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Remember this from about a year ago? In 2010, Phillies pitchers overall combined to walk 416 batters for the year. That was the fewest number of walks issued by an NL team since the 1995 Mets walked 401.

We can now add 2011 to the list and again the Phillies have walked the fewest hitters of any NL team. Here’s the NL team that has issued the fewest walks overall since 1995 (the last time any NL team walked fewer hitters than the Phillies did in 2010 or 2011):

I have mixed feelings about the Phils cutting down their walk rate even further, cause if they knock or four more walks in 2012 I’m probably going to have to look more stuff up.

It was pretty much a three-man show for the Phils in terms of preventing walks in 2011. As I mentioned in a recent post, Halladay, Lee and Hamels all pitched a ton of innings and excelled at preventing walks. Here’s a look at the walks per nine innings rate for Halladay, Lee and Hamels as a group compared to the rest of the team for 2011:

So that trio walked less than half the hitters per nine innings that the rest of the team did. They also threw a tremendous number of innings, 46.2% of the total innings thrown by the team.

Hamels had the worst walk rate of the group of Halladay, Lee and Hamels at 1.83 walks per nine. No pitcher on the team in 2011 when threw at least 45 innings had a walk rate under two — Blanton threw 41 1/3 innings with a walk rate of 1.96 per nine frames and Joe Savery and Wilson Valdez combined not to walk a hitter over 3 1/3 innings. Among the guys who had at least 50 innings pitched in 2011, Oswalt was the pitcher other than the big three with the best walk rate — he allowed 2.14 walks per nine.

The Phils beat the Yankees 9-3 yesterday and are 1-2 in official action so far in Spring Training.

Blanton got the start and allowed two singles in two scoreless innings. Scott Elarton followed Blanton and went two frames as well, setting down all six men he faced. Austin Hyatt was charged with two runs over two innings. Brian Sanches pitched the seventh and was charged with a run on four singles before Herndon went two scoreless frames.

Domonic Brown continued his reign of butchery in the outfield, misplaying then diving at and missing a ball hit by Brett Gardner in the sixth inning that was called a triple. Kevin Frandsen threw the relay away on the same play for an error, allowing Gardner to score.

Still real early, but Brown has already looked terrible in the outfield.

Martinez hit a two-run homer for the Phils in his only at-bat. Rollins was 2-for-2 and stole two bases. Hector Luna was 1-for-2 with a three-run double, which comes after a home run in the game against Florida State. He seems like a tough guy for the Phillies to carry if he can’t play short. Polanco started at third and went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles.

The Phils play the Blue Jays this afternoon. Cliff Lee and Kyle Kendrick are expected to pitch.

Charlie Manuel suggests it’s going to be a while before Utley plays in this article.

Cole Hamels made 31 starts last year in which he threw 213 innings, or 6.87 innings per start. Rotation-mates Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee each went more than seven innings a start — 7.30 innings per start for Halladay and 7.27 for Lee.

So, should we be worried that Hamels isn’t going as deep into games? Not so much.

First of all, Halladay and Lee are workhorses who were at the top of the innings pitched list in the NL in 2011. Halladay was second in the NL in innings pitched with 233 2/3 and Lee was fourth with 232 2/3. Hamels himself was tied for ninth with 216 innings.

The other issue is that Hamels is a whole lot younger than either Halladay or Lee.

Table below shows, for Halladay, Lee, Hamels and Oswalt, the number of starts each of the four pitchers got by age and the average number of innings they threw per start that year:

Or, for those of you who prefer your data harder to understand, here’s a picture (points are plotted for years in which each of the pitchers started at least ten games):

During his age 27 season, Hamels went about 6.87 innings per start. That mark is higher than Halladay (6.33 over 21 starts at age 27) or Lee (6.08 over 33). It’s about the same but a little worse than Oswalt. In 2005, Oswalt made 35 starts for the Astros in which he threw 241 2/3 innings, which is about 6.91 innings per start.

I do want to acknowledge that the squiggly line graph is nearly incomprehensible. One thing I think it does illustrate, though, is that after their age 27 seasons, the innings pitched per start numbers for Halladay and Lee generally went up. Oswalt was a different story. He topped out in innings per start during his age 27 season and has been generally downwards since then.

