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Joel Pineiro has a minor league deal with the Phils and there’s a reasonable chance he’ll get some starts with the team during the 2012 season. The 33-year-old righty was solid with the Cardinals and Angels in 2009 and 2010, making 55 starts between the two teams combined and throwing to 3.64 ERA with a 1.18 ratio.

In 2011, though, he had a miserable year with the Angels and finished the season with a 5.13 ERA and a 1.51 ratio. Through 14 starts in ’11 Pineiro sported a 3.90 ERA that hid the true story. He had a 1.43 ratio to go with it, having allowed 106 hits in 90 1/3 innings. Over his last 13 appearances, ten of which were starts, things blew up as he threw to a 7.11 ERA with a 1.63 ratio. In his last 23 appearances on the season, from May 21 to the end of the year, he allowed 160 hits in 118 1/3 innings pitched.

So allowing a ton of hits in 2011 was a big part of the problem for Pineiro. But there were others. Here are his combined numbers for 2009 and 2010 and for 2011 (in 2009 he threw 214 innings with St Louis in the NL, in 2010 152 1/3 with the Angels):

And here’s what righties and lefties did against him in those two years combined and in 2011:

It’s not on the chart above, but in both 2009 and 2010 combined and in 2011, Pineiro gave up a double or a triple to about 6.0% of the batters he faced. Just about everything else got worse in 2011. Pineiro doesn’t rack up strikeouts, even when he’s pitching well, but his strikeouts were down in ’11. He gave up way more singles, walked a lot more hitters and gave up home runs at a higher rate. The walks were up more dramatically than the hits. Compared to his ’09-’10 numbers, his walks rose at about the same rate against lefties and righties.

Important to remember is that coming into the 2009 season with the Cardinals, Pineiro hadn’t been good for a while. From 2004 to 2008, he pitched for the Mariners, Red Sox and Cardinals, throwing to a 5.34 ERA and a 1.47 ratio. Over those five seasons, he allowed way too many hits, giving up 867 in 741 2/3 innings.

From 2001 to 2003, Pineiro pitched for Seattle and allowed just 431 hits in 481 1/3 innings (8.1 hits per nine). In ’03 he was seventh in the AL in fewest hits allowed per nine at 8.16. That was the end of that, though. From 2004 to 2008, he allowed 10.5 hits per nine innings and he hasn’t allowed fewer than nine hits per nine innings in any year since 2003.

I think the other things to be wary about Pineiro’s recent history are 1) his 2010 season with the Angels wasn’t that fantastic and 2) his 2009 season with the Cardinals was pretty fantastic, but during that year he prevented walks at an outstanding rate he has never matched in his career and likely won’t ever match again.

In 2010 with the Angels, Pineiro threw to an ERA+ of 104. He allowed more than a hit per inning and his walk rate from 2009 jumped.

In 2009, Pineiro walked 27 batters in 214 innings. That’s 1.14 per nine innings and in 2009 he led the NL in the category. By a lot. Arizona’s Dan Haren was second and he allowed 1.49 walks per nine that year.

Pineiro hasn’t been in the top ten in his league in fewest walks per nine innings in any other year of his career. From the start of his career in 2000 through the end of 2008, he walked 7.2% of the batters that he faced. In 2009, he walked 3.1% of the batters he faced. He faced 445 right-handed batters that year and walked ten of them (2.2%). Over the last two years, his walk rate has been down, but nowhere near as low as it was in 2009. He’s walked about 5.7% of the batters he’s faced since the start of the 2010 season and about 4.3% of the righties.

Both sides seem to think that Hamels and the Phillies will discussed a long-term contract during spring training.

In this article, Hamels’s agent suggests that the pitcher’s next contract will reflect his eliteness. Or at least it would if that was a word. The agent also suggests that Jared Weaver left a lot of money on the table in signing his five-year, $85 million deal.

This says that Jeremy Accardo has agreed to a minor league deal with the Indians.

This suggests that Amaro said left field will be a Mayberry/Nix platoon and Brown will start the year in the minors barring a monster spring training.

This suggests that Amaro said Ty Wigginton will be the primary first baseman for the Phils while Howard is out with Thome backing him up.

It would be all about the Benjamins if Francisco’s first name was actually Benjamin. Mostly at least. It would also be some about Cole Hamels, too. And a little about a great job by Ryan Madson to get out of a huge jam in the bottom of the eighth.

The Phils got an outstanding pitching performance from Cole Hamels last night and one big swing of the bat from Ben Francisco as they topped the Cards 3-2 in game three of the NLDS.

