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The Phillies looked as good in game two of their set with the Braves as they had looked bad in game one. Hamels was fantastic, throwing a complete-game shutout as the Phils topped Atlanta 3-0.

The Phillies had scored all the runs they would get in the game by the time they sent their fourth hitter to the plate in the bottom of the first. Rollins and Brown doubled back-to-back for the first run and Howard plated Brown with a two-run homer.

By Game Score, it was the best start for Hamels since July 22, 2010 and the best start for the Phillies since Blanton’s outing against the Braves on May 3.

The Phillies are 50-60 on the year after beating the Atlanta Braves 3-0 last night. The teams have split the first two games of the series. The Phils have won three of their last four games. They’re 5-3 over their last eight games despite scoring an average of just 3.13 runs per game over those eight.

Hamels got the start for the Phillies and threw a complete game shutout, allowing five singles and no walks while striking out six.

The start came at a good time for the Phils, a day after the pen had to throw 5 1/3 innings in relief of Worley.

Hamels set the Braves down in order in the top of the first.

Hamels started the second with a 3-0 lead. Chipper Jones led off with a single to center, but Hamels struck out Freddie Freeman for the first out. Brian McCann was next and hit a double-play ball to second. Utley gloved it, but had trouble getting it out of his glove and then bounced the toss to Rollins at second. Rollins made a great play, picking the ball on the bounce and throwing to first to complete the double-play.

Hamels set the Braves down in order in the third and again in the fourth.

With two outs in the fifth, McCann hit a ball into the corner in left. Brown got to it quickly and made a good throw to second where McCann was just out to end the frame.

Nice throw by Brown. Second outfield assist.

Hamels got ‘em 1-2-3 again in the sixth.

Bourn bunted for a single to start the seventh. Martin Prado fouled out to Howard for the first out. Heyward struck out swinging for the second. Chipper flew to Mayberry for the third.

Freeman singled to center to start the eighth. McCann popped to Utley for the first out and Reed Johnson grounded into a double-play behind him.

Hamels started the ninth having thrown 93 pitches. He allowed a one-out single to righty Tyler Pastornicky, who was pinch-hitting for the pitcher Cory Gearrin, but struck Bourn out for the second out and Prado on a ground ball to Rollins to end the game.

The Phillies lineup against lefty Mike Minor went (1) Rollins (2) Brown (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Mayberry (6) Kratz (7) Schierholtz (8) Frandsen. Moral victory alert — no sign of Martinez. Lefties Schierholtz, Brown, Utley and Howard all stay in the lineup against the lefty. Righties Frandsen and Kratz at third and catcher. Brown hits second.

Rollins doubled to left to start the bottom of the first. Brown was next and lined a ball into center for a hit. Rollins scored to put the Phils up 1-0. Brown went for two and slid in just safe when Prado dropped the ball as he tried to apply the tag. Utley flew to center for the first out, but Howard followed and hit a 1-2 pitch out to center, putting the Phils up 3-0. Mayberry struck out and Kratz grounded to first to set the Phillies down.

Rollins gets it started with a double and then the lefties Brown and Howard come through against the lefty.

Brown made a mistake going for two and would have been out if Prado handled the throw cleanly. He also probably should have tagged up and gone to third on Utley’s ball to center.

Schierholtz lined a single to left to start the second. Frandsen popped to second for the first out before Hamels bunted Schierholtz to second with the second. Rollins flew to right to leave the runner stranded.

Brown walked to start the third, but the Phillies went in order behind him.

Kratz doubled to left to start the fourth, but again the Phillies went in order after the leadoff man reached base. Schierholtz struck out swinging for the first out. Frandsen was next and hit a ball well to center, but Bourn made a nice running play at the wall for the second out. Kratz tagged and moved up to third. Hamels struck out swinging to leave him there.

Rollins walked to start the fifth. The Phillies went in order behind him. Janish made a nice play for the first out on a ball hit up the middle by Brown. The ball was not hit very hard and Janish took it on the second base side of second base and tagged the bag to force Rollins.