The other thing is that Hamels has made a lot more starts through his age 27 season than the rest of the group has. Having just completed his age 27 season, he has 180 career starts. Through their age 27 seasons, Oswalt led the group of Halladay, Lee and Oswalt with 145. In terms of innings pitched per start through age 27, Hamels has thrown more innings per start than Lee, but a little bit less than Halladay or Oswalt.

The biggest point for the day, though, is that Hamels doesn’t have any problem with not throwing enough innings per start. He does throw fewer innings per start than Halladay or Lee, but so does pretty much everyone else in the world. In 2010, for example, Lee made 13 starts with the Mariners in which he threw 103 2/3 innings, which is a silly 7.97 innings per outing.

Phils beat Florida State 6-1 yesterday. Pete Orr made a couple of defensive miscues in the top of the seventh on a ball through his legs and a bobble of a mighta-been double-play as Florida State scored a run to tie the game a 1-1. Orr led off the bottom of the seventh with a double, though, and the Phils went on to score five times in the frame. Hector Luna hit a two-run shot in the rally. Hunter Pence doubled and walked in two plate appearances. Mayberry started at first and went 0-for-3 with five men left on base.

Austin Hyatt started for the Phils and struck out three in two perfect innings.

This says that Ryan Howard will be sidelined indefinitely after a procedure on Monday “to clean an infection from his surgical wound.” I’m not a medical expert or anything, but I think this might mean it’s okay to call it a setback now.

Erik Kratz says that Phillippe Aumont is a bulldog in this article. I don’t think he’s being literal. I think we would need to start to seriously consider the effectiveness of the scouting process if the fact that Aumont was a bulldog rather than a baseball player had somehow slipped through the cracks before trading for him.

Cause I really don’t know what Plan B is if the starting rotation isn’t going to be good. I have this sinking feeling it might involve Michael Martinez, though.

If game one looked bad early for the Phils and got better as it went along, game two was just the opposite. After three innings, the Phils had a 4-0 lead with Cliff Lee on the mound and Chris Carpenter on the ropes. After nine innings, the Phils had lost 5-4 and the series was tied up.

The Phils jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first as five of their first six hitters for the game reached based. They extended the lead to 4-0 in the second when Rollins doubled with two outs and was knocked in by Pence. St Louis got back in the game with three runs charged to Lee on a leadoff walk and four hits in the fourth. The Cards tied things up at 4-4 in the top of the sixth when Ryan Theriot doubled off of Lee with two outs and came to score on a Jon Jay single. Allen Craig led off the seventh with a triple off the glove of Victorino and Pujols singled off of Lee right behind him to put St Louis up to stay at 5-4.

The St Louis bullpen was fantastic in the game. After allowing five runs in 2 2/3 innings in the series opener, Cardinals relievers had to pitch six innings in relief of Carpenter in game two. They allowed one single and didn’t walk a batter in six shutout frames.

The Phillies lost to the St Louis Cardinals 5-4 last night. With the loss the best-of-five NLDS is tied up a one game apiece.

Lee got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing five runs on 12 hits and two walks. Five of the hits went for extra-bases, three doubles and two triples. The five runs he allowed in last night’s start were more than he allowed in his ten starts in June and August combined. In June and August, Lee threw 81 2/3 innings and allowed three runs.

Over his last three post-season starts, Lee has a 7.13 ERA and a 1.64 ratio. He has been charged with 26 hits and three walks in 17 2/3 innings.

He faced a St Louis lineup that went (1) Rafael Furcal (SS/S) (2) Allen Craig (RF/R) (3) Albert Pujols (1B/R) (4) Lance Berkman (LF/S) (5) David Freese (3B/R) (6) Yadier Molina (C/R) (7) Ryan Theriot (2B/R) (8) Jon Jay (CF/L). That’s the same lineup the Cards used in game one with Theriot replacing the lefty Skip Schumaker at second with the lefty Lee pitching for the Phils.

St Louis had six hitters on the bench to start the game, righties Matt Holliday and Gerald Laird, lefties Adron Chambers, Skip Schumaker and Daniel Descalso and switch-hitter Nick Punto.

Furcal hit the first pitch of the game off the wall in right. The ball rolled away from Pence and Furcal was safe at third with a triple. Lee struck Craig out swinging 1-2 for the first out. Pujols swung at the first pitch and popped to Utley in shallow right-center for the second out with Furcal holding. Berkman got ahead in the count and smashed a 2-0 pitch down the third-base line, but Polanco back-handed and threw to first to get him for the third out.