Hamels and St Louis lefty Jaime Garcia locked up in a pitcher’s duel that saw the Phillies come to bat in the seventh with the game scoreless. With two outs, Victorino on first and Ruiz set to hit in front of Hamels, who was clearly going to be removed for a pinch-hitter having thrown 117 pitches in the game, the lefty Garcia walked Ruiz intentionally. Francisco hit for Hamels and blasted a three-run homer to left, putting the Phils on top 3-0. The bullpen struggled for the Phillies after Hamels left. Worley allowed a run on two singles and a walk in the bottom of the seventh, cutting the lead to 3-1. In the eighth, another single off of Worley and two off of Lidge loaded the bases for St Louis with one out. Madson came in to try to lock down a long save and got out of the eighth on a double-play ball smashed to second by Allen Craig. Madson was charged with a run in the bottom of the ninth when Albert Pujols led off with a double and scored on a two-out single by Yadier Molina, cutting the lead to 3-2. Ryan Theriot came to the plate 4-for-4 on the day as the winning run with two outs and a man on first, but Madson got him to ground to Utley at second to end the game.

The decision to walk Ruiz, 1-for-11 in the series, ahead of the pitcher’s spot with two outs in the seventh was baffling. It put another runner on base for the righty Francisco to hit against the lefty Garcia. After he homered, the St Louis comeback fell a run short. The foundation may have been Francisco’s 1-for-9 against Garcia for his career, but that was a bad idea and it hurt St Louis.

For Francisco it was a shining moment in a down season. He started for the Phillies in right field on opening day, but disappointed offensively, hitting an ugly 197/324/309 in 184 plate appearances between April 13 and June 30.

His home run last night was a much-needed lift for an offense that has seen its starters knock in zero runs in the last 16 innings.

The St Louis pen continues to befuddle the Phillies. After two scoreless innings in game three, they have thrown eight scoreless frames since being hit hard in game one.

The Phillies pen, on the other handled, struggled like they did in game one. The pen was great in game two, throwing three scoreless innings in relief of Lee. In games one and three they have allowed five runs on 11 hits and two walks over four innings. Eleven hits is more than you want to allow in four innings.

The Phils have won both of the games in which their pen has pitched badly and won the one where it didn’t.

The Phillies lead the NLDS with the St Louis Cardinals two games to one after winning game three 3-2 last night.

Hamels got the start for the Phillies and went six shutout innings, allowing five hits and three walks. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, both doubles to Albert Pujols. He struck out eight. He has allowed two earned runs over 21 innings in his last three post-season starts.

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).

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.

Hamels got Furcal on a ground ball to second for the first out of the bottom of the first. Craig popped to Rollins on a 1-2 pitch for the second out. Pujols was next and doubled to center on a 2-2 pitch before Hamels hit Berkman 1-0 to put men on first and second. Berkman and Pujols pulled off a double-steal, but Hamels struck Freese out swinging 0-2 to leave them at second and third.

Molina hit a 2-2 pitch way out but foul before flying to Pence for the first out of the second. Theriot singled to right, but Hamels struck Jay out looking 3-2 for the second out and pitcher Jaime Garcia out swinging to leave Theriot at first.

Furcal went down swinging 1-2 to start the third before Craig walked on a 3-2 pitch up and away. Pujols flew to center on a 2-1 pitch for the second out and Berkman grounded to Utley to end the frame.

Don’t want to walk guys ahead of Pujols and Berkman, but it worked out okay for Hamels there.

Hamels struck Freese out trying to check his swing for the first out in the fourth. Molina grounded to short for the second. Theriot was next and he dribbled an 0-2 pitch down the third base line that stayed fair for a single. Theriot stole second as the count went 2-0 on Jay, so Hamels put Jay on intentionally to pitch to Garcia with men on first and second. Garcia grounded to short to leave both runners stranded.

Furcal popped to Utley to start the fifth and Craig flew to center behind him. Pujols ripped an 0-1 pitch into the gap in right center where the ball rolled all the way to the wall for a double. Berkman grounded to Howard to end the inning.

Hamels got Freese looking 2-2 to start the sixth. Molina got ahead of Hamels 3-0, but Hamels came back and struck him out swinging for the second out. Theriot was next and he singled to left, bringing Jay to the plate with two outs and a man on first. Hamels walked Jay on a 3-2 pitch that was low and his 111th of the game. Hamels struck Garcia out swinging 1-2 with his 117th pitch of the game to leave both runners stranded.

Theriot was 3-for-3 in the game at that point and Freese 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.

Worley started the seventh with the Phils on top 3-0. Furcal grounded to first for the first out, but Worley walked Craig on a 3-2 pitch behind him. Pujols was next and he blooped a ball into right that fell between Utley and Pence, putting men on first and second for Berkman. Berkman swung at the first pitch and hit a ground ball to second, with Utley going to Rollins at second to force Pujols for the second out with Craig moving up to third. Freese was also swinging at the first pitch and singled into center, scoring Craig to make it 3-1 and moving Berkman to second. Molina flew to right on a 1-0 pitch to end the inning.

I’m pretty sure it’s enough with walking Craig ahead of the great hitters.