It was the fourth straight inning in which the Phillies had put their leadoff runner on base without scoring a run.

Kratz and Schierholtz singled back-to-back with one out in the sixth. Frandsen grounded into a double-play with men on first and second to end the inning.

The Phils went in order in the seventh.

Lefty Luis Avilan started the eighth and got Utley and Howard for the first two outs. Righty Cory Gearrin came in to pitch to Mayberry. Mayberry hammered a ball to left, but Johnson made a nice play, catching the ball as he ran into the wall in left for the third out.

Rollins was 1-for-3 with a walk and a double. He came into the series 3-for-his-last-29, but is 2-for-7 with a double and a walk so far.

Brown 1-for-3 with a walk and a double. Made a nice throw to get McCann in the fifth. Stretched his single to a double in the first, but would have been out by a lot if Prado had handled the ball cleanly. Hits the ball back up the middle a whole lot and continues to be non-terrible or better defensively.

Utley was 0-for-4. First game without a hit in August.

Howard 1-for-4 with three strikeouts and a two-run homer. He’s hitting .196 in his last 56 at-bats with 26 strikeouts.

Mayberry 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Hit the ball well to the wall in left in the eighth. He’s started eight straight games, hitting 267/313/467 in 32 plate appearances.

Kratz 2-for-3 with a double. 13-for-his-last-29 with three walks, five doubles and four home runs.

Schierholtz 2-for-3. He’s 3-for-7 with a double so far in the series and 7-for-22 with a walk, a double and a homer since joining the Phillies (318/333/500).

Frandsen was 0-for-3 and left four men on base. Hit a ball well to center with two outs and two men on in the fourth, but Bourn tracked it down at the wall.

Kendrick (4-9, 4.45) faces righty Tim Hudson (11-4, 3.45) tonight. Kendrick has a 4.54 ERA in his 14 starts this year. He’s dropped his ERA overall for the season from 5.35 to 4.45 by allowing two earned runs over his last 19 innings pitched. Hudson has a 2.58 ERA over his last six outings. The Braves are 8-1 over his last nine starts.

The Phillies weren’t very good against lefties before they traded away Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence. They’re worse now and had no answer to lefty Ross Detwiler and the Nats last night. Detwiler and two relievers stymied the Phils, holding them to three singles as the Nats topped the Phillies 3-0.

Adam LaRoche hit a long home run off of Hamels in the second to give the Nats an early 1-0 lead. The Phillie defense was terrible in the third and the Nats scored two more times thanks to a trio of misplays, none of which was called an error. The Phillies had three hits in the game, all singles. They didn’t get a hit after the third inning.

The Phillies simply don’t have a lot of firepower to put in their lineup against left-handed pitching these days. Last night they started Ruiz, a right-handed hitter who has been great this year. Beyond that, though, things get ugly. Switch-hitter Jimmy Rollins led off — he’s on-basing .261 against lefties for the year. Kevin Frandsen hit second, he has a career on-base percentage against lefties of .281. Wigginton and his 200/317/388 line against lefties for the year hit fifth. Another righty who should hit lefties was next in Mayberry. He’s shown a lot of power against lefties this season and hit for average, but on-based just .274 against them. Michael Martinez curiously played center and hit eighth — his career line against lefties is 167/175/179. The other two spots in the lineup were filled by lefties Utley and Domonic Brown.

The Phillies are 47-58 on the year after losing to the Washington Nationals 3-0 last night. The Phillies take two of three in the series, but remain in last place in the NL East, 15 1/2 games out of first.

Hamels got the start for the Phillies and went seven innings, allowing three runs on eight hits and a walk. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, a double and a home run. He struck out nine. All three runs were earned, but Hamels was victimized by terrible defense in the third that led to two earned runs.

The Phillies have lost six of the last seven games that Hamels has started. Over those seven outings he has thrown to a 3.51 ERA with a 1.29 ratio and struck out 48 in 48 2/3 innings.

He walked Zimmerman with two outs in the first, but struck Michael Morse out swinging to leave Zimmerman at first.