No run for St Louis after the leadoff triple. No contact for Craig and Pujols pops up to Utley. Berkman smashed the ball.

Lee threw nine pitches in the first.

He started the second up 3-0. Freese doubled to right on his first pitch of the inning. Molina struck out looking 1-2 for the first out and Theriot out looking 0-2 (on the seventh pitch of his at-bat) for the second. Neither Molina or Theriot liked the calls, but they looked like good pitches to me. Jay went down on a ball handled by Lee for the third out to leave Freese stranded.

Second time in two innings that St Louis can’t score after an extra-base hit to start the inning.

Lee was at 23 pitches.

The Phils were up 4-0 when Lee started the third. Carpenter led off and flew to right on a 3-2 pitch for the first out. Furcal hit a ball up the middle, but Utley made a nice play moving to his right and threw Furcal out on a close play at first for the second out. Lee walked Craig on a 3-2 pitch, but struck Pujols out waving at an 0-2 curve ball to leave Craig at first.

Odd deep count on Carpenter in the inning plus the walk of Craig, but Lee keeps St Louis off the board. You want to avoid walking guys ahead of Pujols.

Lee was at 43 pitches through three innings.

He got ahead of Berkman 0-2 to start the fourth, but couldn’t put him away as Berkman drew a walk. Lee struck Freese out looking at a 1-2 fastball for the first out. Molina hit a 3-2 pitch back up the middle, just missed by Lee and off the glove of a diving Rollins, putting men on first and second for Theriot. Theriot hit the first pitch from Lee the opposite way, past Howard and down the right field line for a double. Berkman scored to cut the lead to 4-1 with men on second and third. Jay hit a 1-0 pitch into right, scoring Molina (4-2). Pence came home with the throw, but Theriot held third. Jay took second as the throw came home, sliding in safely to second just ahead of the return throw from Ruiz. With one down and men on second and third, switch-hitter Nick Punto hit for Carpenter. Lee struck Punto out swinging 1-2 for the second out. Furcal singled into left on a 1-0 pitch. Theriot scored to make it 4-3. Jay tried to score from second, arriving at the plate at the same time as Ibanez’s lollipop throw from left. Jay buried Ruiz, but Ruiz held on to the ball for the third out.

Great play by Ruiz to hold onto the ball. Ibanez’s throw was accurate at least if not strong. Punto can’t put the ball in play with one out and men on second and third. Walking the leadoff guy often doesn’t work that well.

Lee’s pitch count was up to 70 after a 27-pitch inning.

Lee set the Cards down in order in the fifth, getting Craig and Pujols both looking 0-2 before Berkman popped to Rollins for the third out.

Twelve pitches in the inning put him at 82.

He got the first two hitters in the sixth, getting Freese swinging for the first out and Molina on a fly ball to left for the second. Theriot was next and doubled to left on a 1-0 pitch. Jay followed and singled into left on an 0-1 pitch. Theriot scored to tie the game at 4-4 with Jay taking second on the throw. Lefty Skip Schumaker hit for the pitcher Fernando Salas and reached on an infield single, moving Jay up to third. Furcal hit a 1-0 pitch to third with Polanco going to second to leave both runners stranded.

Nineteen more pitches in the game for Lee. He was at 101.

Craig led off the seventh and drove a ball to center the Victorino misplayed before it went off his glove for a leadoff triple. Pujols was next and he lined the first pitch he saw from Lee into left-center for a single. Craig scored and St Louis led 5-4. Berkman was next and he moved Pujols to third with a single. That was it for Lee. Lidge came on to pitch to Freese. Freese hit a ball that Lidge fielded. He threw home where Pujols was out for the first out with Freese taking second on the play and Berkman moving up to third. Lidge walked Molina intentionally to load the bases then got out of the jam by getting Theriot to ground into a double-play to set St Louis down.

Long run for Victorino, but the ball Craig hit would have been a nice one to have. Lidge does a great job, coming in with men on first and third and nobody out and keeping St Louis off the board.

Bastardo started the eighth and walked Jay on six pitches. Descalso, double-switched into the game in the bottom of the seventh, was next and bunted Jay to second with the first out. Bastardo struck Furcal out swinging 2-2 for the second out. Worley came in to pitch to the righty Craig and got him to fly to right 1-1 to leave Jay at second.

Glad to see Bastardo get the big strikeout on Furcal, but walking Jay on six pitches wasn’t a good way to start the inning.