Worley was back to start the eighth and got ahead of Theriot 0-2 before Worley looped a single that dropped right in front of Pence. Fourth hit of the game for Theriot. Bastardo took over to pitch to the lefty Jay and Punto hit for Jay. Punto flew to center on a 2-1 pitch for the first out. Righty Matt Holliday hit for the pitcher Fernando Salas and Lidge came in to pitch to him. Lidge threw strike one to Holliday before Holliday singled into left, moving Theriot up to second. Adron Chambers ran for Holliday at first. Furcal was next and singled to left on a 1-2 pitch, loading the bases for the Cards. Manuel called on Madson to pitch to Craig and Craig hit an 0-1 pitch hard but right at Utley. Utley ran to second then made a strong throw to first to complete the double-play and end the inning.

Just a huge pitch for Madson to get the double-play and get the Phillies out of the inning. Madson also gets out of the frame with just two pitches — important since he was coming back for the ninth. Getting a double-play also meant the guy behind Craig, Pujols, didn’t get to hit with a bunch of men on bases.

Fantastic decision by Manuel to bring in his best relief option with one out in the eighth inning.

It was good Pujols didn’t get to hit with the bases loaded cause he doubled to left to start the ninth. Madson got Berkman to fly to center on a 1-2 pitch for the first out. Madson got ahead of Freese and threw an 0-2 pitch that Freese took that looked real good to me. Might have been a little high. Freese took if for ball one then grounded to second 2-2 for the second out with Pujols moving up to third. Molina was next and he lined a single into center, scoring Pujols and cutting the lead to 3-2. Pitcher Kyle Lohse ran for Molina at first and Theriot came to the plate with a 4-for-4 for the game and hitting .750 in the series. Madson got Theriot to hit a one-hopper to Utley on a 2-2 pitch with Utley going to Howard in plenty of time to end the game.

Either team could have won the game on every pitch of Theriot’s at-bat, but Madson gets the job done for his second career post-season save. The other came in game five of the 2009 World Series. Madson has pitched in every game in the series, including the one that the Phillies won by five runs. Anyone remember Juan Uribe last year or Madson pitching with five-run leads? Just saying. That just saying aside, I thought it was great Manuel brought Madson in with one out in the eighth yesterday. Less fantastic he brought him into the ninth inning of game one, which the Phils won by five runs (the Phils were actually up seven runs, 11-4, with one out and the bases loaded in the ninth when Madson entered game one).

Three ugly innings for the bullpen in which they allow two runs on seven hits and a walk. Madson threw 20 pitches in the game and Worley 18. Bastardo and Lidge were both under ten.

Pujols and Theriot both went 4-for-5 in game three. Theriot had four singles and Pujols three doubles and a single. Pujols is 7-for-13 in the series and Theriot 6-for-9.

Furcal 1-for-5 in the game and 4-for-14 in the series.

Craig 0-for-3 with two walks. He’s 1-for-10 in the series but has walked four times. The Phillies should really try to stop walking him ahead of Pujols and Berkman.

Freese 1-for-5 with three strikeouts. 2-for-12 with six strikeouts in the series.

Molina 1-for-5 in the game and 3-for-12 in the series.

Jay 0-for-1 and walked twice. 2-for-8 with three walks in the series.

The Phillies lineup against lefty Jaime Garcia went (1) Rollins (SS/S) (2) Utley (2B/L) (3) Pence (RF/R) (4) Howard (1B/L) (5) Victorino (CF/S) (6) Mayberry (LF/R) (7) Polanco (3B/R) (8) Ruiz (C/R). Mayberry starts in left against the lefty with Ibanez on the bench. That seems like the right decision, although Ibanez went 3-for-8 with a home run and four RBI in the first two games of the series.

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

Rollins was the first batter of the game and fouled out to Pujols. Utley grounded to first for the second out. Pence lined to Furcal at short for the third out.

Howard struck out swinging 1-2 to start the second. Victorino flew to center for the second out and Mayberry struck out swinging 0-2 for the third.

Polanco grounded to short for the first out of the third before Ruiz chopped a ball over Freese’s head and into left for a single. Hamels tried to bunt but popped the first pitch from Garcia up to Molina in foul territory for the second out. Rollins was next and he hit a ball into center that Jay may have had trouble seeing in the sun, but it would have fallen anyway. Rollins had a single and Ruiz moved up to second. Utley grounded to Pujols to leave both runners stranded.

Pence flew to Berkman on the edge of the track in right for the first out of the fourth. Howard struck out looking 2-2 for the second. Victorino grounded to third to end the frame.

Mayberry started the fifth with a ground out to short. Polanco grounded to third for the second. Ruiz smashed a 3-2 pitch to Furcal’s right, but Furcal made a nice play to pick the ball and a strong throw to first to get Ruiz and set the Phillies down.

Hamels hammered a 1-0 pitch to left to start the sixth, but Craig took it after a long run for the first out. Rollins was next and flew to left for the second out. Utley was next and singled into center. He took second when Garcia delivered a 1-1 pitch to Pence that looked like it could have been blocked by Molina but wasn’t. With Utley on second, Pence was walked intentionally to put men on first and second. Howard grounded to first 0-2 for the third out to leave both men stranded.

