball dribbled away from Rodriguez, giving the Phillies men on second and third. Righty Tyler Clippard took over for Olsen and walked Ruiz intentionally. Dobbs hit for Contreras and walked, forcing in Ibanez. 4-1. Victorino grounded to second to end the inning.

I was surprised to see Olsen stay in to pitch to the righty Castro. Surprised to see Castro stay in to hit after he did, too.

Howard doubled with two outs in the seventh and the Phils up 4-2. Werth struck out swinging to leave him at second.

The Phillies were down 5-4 when they hit in the eighth. Lefty Sean Burnett got Ibanez to ground out for the first out. Righty Matt Capps came in to pitch to the righty Castro and Castro popped up a ball that landed right behind Guzman and in front of Willie Harris for a single. Ruiz grounded to third for the second out, with Castro moving to second. Wilson Valdez ran for Castro at second as the tying run. Gload hit for Baez and flew to right to leave Valdez stranded.

Victorino led off the ninth with a homer off of Capps that cut the Washington lead to 7-5. Polanco followed with a single. Utley struck out, Howard flew softly to left and Werth flew softly to center to end the game.

If you’re going to have three chances to tie the game you can’t do much better than Utley and Howard against a righty with Werth behind them.

Victorino was 1-for-5 with a home run in the game and left five men on base. 5-for-14 with a triple and a home run in the series. 244/279/512 for the season after nine games.

Polanco was 2-for-5 yesterday and 6-for-13 with a double in the series. 475/477/650.

Utley 1-for-5 with his fifth home run of the year yesterday. 4-for-12 with four home runs and seven RBI in the series. 343/477/829 on the year. He’s on pace to hit 90 home runs and drive in 198 runs.

Howard was 1-for-5 yesterday. 5-for-14 with two doubles in the series. 357/386/738. His strikeouts are way down so far this year and so are his walks. After nine games he’s on pace to walk 36 times and strike out 90. Not likely. If he’s going to hit 357/386/738 it will be just peachy if he never walks. He’s not, though.

Werth was 0-for-3 yesterday. 1-for-6 with three walks in the set. 323/421/452 on the year.

Ibanez was 0-for-3 yesterday and 1-for-10 with two walks in the series. 206/310/294 for the year. He had a 3-for-4 day on April 9 against the Astros. Eliminating that game he’s 4-for-30 (.133) with a double on the year.

Castro was 3-for-4 with huge hit and two RBI yesterday. He’s 4-for-12 with a double on the season.

Ruiz 1-for-4 with a double yesterday and 2-for-8 with a double and four more walks in the series. 273/467/318 on the season with one extra-base hit, yesterday’s double. He’s on pace to walk 144 times this year. Only one player on the team has more walks than his eight — Utley has walked nine times but has gotten 14 more plate appearances than Ruiz.

Dobbs was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk in the series. 1-for-6 with two walks so far.

Francisco was 0-for-3 in the series and is 0-for-4 on the year.

Roy Halladay (2-0, 0.56) faces righty Anibal Sanchez (0-0, 6.00) tonight as the Phils play the first of three against the Fish at home. Halladay has been fantastic to start the year. Sanchez gave up four runs in six innings against the Dodgers in his only start of the season.

The Start Log is updated. Phils still looking for a quality start from someone other than Halladay. Also, each of the five pitchers who have started a game for the Phillies have gotten an average of at least 6.5 runs scored per game from the Phillie offense in their starts. The Phillies are on pace to score 1,242 runs this season. That might not even happen.

Next update to Philliesflow will be next week.