Coming off an outing where he walked six, Hamels walks another in the first. Looked worrisome at the time, but Hamels wouldn’t walk another hitter in the game.

Adam LaRoche hit Hamels’s first pitch of the second way out to right. 1-0. Jayson Werth and Sandy Leon followed with back-to-back singles, putting men on first and second for Steve Lombardozzi. Hamels struck Lombardozzi out for the second out, struck the pitcher Ross Detwiler out trying to bunt for the second and Danny Espinosa swinging to leave both runners stranded.

With one out in the third, Zimmerman hit a grounder to second that bounced high off the mound and to Utley. Utley tried to glove it but didn’t handle the ball cleanly. Zimmerman was safe and given a hit, but Utley should have made the play. Morse was next and he hit a ball hard to short, off the glove of Rollins for another single. Again the play should have been made and Rollins could have been charged with an error. Instead of the double-play, the Nats had men on first and second with one out. LaRoche was the next hitter and he lined a single into center. Zimmerman scored (2-0) and, for reasons unknown, Martinez threw the ball to third where he had no chance to get Morse. This allowed LaRoche to move up to second and meant there was no double-play when Werth followed with a ground ball to second. Instead, Morse scored to make it 3-0 and LaRoche moved up to third as Utley went to first for the second out. Hamels struck Leon out to leave LaRoche at third.

Utley’s mishandle should have been an error. The Rollins play was harder, but would have been an inning-ending double-play if he handled it cleanly. Martinez made a big mental mistake and took away the double-play on Werth’s ball.

Both runs charged to Hamels in the inning were earned.

Hamels struck out Detwiler and Espinosa in a 1-2-3 fourth.

He got Zimmerman in a 1-2-3 fifth.

LaRoche singled to center to start the sixth. Werth popped to Rollins before Leon doubled to left, moving LaRoche to third. Lombardozzi was next and lined a ball to right. Mayberry handled it for the second out. LaRoche tagged and tried to score, but Mayberry made a fantastic throw to the plate. Ruiz took it on one hop and applied the tag as LaRoche slid in to end the inning.

Nice throw. Mayberry’s defense has been really good.

Hamels set the Nationals down in order in the seventh. Righty Tyler Moore hit for Detwiler and struck out swinging for the first out.

Schwimer started the eighth and walked the leadoff man Zimmerman. He got the next two before walking Werth, putting two men on for Leon. Schwimer struck the switch-hitter Leon out swinging 2-2 to leave both runners stranded.

Frandsen made a nice diving play to snare a line drive hit by Morse for the first out.

Schwimer has walked 15 in 27 1/3 innings for the season, which is too many. He got away with it last night, though, and has a 2.14 ERA over his last 23 appearances after throwing to an 8.10 ERA in his first six outings. Over his last nine appearances he has walked seven in 7 2/3 innings.

He threw 28 pitches in the game.

The Phillies lineup against lefty Ross Detwiler went (1) Rollins (2) Frandsen (3) Utley (4) Ruiz (5) Wigginton (6) Mayberry (7) Brown (8) Martinez. Martinez in center, Mayberry in right, Brown in left and lefties Schierholtz, Pierre and Nix on the bench. Ruiz returns to the lineup to catch. Howard gets the day off against the lefty with Wigginton at first. Detwiler has ugly left-right splits and has been tough on lefties, but you don’t want to see Martinez starting too often against anyone.

Utley singled with two outs in the first, but Ruiz grounded to second behind him to set the Phillies down.

Wigginton started the top of the second with a ground ball to third. Zimmerman bobbled twice and didn’t throw to first — Wigginton was safe on the error. Mayberry was next and grounded to third with Zimmerman going to second to force Wigginton for the first out. Brown was next and walked on five pitches, putting two men on for Martinez. Martinez singled into right and Mayberry tried to score from second, but Harper’s throw from right was good and beat Mayberry by a lot. Leon applied the tag for the second out. Hamels struck out looking to leave the runners on first and second.

Harper made a good throw, but Mayberry was out by a lot. Have to wonder how big a factor the fact that Hamels was due to hit next was in sending Mayberry.