Victorino got ahead 3-0 to start the seventh and singled into center on a 3-2 pitch. The first pitch to Mayberry was a low fastball that Molina again couldn’t block, allowing Victorino to move up to second. Mayberry flew to right for the first out and Berkman nearly picked Victorino off of second, with Victorino scurrying back just ahead of the tag. Polanco was next and grounded to third for the second out with Victorino holding second. For reasons that completely escape me, Garcia walked Ruiz intentionally to put men on first and second. Francisco hit for Hamels and hit a 1-0 pitch out to left for a three-run homer that put the Phils on top 3-0. Rollins doubled over Jay’s head and stole third, but was left there when Utley grounded to second.

Walking Ruiz intentionally is kinda baffling.

Righty Fernando Salas started the eighth with the Phillies up 3-1 and got Pence on a fly ball to right for the first out. Howard was next and he grounded to second for the second out. Victorino grounded to second to set the Phillies down.

Righy Jason Motte was on for the Cards to start the ninth. Skip Schumaker was in center for St Louis, where he had played 13 innings in 2011. Mayberry led off and hit a ball into center that Furcal tracked down with an over-the-shoulder catch for the first out. Polanco was next and broke his 0-for-11 with a single to right. Ruiz hit a ball into center that Schumaker made a diving effort at. It was originally ruled a non-catch with Ruiz safe at first with a single, but the umpires huddled and called it a catch (it was). Polanco went back to first with two down. Madson hit for himself and Motte struck him out swinging 0-2 to leave Polanco at first.

Dotel, Motte, Rhodes and Salas have combined to throw eight scoreless innings so far in the series in which they have allowed one hit (Polanco’s game three single off of Motte) and no walks.

Rollins was 2-for-4 with a double in the game. He’s 7-for-12 with a walk and three doubles in the series.

Utley 1-for-4. 4-for-10 with two walks and two doubles.

Pence 0-for-3 with a walk and 3-for-11 with two walks in the series.

Howard 0-for-4 and struck out twice. 2-for-11 with a home run and six RBI in the series. 1-for-8 in the last two games.

Victorino 1-for-4 yesterday and 4-for-12 with four singles in the series.

Mayberry 0-for-4 with a strikeout in the game and in the set.

Polanco 1-for-4 with a single. 1-for-12 in the series. He’s now hitting 254/321/287 in 140 career post-season plate appearances. 7-for-41 (.171) with the Phillies in the playoffs since the start of the 2010 post-season.

Ruiz was 1-for-3 with a memorable intentional walk. He’s 1-for-11 in the set.

Polanco and Ruiz are a combined 2-for-23 at the bottom of the order for the Phils. Rollins and Utley are a combined 11-for-22 so far at the top.

Roy Oswalt faces righty Edwin Jackson in game four.

If there is one, let’s just hope it’s for the Phils and not St Louis.

Cole Hamels faces lefty Jaime Garcia this afternoon in game three in St Louis.

Hamels went 14-9 for the Phils with a 2.79 ERA and an 0.97 ratio. He was second in the NL in ratio and in the top ten in ERA, strikeouts and innings pitched. He allowed just 169 hits in 216 innings — that’s about 7.042 per nine innings, which was second-best in the league behind Clayton Kershaw.

Righties hit just 204/251/326 against the lefty Hamels for the season. Lefties 249/286/376.

Hamels had the best year of his career preventing home runs in 2011, allowing just 19 in 216 innings. He allowed a lot more homers towards the end of the year. Over his first 17 starts of the year through the end of June he threw 116 innings and allowed just six home runs. That’s 0.47 home runs per nine innings. From the start of August to the end of the season he allowed 11 home runs in 64 innings (1.54 per nine). In the 38 innings he threw in September, Hamels allowed nine home runs (2.13 per nine).

He made one start against St Louis this year, allowing four runs in seven innings on September 18. The Phils lost that game 5-0. Hamels struck out nine in seven innings, but allowed pair of two-run homers in the game. Pujols hit one in the first and Allen Craig got him in the sixth. Blanton gave up a run in relief in the eighth and Chris Carpenter threw eight shutout innings against the Phils.

Pujols is just 4-for-23 for his career against Hamels, but with a double and two home runs. Berkman 7-for-21 with seven singles. Theriot seems like a good bet to start at second, he’s 7-for-21 with two doubles and a homer against Hamels. Furcal 2-for-10. Craig 2-for-6 with a homer. Molina 4-for-18 with two doubles.

Hamels was named the most valuable player of the 2008 World Series and the 2008 NLCS. In six playoff starts in ’08 he threw to a 2.16 ERA with an 0.94 ratio. Overall he has made 12 playoff starts for his career, throwing to a 3.33 ERA with a 1.03 ratio. Last year he threw a complete-game shutout against the Reds in game three of the NLDS, allowing four singles, a double and no walks as the Phils won 2-0.

Lefty Jaime Garcia, 13-7 with a 3.56 ERA in the regular season, goes for the Cardinals.

The 25-year-old Garcia was better against righties than lefties this year, holding righties to a 264/309/388 line while lefties hit 308/352/418 against him. He was also a lot better at home than on the road, throwing to a 2.55 ERA with a 1.11 ratio at home and a 4.61 ERA with an ugly 1.54 ratio in his 17 starts on the road.