Madson started the ninth. Pujols led off with a single to left. Berkman struck out swinging 3-2 as Pujols was hung up by Ruiz and eventually tagged out for the second. Madson struck out Chambers, double-switched into the game in the eighth, on a 2-2 pitch for the third out.

Three shutout innings for the pen in relief of Lee in which they allowed a hit and two walks. Madson threw 15 pitches, Bastardo 12, Lidge six and Worley three.

Furcal is 3-for-8 with a triple so far in the series. Pujols 3-for-8 with three singles. Berkman 2-for-8 with a big homer in game one.

Jay and Molina are both 2-for-7 with two singles.

Freese and Craig have gone 2-for-14 with seven strikeouts.

Schumaker 3-for-5 with a double and Theriot 2-for-4 with two doubles.

The Phillies lineup against righty Chris Carpenter went (1) Rollins (SS/S) (2) Utley (2B/L) (3) Pence (RF/R) (4) Howard (1B/L) (5) Victorino (CF/S) (6) Ibanez (LF/L) (7) Polanco (3B/R) (8) Ruiz (C/R). That’s the same lineup they used against righty Kyle Lohse in game one.

The Phils started the game with six players on their bench, righties John Mayberry, Wilson Valdez and Ben Francisco, lefties Brian Schneider and Ross Gload and switch-hitter Michael Martinez.

Rollins led off the bottom of the first and hit a 2-0 pitch off the top of the wall in right for a double. Utley and Pence both walked behind, loading the bases for Howard. Howard singled up the middle, scoring Rollins and Utley and moving Pence to third with the Phils up 2-0. Victorino swung at the first pitch from Carpenter and flew to center with Jay moving in. Pence held third. Ibanez was next and he lined a 1-1 pitch to left for a single, scoring Pence (3-0) and moving Howard up to second. Polanco got ahead in the count but grounded into a double-play on a 2-1 pitch to end the inning.

Again Howard and Ibanez deliver big hits to get the Phils on the board. Again Rollins starts the rally. Victorino can’t bring Pence in from third with the first out.

Carpenter threw 30 pitches in the inning.

Ruiz led off the bottom of the second and grounded to short on a 1-2 pitch for the first out. Lee was next and struck out trying to check his swing 2-2. Rollins was next and he smashed a 3-1 pitch even higher off the wall in right (more right-center this time) for another double. Rollins was running as Carpenter delivered a 3-2 pitch to Utley way out of the zone. Utley had another walk and the Phils had men on first and third. Pence got behind in the count but singled hard to right 0-2. Rollins scored from third to make it 4-0 with Utley moving up to second. Howard hit a 2-0 pitch well to left, but Berkman took it on the track to leave both runners stranded.

Two long doubles for Rollins in two innings. The one in the second was hit the bigger part of the field and very nearly a home run. Not sure that Rollins would have scored from second on the single by Pence. No chance without two outs, but he might have tried with two.

Another long inning for Carpenter, who had thrown 56 through two innings.

Victorino grounded to first to start the third. Ibanez grounded hard to second on a 2-0 pitch for the second out. Polanco struck out swinging 0-2 for the third out.

Polanco 0-for-2 with a strikeout and a grounded into a double-play in the first three innings of the game after going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in game one. He went 6-for-33 in the post-season in 2010. In his most recent playoff action prior to 2010, Polanco had gone 0-for-17 for Detroit in the 2006 World Series against St Louis.

Carpenter was at 64 pitches for the game.

Righty Fernando Salas started the fourth for St Louis with the lead cut to 4-3. He set the Phils down in order on three ground balls, getting Ruiz, Lee and Rollins.

He was back for the fifth and threw another 1-2-3 frame, striking out Utley and Pence and getting Howard on a fly ball to center.

Utley struck out looking at a 3-2 pitch they looked like it was outside by a non-trivial amount.

Two huge shutdown innings for Salas after Carpenter leads in which the Cards get back into the game.

Righty Octavio Dotel started the sixth for St Louis with the score tied at 4-4. He was pitching for the second time in the series after two-thirds of an inning and seven pitches in game one. Victorino lined to center for the first out. Ibanez struck out swinging 1-2 for the second. Polanco flew to center for the third.