The Phillies were down 1-0 when they hit in the third. Frandsen reached on an infield single on a ball deflected by Detwiler with one out. Utley walked behind him, putting two men on for Ruiz. Ruiz flew to right and Wigginton grounded to third to turn the Phillies away.

Down 3-0, the Phillies went in order in the fourth.

Detwiler set them down in order in the fifth, sixth and seventh.

Lefty Sean Burnett threw a 1-2-3 eighth. Kratz hit for Hamels and grounded to short for the first out.

Kratz was the only righty on the bench for the Phils at the start of the game. They also had five lefties in Nix, Pierre, Howard, Schneider and Schierholtz. One isn’t an ideal number of righties to have on the bench.

Righty Tyler Clippard started the ninth with a three-run lead and walked Utley. Ruiz flew to center for the first out. Nix hit for Wigginton and popped out to Zimmerman for the second out. Schierholtz hit for Mayberry and walked as well, bringing Brown to the plate as the tying run. Howard hit for Brown. Clippard threw an 0-1 fastball past Howard and then struck him out looking at an 0-2 fastball on the inside of the plate.

Rollins was 0-for-4 in the game. 3-for-13 in the series with a walk and three home runs. 250/308/413 for the season. 211/261/361 against left-handed pitchers for the year.

Frandsen 1-for-4. He played all three games of the set at third for the Phils, going 2-for-12 with a home run. 4-for-15 on the year.

Utley was 1-for-2 with two walks. 4-for-10 with four walks and a double in the series. 253/357/463 for the year. 276/417/517 over his last 76 plate appearances.

Ruiz was 0-for-4 and left four men on base. 1-for-9 with a double in the series. 335/399/559 on the year. 269/324/484 over his last 102 plate appearances.

Wigginton 0-for-3 to drop his average to .230. 1-for-4 in the series. 230/299/364 for the year. 162/222/263 over his last 108 plate appearances. We shouldn’t be counting on him to save the day against lefties — he’s hitting 200/317/388 against them for the year.

Mayberry was 0-for-3 with a pretty throw from the outfield. Started all three games of the series and went 3-for-11 with a double and a walk. 232/272/384 for the season.

Brown was 0-for-2 with a walk in the game and 1-for-7 in the series. So far he’s played 17 disaster-free innings in the outfield.

Not so much for Martinez, who was 1-for-3 with an unusual decision about where to throw the ball from center in the third inning. He’s hitting .146 in 51 plate appearances for the year. He’s not exactly a monster bat to add to your lineup against a left-handed pitcher given his career .175 on-base percentage against lefties with one extra-base hit (a double) and one walk in 81 plate appearances.

Blanton (8-9, 4.59) faces righty Ian Kennedy (9-8, 4.20) tonight in Philadelphia. Blanton has thrown to a 3.61 ERA over his last six starts. Kennedy has a 2.42 ERA over his last three outings. He’s seventh in the NL in fewest walks per nine innings at 1.733. Blanton leads the league in that category with 1.215.

The Phillies did it again last night, roaring to life in the bottom of the eighth to score six runs and beat the Brewers 7-6.

Lee started the top of the eighth down 3-1, but allowed a solo homer and a two-run shot in the frame, putting the Phils in a 6-1 hole. The Phils feasted off the Milwaukee pen in the bottom of the inning, though, after a curious decision to pull Milwaukee starter Zack Greinke after 87 pitches. Erik Kratz delivered a pinch-hit two-run homer to get things started. With two outs and nobody on the Kratz blast looked like all the Phillies would get in the frame, but six straight batters reached for the Phils on four walks, a three-run double by Ruiz and a go-ahead bloop single by Pence. The Phils scored four more times and Papelbon nailed it down in the bottom of the inning.

The bullpen was good for the third straight game for the Phils as Schwimer and Papelbon combined to go two scoreless frames without allowing a hit or a walk. Over the last three games the bullpen has gone nine shutout innings, allowing two hits and four walks.