Garcia is good at keeping the ball in the yard. Over the last two seasons he has allowed 24 homers in 358 innings (0.60 per nine).

He made two starts against the Phillies this year and was very good, holding them to two runs (one earned) over 15 innings.

On May 17 he held the Phils to an unearned run over eight innings as the Cards topped the Phillies 2-1. St Louis went up 1-0 with a run off of Oswalt in the fourth on a walk and two singles. Rollins reached on a dropped popup by Tyler Greene in the eighth and scored on a sac fly by Polanco to tie the game at 1-1, but Baez started the ninth and allowed the first three men he faced to reach on singles, which loaded the bases. Berkman singled off of Romero to give the Cards a walkoff win.

On September 16 he allowed a run over seven innings in Philadelphia as the Cards won 4-2. The Cards jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second with a run off of Worley on three walks and a single. Back-to-back doubles by Polanco and Mayberry tied the game up at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning, which is the only earned run the Phillies scored charged to Garcia this year. Molina homered off of Bastardo in the eight to put the Cards up 2-1, but the Phils tied the game at 2-2 when Corey Patterson dropped a fly ball from Ruiz with two outs in the ninth, allowing Martinez to score from second. St Louis scored two runs charged to Schwimer in the top of the eleventh to get the win.

Pence is the Phillies with the most career at-bats against Garcia. He’s 3-for-15 against Garcia with a double, a triple and a home run. Howard 2-for-12 with a home run (one of just nine HR on the year that Garica allowed in 163 1/3 innings in 2010), Utley 0-for-6, Rollins 1-for-11, Polanco 2-for-11 with a double, Victorino 2-for-9.

Garcia will be the first lefty that the Phillies have faced in the post-season. Ibanez was 1-for-3 against Garcia this year and Mayberry 3-for-6 with a double.

Garcia will be making his first post-season appearance.

This suggests that Mayberry will start in left instead of Ibanez. Ibanez is 3-for-8 with a home run and four RBI in the first two games of the series. I think Mayberry is the better choice.

The Phils made franchise history last night, winning their 102nd game of the regular season for the first time ever as they beat Atlanta 4-3 in 13 innings to knock the Braves out of the post-season.

The Phillies end the year at 102-60 and winners of four straight games. They swept Atlanta in the three-game set and the Braves fell short in their Wild Card bid with the combination of last night’s loss and an 8-0 win for the Cardinals against Houston.

Blanton started the game for the Phils and allowed a run on three hits over two innings, dropping his ERA on the year to 5.01.

The Phils went up 1-0 in the top of the first when Pence’s two-out walk was followed by a Howard double. Michael Bourn led off the bottom of the first for Atlanta with a single, stole second, went to third on a ground out and scored on a sac fly to tie the game at 1-1. Dan Uggla hit a two-run homer off of Cole Hamels in the third, putting Atlanta up 3-1.

The Phils still trailed by two runs when they hit in the seventh. With one out and men on first and third, Ruiz smashed a ball to short that would have been a double-play ball if Jack Wilson could have handled it cleanly. He couldn’t. Ruiz reached on an error and Ibanez scored from third to cut the lead to 3-2.

Craig Kimbrel came on in the ninth to try to save the game for Atlanta, but couldn’t get it done. The Phils loaded the bases on a single by Polanco and walks to Francisco and Rollins before Utley delivered a sac fly that tied the game at 3-3. With two outs in the top of the 13th and men on first and third, Pence broke his bat delivering a single into shallow right field with Schneider scoring from third to put the Phillies up a run. Herndon kept the Braves off the board in the bottom of the ninth, walking Uggla with one out but getting Freddie Freeman to hit into a double-play behind him to end the game, to earn his first career save.

Hamels didn’t look strong pitching in relief, allowing two runs on four hits over three innings, and again was hurt by the home run on the two-run shot by Uggla. In 38 innings in September, Hamels allowed nine home runs (2.13 per nine innings). Only one pitcher in either league, Bronson Arroyo, allowed more than nine home runs in September. Three others besides Hamels also allowed nine (Anthony Vazquez managed to allow nine in 20 innings pitching for Seattle). Coming into September, Hamels had allowed ten home runs in 178 innings (.51 per nine innings).

It was a fantastic night for the Phillie bullpen. Blanton and Hamels combined to allow three runs over five innings. After Hamels left, Worley, Lidge, Madson, Stutes, Schwimer, De Fratus and Herndon combined to throw eight shutout innings in which they allowed three hits and four walks.

Madson, Lidge and Stutes combined to go three innings in the game in which they struck out four without allowing a hit or a walk.

Michael Schwimer threw two scoreless innings in the game, allowing just one single. He ends the season having thrown four scoreless innings over his last three appearances.

Rollins was 0-for-6 with a walk in the game. He goes 11-for-25 to end the season.

Utley 2-for-4 with two walks. He goes 4-for-8 in his last two games of the regular season.