The Phils were down 5-4 when Dotel started the seventh and struck Ruiz out swinging 1-2 for the first out. Gload hit for Lidge. Lefty Marc Rzepczynski came in to pitch to Gload. Francisco hit for Gload against the lefty and flew to center for the second out. Rollins was next and he singled to left on a 1-0 pitch, but Rzepczynski picked him off of first with Pujols throwing down to second where Rollins was tagged out to end the inning.

Dotel has struck out four in two scoreless innings in the first two games of the series.

Rzepczynski was back to start the eighth and hit Utley with a 1-1 pitch. Boggs came in to face Pence, having thrown 36 pitches in game one, and Pence grounded to short with Utley forced at second for the first out. Lefty Arthur Rhodes came in and struck Howard out swinging 0-2 for the second out. Righty Jason Motte made his first appearance of the series, getting Victorino to fly to center 0-2 to leave Pence at first.

Motte was back for the ninth. He struck Ibanez out swinging 0-2 for the first out. Polanco flew to right for the second. Ruiz swung at the first pitch of his at-bat and grounded to second to end the game.

Six shutout innings from the St Louis bullpen in the game in which they allowed one hit, the single by Rollins against Rzepczynski, and struck out six. Motte, Dotel and Salas all had great days for St Louis.

Rollins was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a stolen base and a caught stealing. He’s 5-for-8 so far in the series.

Utley was 0-for-1 with two walks and was hit by a pitch. 3-for-6 with two walks and two doubles so far.

Pence 1-for-3 with a walk. 3-for-8 in the first two games.

Howard 1-for-4 with two RBI. 2-for-7 with a home run and six RBI in the series.

Victorino 0-for-4 and left three men on base. 3-for-8 with two RBI.

Ibanez 1-for-4 with an RBI and two strikeouts. 3-for-8 with a home run and four RBI in the series.

Polanco 0-for-4 with a strikeout. 0-for-8 with three strikeouts in the series. He hit 243/304/287 in his last 409 plate appearances in the regular season.

Ruiz 0-for-4 with a strikeout. 0-for-8 with two strikeouts so far.

Game three is tomorrow in St Louis.

When the post-season arrives, the Phils will be starting left-handed pitchers in two of the first three games and feature a bullpen with a single lefty who came into yesterday’s game having allowed nine of the last 15 batters he had faced to reach base.

So it seems important to know how their potential playoff opponents in the NL fare against lefties. For the four NL teams other than the Phillies who look like they have the best chance to make the playoffs, here’s what the teams have done overall against left-handed pitching for the year (none of the numbers in this post include yesterday’s games):

So, by OPS, the Cards have been the best of those four teams against left-handed pitching and the Braves have been the worst. It shouldn’t be lost on anyone that Atlanta has been absolutely atrocious against lefties this year, hitting just 229/292/352 against them, which gives them the NL-worst .644 OPS against left-handed pitchers.

Here’s the list of St Louis’s best hitters against lefties who got at least 100 plate appearances against left-handed pitching this season. They are ordered by OPS:

That’s kind of a scary list because of its length, but with a couple of problems for the Cards. Holliday is hurt and Rasmus isn’t on the team anymore, traded to the Blue Jays in July. Oh, and the other problem is that they’re almost surely not going to make the post-season.

If they do, they do have some guys without 100 plate appearances against lefties who have good numbers against left-handed pitching. Allen Craig was hitting 306/338/613 against lefties in 63 plate appearances coming into yesterday and David Freese had hit 348/390/522 against southpaws over 77 plate appearances.

And here’s a lot at the top left-bashers on the other three teams, starting with the Snakes:

Three guys there who have had monster years against left-handed pitching. Notably, two of them, Young and Roberts, have been miserable against righties. Young has hit 216/306/375 against righties and Roberts has hit 238/321/399 against them. Upton has hammered everyone, putting up a 301/372/535 line against righties. As good as he has been against both sides, he has shown a lot more power against lefties with an isolated power of .234 against righties and .289 against lefties.

Two monster bats against lefties for the Brewers in Braun and Hart. Weeks has been struggling with an ankle problem, but is getting stronger and playing again. Fielder, of course, is a lefty, but has still done his share of damage against left-handed pitchers.

Despite the two huge bats against lefties in Braun and Hart, the Brewers have had their share of guys who have brought down their numbers. Righty Casey McGehee has played regularly this year and hit 171/230/187 in his 135 plate appearances against lefties. His fellow righty Yuniesky Betancourt has also gotten a ton of chances and hit 239/256/345 against lefties.