In the first two games of the set, the Phillies have scored 11 runs off of the Milwaukee bullpen in 3 2/3 innings. In last night’s game, Greinke had retired 14 in a row going back a third-inning single by Rollins before being pulled for the start of the eighth.

The Phillies are 44-54 on the year after beating the Milwaukee Brewers 7-6 last night. The Phils have won three in a row and are 7-4 since the All-Star break. They are still in last place in the NL East, 14 games behind the first place Nationals.

Lee got the start for the Phillies and went seven innings, allowing six runs on 12 hits and a walk. Four of the hits went for extra-bases, all home runs. He struck out six. Lee allows more than two home runs in a game for the first time this season. He last allowed four in a game on August 21, 2010 while pitching for the Rangers.

Norichika Aoki was the first batter of the game and singled to left. Carlos Gomez popped to third before Braun moved Aoki to second with a single. Aramis Ramirez was next and he singled to right. Aoki tried to score from second, but Pence threw him out at the plate for the second out. Braun moved up to second. Corey Hart was next and he singled to, this time to left. Braun scored to put Milwaukee up 1-0 with runners on the corners for Rickie Weeks. Weeks grounded to short to end the frame.

Lee gives up four hits in the inning. Gets one of three outs on the bases.

Martin Maldonado, Cesar Izturis and pitcher Zack Greinke went in order in the second with the game tied at 1-1.

Lee set the Brewers down in order in the third and again in the fourth.

Maldonado and Izturis singled back-to-back to start the fifth, putting runners on first and second with nobody out. Greinke bunted the runners to second and third with the first out. Lee walked to load the bases for Gomez. During the at-bat, Lee was off the rubber and Maldonado was way off of third. Lee threw over to third and Maldonado was caught, eventually run down and tagged out for the second out. Lee struck Gomez out swinging 0-2 to leave the bases loaded.

Bizarre play to get Maldonado, but it helped Lee get out of the jam.

Braun hit Lee’s first pitch of the sixth out to left, putting the Brewers up 2-1. Hart singled with one out, but Lee got Weeks to ground into a double-play behind him.

Lee struck out Maldonado and Izturis to start the seventh before Greinke homered to left. 3-1. Aoki lined to third for the third out.

Third career home run for Greinke.

Gomez homered to left on Lee’s first pitch of the eighth. 4-1. Braun followed that with a singled before Ramirez hit an 0-2 pitch out to left. 6-1. Schwimer took over for Lee and got the first two hitters he faced before Maldonado reached on an error by Wigginton. Izturis lined to short for the third out.

Lee allowed four home runs in the game. Three of them, Braun, Greinke and Gomez, came on the first pitch of the at-bat. Ramirez’s came 0-2.

Error by Wigginton makes Schwimer get four outs in the frame. He has a 2.20 ERA with a 1.16 ratio over his last 17 appearances.

Papelbon pitched the ninth with the Phils up 7-6 and needed just ten pitches to set Milwaukee down in order. Lefty George Kottarras hit for righty Jeff Bianchi and struck out swinging for the first out. Aoki flew to center for the second and Gomez struck out looking to end the game.

Schwimer’s good inning with the Phillies down by five runs didn’t look like it mattered at all at the time, but the Phils get two scoreless frames from the pen without allowing a hit or a walk.

Schwimer threw 16 pitches and Papelbon ten.

The Phillies lineup against righty Zack Greinke went (1) Rollins (2) Victorino (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Ruiz (6) Pence (7) Wigginton (8) Mayberry. Mayberry in left and Wigginton at third despite both being terrible against righties. Lefties Pierre and Fontenot on the bench.

The Phillies were down 1-0 when they hit in the bottom of the first. Victorino doubled with one out. Utely was next and struck out on a ball not handled by Maldonado. Maldonado threw to first to retire Utley for the second out, but Victorino moved up to third. Howard was next and singled to left, scoring Victorino to tie the game at 1-1. Ruiz grounded to third for the third out.

The Phils went in order in the second.

Rollins singled with one out in the third, but Victorino and Utley went down behind him.

The Phils went in order in the fourth and fifth.