Pence 2-for-4 with three walks. He’s 7-for-his-last-16 to end the season. 324/394/560 in 236 plate appearances with the Phils this year.

Howard 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. 6-for-14 over his last four games. Ends the year at 224/286/347 against left-handed pitching.

Mayberry 1-for-5 with a walk and started the game in center with Victorino resting with a (hopefully slightly) sore back. Mayberry is 3-for-his-last-15 with four walks. He slugged .576 in the second-half of the season, which led the Phils and was seventh in the NL among the 117 players with at least 150 plate appearances. . He hit ten home runs in 144 second-half at-bats. He has hit 302/356/611 over his last 177 plate appearances.

Victorino is 6-for-his-last-21 after going 0-for-1 last night, but hit 179/257/321 over his last 149 plate appearances to end the season. After going 2-for-5 with a triple and a home run against the Mets on August 23, Victorino was hitting 314/389/551 for the year. He ends the season at 279/355/491.

Ibanez 1-for-6 with two strikeouts and six men left on base. 5-for-17 to end the year. He walked in just 33 of his 575 plate appearances this year (5.7%), which is his lowest rate since 1998. He ends the year at 211/232/353 against lefties.

Polanco 2-for-4. 4-for-24 with no walks to end the year. 243/304/287 in 409 plate appearances since the end of April. He had ten extra-base hits in those 409 plate appearances.

Ruiz 0-for-5 with two strikeouts and an RBI. He has on-based .376 over 1,284 plate appearances the last three years. His power was down this year — he registered extra-base hits in just 6.1% of his plate appearances. Over the last two seasons he had delivered an extra-base hit in about 9.0% of his plate appearances. He slugged just .337 against lefties for the season despite posting a .265 average against them. He’s 1-for-his-last-13.

Martinez went 0-for-3 in the game and left seven men on base. He ends the year 1-for-his-last-21 with a 196/258/282 line for the season.

Games one and two with St Louis are Saturday and Sunday in Philadelphia. Three and four in St Louis Tuesday and Wednesday. Game five would be here on Friday.

Good news, bad news for the Phils this week. The good news is the Phillies finally found the formula to snap their eight-game losing streak. The bad news is that it’s giving Roy Halladay a nine-run lead in the fourth inning.

On the bad news front, the Phils lost two of three, Ryan Howard had to be pinch-run for in the fourth inning of yesterday’s game and Bastardo still can’t get anyone out.

The Phillies are 99-60 on the year after losing two of three to the Mets this weekend.

The Phils lost twice on Saturday after Friday night’s game was cancelled due to weather.

In the first game of the double-header, RA Dickey took a no-hitter into the seventh and the Phils fell 2-1. Hamels pitched great, too, and the game was scoreless when Victorino broke up the no-no with a one-out double in the top of the seventh. He came around to score on a single by Howard, putting the Phils up 1-0. In the bottom of the seventh, pinch-hitter Val Pascucci tied the game at 1-1 with a solo shot to left. Lidge took over for Hamels in the bottom of the eighth and allowed the other New York run. Ruben Tejada singled with one out, stole second and scored on a double by Wright.

After allowing a run on two hits in the game, Lidge’s ERA was the same as his ratio for the year (1.56).

The Phils lost the second game on Saturday 6-3 to extend their losing streak to eight. RBI-singles by Valdez and Rollins gave starter Joe Blanton a 2-0 lead in the second. Gload knocked in Pence with a double in the third to extend the lead to 3-0. Herndon was on in relief to start the third, which turned out to be a nightmare for the Phils in which New York scored five times. With two outs and men on first and second, Willie Harris hit a fly ball that Pence dropped for an error that allowed both runners to score. 3-2 with a man on third. Herndon walked Wright before Kendrick relieved him. Nick Evans doubled to left. 3-3 with men on second and third. Josh Thole followed that by blooping a single to center that scored two more runs and made it 5-3. Jason Pridie started the bottom of the fourth with a double off of Kendrick that led to the sixth run for the Mets.

Rollins went a very welcome 3-for-5 in the game for the Phils.

Kendrick allowed two runs on four hits over 1 1/3 innings for the Phils. He has a 2.58 ERA 59 1/3 innings over his last 13 appearances. Lefties are hitting just 237/330/441 against him after hitting 312/367/535 against him in 2010.

Yesterday the Phils won 9-4. Pence hit a two-run homer in the first to put them up 2-0 and Ibanez added a sac fly later in the inning to extend the lead to 3-0. Utley knocked Ruiz in from second with a two-out single in the second to make it 4-0. Polanco doubled home Ibanez in the fourth, 5-0, and the Phils extended the lead to 9-0 in the fourth with help of RBI-singles by Pence and Howard and a two-run single from Ruiz. It was still 9-0 when Bastardo started the seventh. He struck out Justin Turner for the first out, but things got worse after that. Walk, two-run homer by Ronny Paulino, triple, single, wild pitch, walk, pulled for Worley. Worley got the last two outs of the inning with the lead cut to 8-3. Worley came back to start the eight and allowed another run when a leadoff single by Evans was followed by a double by Turner.