Then there’s Atlanta. And they can’t hit lefties at all — their best hitter by OPS who got at least 100 plate appearances against lefties is their left-handed hitting catcher Brian McCann:

That’s a little misleading because of the miserable year righty Dan Uggla has had with the bat. After hitting 173/241/327 through the first 86 games of the season, Uggla has hit 312/396/620 over his last 288 plate appearances. His numbers against lefties for the year are still atrocious, 197/284/338, but he hit 306/409/575 against lefties in 2010 and you have to think that he’s going to be more formidable against lefties in the post-season than he has during the regular season.

The Braves have had other problems against lefties this year, though. Righty Alex Gonzalez has on-based .284 against them. Lefties Freddie Freeman and Jayson Heyward have both struggled as well. Freeman has hit 256/314/420 against them in 194 plate appearances while Heyward has hit a hide-your-eyes 184/263/301 against them in 114.

So, purely for the standpoint of guys who can hit lefties, who should the Phillies be hoping to face in the post-season? It looks like the answer is clearly the Braves, with the caveat that Uggla is a whole lot better than his numbers so far this year. That can’t happen in the first round, of course. For me, the scariest team against lefties is Milwaukee — despite the miserable numbers for a couple of their regulars, Braun and Hart have just demolished left-handed pitching this season.

Finally, it seems important to point out the NL player who came into action yesterday with the best OPS against left-handed pitching for the season (among players with at least 100 plate appearances against lefties). Shane Victorino is the answer with a 327/444/645 line (1.089 OPS).

Yesterday the Phils played a double-header with the Washington Nationals, dropping both games to fall to 98-56 on the year. The Phillies have lost four in a row and scored three runs or less in 12 of their last 13 games.

The Phils lost the day game 4-3 in ten innings. Kendrick got the start for the Phillies and was fantastic again, tossing six shutout innings before being Schwimer took over in the seventh. Schwimer allowed a pair of singles before Roger Bernadina hit one out to right, putting the Nats up 3-0. The Phils tied it up in the bottom of the inning when Ibanez, 1-for-his-last-18, hit a three-run pinch-hit homer off of Tyler Clippard. Stutes started the tenth and got the first two before walking Michael Morse. Morse took second on a passed ball by Erik Kratz and came in to score on a pinch-hit single by Ryan Zimmerman, putting Washington up 4-3. Kratz doubled to start the bottom of the tenth, his first career extra-base hit, but was left at second when Orr lined to short, Schneider struck out and Gload grounded to short.

Kendrick has a 1.91 ERA in his 33 innings since the end of July. Those innings have come over seven appearances, five of which have been starts.

Not a good day for Schwimer, who saw his ERA on the year rise to 6.97 on the three-run homer. He’s allowed five runs in two innings over his last two appearances.

Joe Savery made his debut for the Phillies in the game. He started the eighth and allowed a single on a ball deflected by Orr. The next batter bunted the runner to second and Savery was pulled.

The Phils lost the night game 3-0. Lee got the start for the Phillies and went seven innings, allowing three runs on 11 hits. Only two of the runs were earned and the Phillies made three errors in the game (Rollins, Utley and Ruiz). The offense had just three hits, two singles by Francisco and one by Polanco, as Ross Detwiler threw 7 1/3 scoreless frames for the Nats.

Danny Espinosa homered off of Lee in the second to put Washington up 1-0. Washington got another run on three singles in the sixth to push the lead to 2-0. Jayson Werth started the seventh with a double for Washington and went to third on a one-out single by Michael Morse. Werth came in to score on a bad pickoff throw by Ruiz, upping the lead to 3-0.

Justin De Fratus threw a 1-2-3 eighth after Lee left and has now thrown two scoreless innings in two appearances.

Herndon threw the ninth, allowing a two-out walks but striking out two and keeping Washington off the board. In his 20 appearances since the All-Star break he has thrown to a 1.65 ERA with a 1.21 ratio.

Vance Worley (11-2, 2.85) faces lefty John Lannan (9-13, 3.68) tonight in leave-your-lefties-on-the-bench night at the yard.

On the please-move-along-there’s-nothing-to-see-here front, Hunter Pence tweaked his left knee in game one yesterday and says it’s going to be fine.

Jimmy Rollins and his wife will host their first annual Havana Nights to benefit the Jimmy Rollins Family Foundation and Prevent Child Abuse Pennsylvania at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Monday, November 14. Read all about it.

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.

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.