Down 2-1, Rollins, Victorino and Utley went in order in the sixth.

Down 3-1, Greinke set them down in order in the seventh.

It was 6-1 when righty Jose Veras started the eighth. Greinke had not been hit for in the top of the frame and had thrown just 87 pitches in the game. Wigginton led off with a single and moved up to second when Mayberry grounded to second for the first out. Nix hit for Schwimer. Lefty Manny Parra came in to pitch to Nix. Righty Erik Kratz hit for Nix and Kratz hit the first pitch from Parra out to left centet, cutting the lead to 6-3. Rollins lined to left for the second out. Parra walked Victorino and Utley back-to-back. They pulled off a double steal before Parra walked Howard, loading the bases. Fontenot ran for Howard. Righty Kameron Loe came in to pitch to Ruiz. Ruiz got behind in the count, but ripped a 1-2 pitch into the gap in left-center. The double cleared the bases, tying the game at 6-6. Pence was next and he got behind in the count as well, but made a weak swing at an outside 1-2 pitch and blooped a ball that fell for a single in shallow right field, just out of the reach of Weeks. Ruiz scored and the Phils led 7-6. Wigginton walked before Mayberry grounded to short to end the inning.

Rodriguez had a nightmare inning in the first game of the set, this time the Phils jump all over Parra. Parra’s outing went two-run homer, out, walk, walk, double-steal, walk. That’s a lot of walks.

With two outs, nobody on and the Phils down three runs, they score four on four walks, a double and a single.

The Phillies drew nine walks to help them win game one of the set. Last night they only had four walks in the game, but all four of them came with two outs in the eighth inning.

Rollins was 1-for-4.

Victorino 1-for-3 with a walk and a double.

Utley 0-for-3 with a walk and struck out twice.

Howard 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

Ruiz 1-for-4 with a double and three RBI.

Pence 1-for-4 with an RBI. He’s 3-for-his-last-26.

Wigginton 1-for-3 with a walk.

Mayberry 0-for-4. He’s now hitting 200/262/262 against righties for the season.

Worley (5-6, 3.82) faces righty Marco Estrada (0-4, 4.10) this afternoon. Worley has a 6.75 ERA with a 1.81 ratio so far in July. Two of his four starts have been awful and the other two solid. Opponents have hit .341 against him this month with ten walks in 22 2/3 innings. Estrada came off the DL at the end of June and has thrown to a 3.58 ERA in five appearances since. Since his return he has allowed 11 runs in 27 2/3 innings. Of those 11 runs, ten have scored on the six home runs he has allowed.

This says that the Phillies and Cole Hamels have agreed to a six-year, $144 million deal.

The Phillies started the second half nicely in Colorado this weekend, taking two of three from the Rockies.

The Rockies won the opener 6-2 on Friday. The teams went into the bottom of the sixth tied at 1-1, but Colorado scored five runs charged to Lee and Schwimer in the sixth and seventh innings and rolled to a win. The bullpen nearly gave away game two of the set. The Phils led 6-2 going into the bottom of the eighth, but Brian Sanches coughed up a three-run homer and Manuel had to call on Papelbon to get the last five outs. Two runs in the top of the ninth extended the Phillies lead and they won 8-5.

Yesterday the Phillies won 5-1 behind strong pitching from Cole Hamels and a three-run homer from Hunter Pence.

The bullpen is still terrible and if Utley (on-basing .289 so far) and Howard (0-for-8 in the series) are going to pull the Phils out of their long, long funk it hasn’t happened so far. There were signs of life from Shane Victorino the set, though. After going 0-for-4 in the first two games of the series, Victorino was 3-for-8 with a walk, a double and two triples as the Phils took the last two. He had three extra-base hits in his last 121 plate appearances going into get two of the set.

The Phillies are 39-51 on the year after beating the Colorado Rockies 5-1 yesterday afternoon. The Phils take the series two games to one. They’re in fifth place in the NL East, 14 games behind the first-place Nationals.