Remember when we were wondering if Bastardo was going to set the single-season record for batting average against? That’s less the focus at this point. Now it’s more about wondering if distributing protective headgear to the batter, catcher, home plate ump, base coaches and John Olerud is going to be enough to make people feel safe. Bastardo got one out in the game and was charged with three runs on three hits and two walks, raising his ERA for the year to 2.68. In nine appearances in September, Bastardo has thrown to a 12.79 ERA with a 2.53 ratio. Opponents have hit .346 against him in his 6 1/3 September innings. He has had seven bad appearances in a row since throwing 2 2/3 scoreless frames in two good outings to start the month.

Worley made his third relief appearance of the year in the game. He has thrown to a 3.18 ERA and a 1.41 ratio over 5 2/3 innings in relief.

Madson allowed two hits in a scoreless inning. He hasn’t allowed a run in 11 appearances in September, throwing 11 scoreless innings and striking out nine.

Halladay has a 1.70 ERA and a 1.05 ratio in his five starts in September.

The Phillies scored 13 runs in the three-game set, nine of which came in yesterday’s win.

Rollins was 3-for-4 yesterday and 6-for-12 in the series with a walk and six singles.

Utley 1-for-5 with a single and a walk yesterday. 2-for-8 with two walks and a double in the series.

Pence 3-for-5 with a walk, a triple and a home run yesterday. 3-for-10 with a triple and a home run in the series.

Howard 2-for-3 with an RBI yesterday and did not run the bases well yesterday before being pinch-run for in the fourth. Howard says that he would have stayed in the game if it were the post-season. He was 3-for-7 with three singles in the game.

Victorino was 1-for-6 with a double yesterday and left eight men on base. Leaving eight men on base is tough to do, especially when you don’t leave any on base in your first two at-bats. He struck out with men on first and second in the fourth (2). Grounded out with men on first and second in the fifth (4). Popped out with men on first and second in the sixth (6). Flew out with men on first and third in the eighth (8). 3-for-13 with two doubles in the series. He’s hitting 171/243/286 in September.

Ibanez 1-for-3 yesterday. 3-for-8 in the series. He’s on-basing .222 against left-handed pitching for the season.

Polanco 1-for-5 with a double yesterday and 1-for-9 in the set. 280/362/354 in September, but his numbers for the year are going to have trouble making up for the 220/278/265 he hit in 249 plate appearances from the start of May to the end of July.

Ruiz 4-for-4 with a walk yesterday. 5-for-8 in the series with five singles. 343/425/414 in September.

Mayberry ran for Howard yesterday and went 2-for-2 with a walk in the game. 2-for-9 with two walks in the series. 304/353/594 since the All-Star break.

Gload started the second game of Saturday’s double-header and went 2-for-3 with two doubles. He’s 6-for-his-last-19 with a walk and three doubles.

Cliff Lee (16-8, 2.38) faces righty Randall Delgado (1-1, 2.70) tonight in Atlanta.

The Phils clinched the NL East this weekend with a 9-2 win over the Cardinals on Saturday. Just about everything went right for the Phillies in that game — Oswalt looked great throwing seven shutout innings and Ibanez hit a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth as the Phils scored six times to blow the game open.

The rest of the series hasn’t gone quite as well, with the Cards taking the other two games. The most worrisome developments of the two losses were continued struggles by Bastardo and more home runs allowed by Cole Hamels. Yadier Molina homered off of Bastardo in the eighth inning of game one of the set, breaking a 1-1 tie. In last night’s game, Hamels went seven innings and allowed four runs, all four of which scored on a pair of two-run homers.

After his appearance on September 5, Bastardo was looking unstoppable. He had thrown to a 1.35 ERA for the year and struck out 66 in 53 1/3 innings while opponents had hit .110 against him for the season. Since then he has faced 15 batters over five appearances and nine of them have reached base on four hits and five walks.

Through the end of July, Hamels had allowed eight home runs in 152 innings over 22 starts (0.47 home runs per nine innings). In his last nine starts he has allowed nine home runs over 54 innings(1.47 home runs per nine).

On Friday, the Phils lost the opener of the series 4-2 in 11 innings. Worley started for the Phils and walked three in the top of the second, with a walk to Rafael Furcal with the bases loaded forcing in David Freese to put St Louis up 1-0. The Phils tied it up in the bottom of the inning on back-to-back doubles by Polanco and Mayberry. It stayed tied until the eighth, when Yadier Molina homered off of Bastardo with one out to put the Cards up 2-1. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Howard delivered a pinch-hit double and came in to score when Corey Patterson dropped Ruiz’s fly ball in the right field corner after a long run, tying the game at 2-2. Schwimer started the ninth for the Phils and allowed a leadoff double to Furcal. Furcal would come in to score on a single by Adron Chambers and Tyler Greene followed that with an RBI-double that put St Louis on top to stay at 4-2.

Saturday the Phils won 9-2 with the help of a strong outing from Oswalt and a grand slam from Ibanez to clinch the NL East. Oswalt threw seven shutout innings and Stutes took over in the top of the eighth with a 3-0 lead. Stutes got just two outs but was charged with two runs on four hits before Lidge come on to get Allen Craig to set the Cards down with men on first and second. With their lead cut to a single run, the Phils scored six runs in the bottom of the eighth, getting RBI-singles from Victorino and Pence and a slam from Ibanez, extending their lead to 9-2. Madson allowed a two-out single in the ninth, but got Furcal to ground to second and end the game.

The Phillies lost 5-0 last night.

The Phillies are 98-53 on the year losing 5-0 to the St Louis Cardinals last night. St Louis has won two of the first three games in the four-game set.

Hamels got the start for the Phillies last night and went seven innings, allowing four runs on seven hits. Four of the hits went for extra-bases, two doubles and two two-run home runs. He struck out nine and didn’t walk a batter.

Ryan Theriot was the first batter of the game and he lined to center for the first out. Allen Craig was next and he doubled to left, putting a man on second for Albert Pujols. Pujols hit the first pitch he saw from Hamels out to left, putting St Louis on top 2-0. David Freese and Lance Berkman both struck out swinging to set St Louis down.

Yadier Molina led off the second and grounded out to Utley. Rafael Furcal followed with a bunt single and Furcal stole second as Hamels struck Jon Jay out swinging for the second out. Chris Carpenter struck out swinging to leave Furcal at second.

Hamels threw a 1-2-3 third.

In the fourth, Berkman singled with one out. Hamels got Molina to ground into a double-play behind him.

Hamels struck out Furcal and Jay as he set St Louis down in order in the fifth.

Theriot doubled to start the sixth and Allen Craig hit an 0-2 pitch out to left-center behind him. 4-0. Hamels got the next three hitters in order.

Jay singled to right with two outs in the seventh, but Hamels got Carpenter on a fly ball to right for the third out.

Blanton started the eighth and got Theriot on a ground ball before Craig homered again, hitting a 1-2 pitch out to center to make it 5-0. Blanton struck out Pujols and Freese behind Craig.

Second outing for Blanton since his return — he’s allowed a run over two innings and struck out three.

Righty Justin De Fratus made his debut for the Phillies in the ninth. He got Berkman on a fly ball to center for the first out and Molina on a pop to short for the second. He walked Furcal on five pitches, but got Jay to ground to third to end the frame.

Blanton threw 19 pitches in the game and De Fratus 13.

The Phillies lineup against righty Chris Carpenter went (1) Rollins (2) Victorino (3) Utley (4) Pence (5) Ibanez (6) Polanco (7) Gload (8) Schneider. Howard and Ruiz rest to start the game, with lefties Gload and Schneider starting against the righty Carpenter.

The Phils were down 2-0 when they hit in the bottom of the first. Victorino and Utley singled back-to-back with one out, putting runners on first and second for Pence. Pence grounded into a double-play to end the inning.

Polanco singled with one out in the second, but Gload grounded into a double-play behind him.

Schneider and Hamels both struck out to start the third before Rollins singled to left. Victorino grounded to first to end the inning.

Utley and Pence singled back-to-back to start the fourth, putting men on first and second with nobody out. Ibanez hit into a double-play and Polanco grounded to third, leaving Utley at third.

Hamels singled to right with two outs in the fifth, but Rollins flew to center to leave him stranded.

Victorino and Utley went down to start the sixth with the Phils down 4-0. Pence hit a ball to short that Furcal fielded, but his throw to first was bad for an error. Ibanez grounded to second to leave Pence stranded.

Polanco walked to start the seventh, but Gload and Schneider went down behind him. With two outs, Polanco still on first and Carpenter still pitching for the Cardinals, Bowker hit for Hamels and struck out swinging for the third out.

Bowker 0-for-8 with six strikeouts since joining the Phillies.

Down 5-0, Utley singled with two outs in the eighth. Pence struck out swinging to leave him at first.

Gload walked with two outs in the eighth, but Schneider struck out swinging behind him.

The Phillies didn’t have an extra-base hit in the game.

Rollins was 1-for-4 in the game. 5-for-14 in the first three games of the four-game set.

Victorino 1-for-4 in the game. 3-for-10 with a homer so far in the series.

Utley 3-for-4 in the game. 3-for-13 so far in the series. 5-for-his-last-29 coming into last night’s game.

Pence 1-for-4. 3-for-12 with two walks and a double in the series so far.

Ibanez 0-for-4 and left three men on base. 1-for-10 with a grand slam in the series.

Polanco 1-for-3 with a walk. 4-for-11 with a double and three walks in the series. 306/389/387 so far in September.

Gload 0-for-3 with a walk. 5-for-17 in September with five singles.

Schneider 0-for-4 and struck out three times. He’s hitting .171 for the year and on-basing .234.

Halladay (18-5, 2.34) faces righty Kyle Lohse (13-8, 3.82) tonight.

Ryan Howard will have a cortisone shot in his left ankle.