Remember this? The Phils went into the second half needing to play to a .707 winning percentage the rest of the way if they were going to get to 90 wins for the year. Taking two out of three against the Rockies is nice, but it actually ups that needed winning percentage to .708 the rest of the way. The needed winning percentage in remaining games to hit various win marks is now tracked in the Start Log at the bottom of the blue band.

Hamels got the start for the Phillies and went eight innings, allowing a run on six hits and a walk. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a triple. He struck out seven and dropped his ERA on the year to 3.07. The Phillies have won just one of the last four games he has started, but he’s thrown to a 2.48 ERA with a 1.07 ratio over those four outings.

He started the bottom of the first with a 1-0 lead. Dexter Fowler led off with a single to left. Marco Scutaro was next and bunted. Hamels fielded, but his throw to first sailed over Wigginton’s head. Scutaro was safe and Fowler moved up to second, putting men on first and second for Carlos Gonzalez. Hamels struck Gonzalez out swinging for the first out. Ramon Hernandez was next and Hamels struck him out swinging at a 2-2 pitch in the dirt. Michael Cuddyer grounded to short to leave both runners stranded.

Nice job by Fontenot backing up Hamels’s throw to first and holing everyone to a single base. Hamels does well to pitch around his error after the first two batters of the inning reach base.

Tyler Colvin singled to start the second, but Hamels got the next three Rockies in order behind him.

Fowler led off the bottom of the third and singled to right. Hamels picked him off of first with Wigginton throwing to Rollins for the first out. Hamels got Scutaro and Gonzalez behind Fowler.

Up 2-0, Hamels threw a 1-2-3 fourth. Mayberry made a nice diving catch on a ball hit by Cuddyer for the second out.

Chris Nelson reached on an infield single to start the fifth with the Phils up 5-0, but Hamels got Josh Rutledge to ground into a double-play behind him. Switch-hitter Jonathan Herrera hit for the pitcher Drew Pomeranz, but Hamels got him on a ground ball to second to end the inning.

Hamels walked Scutaro with one out in the sixth and Gonzalez followed with a triple to center that scored Scutaro and cut the lead to 5-1. Hamels struck Hernandez out for the second out and got Cuddyer on a ground ball to second for the third.

Big strikeout for Hamels, getting Hernandez for the second out with Gonzalez on third helps keep the Rockies from getting more.

Hamels threw a 1-2-3 seventh.

Switch-hitter Eric Young hit for the pitcher Mike Ekstrom and singled to center to start the eighth. Hamels got the next three to turn Colorado away.

Bastardo got two ground balls and a strikeout in a 1-2-3 ninth.

Nice start to the second half for Bastardo. He came into the game having thrown to a 9.00 ERA in his 14 appearances since the end of June. He threw seven pitches in the game.

The Phillies lineup against lefty Drew Pomeranz went (1) Rollins (2) Victorino (3) Pence (4) Ruiz (5) Wigginton (6) Polanco (7) Mayberry (8) Fontenot. Utley and Howard both on the bench against the lefty after they both played the first two games of the series. Mayberry in left, Wigginton at first and Fontenot at second. Victorino continues to hit second with Polanco sixth against the lefty. Fontenot starts against the lefty with Utley resting.

Victorino tripled with one out in the top of the first. Pence struck out behind him for the second out, but Ruiz picked Pence up with a single into left that scored Victorino and put the Phils up 1-0. Wigginton drew a walk before Polanco grounded to short to leave both runners stranded.

The Phils went in order in the second and again in the third.

Ruiz led off the fourth with a double and moved up to third on a ground out by Wigginton. Polanco flew to right for the second out. Ruiz tagged and scored, putting the Phils up 2-0. Mayberry grounded to third for the third out.

Fontenot and Hamels both struck out to start the fifth before Rollins singled to left. An error on a pickoff throw by Pomeranz allowed Rollins to take second and Victorino walked to put two on for Pence. Pence hit a 2-1 pitch out to left for a three-run homer, putting the Phils up 5-0. Ruiz flew to center to set the Phillies down.

Huge swing off of Pence against a lefty. He came into the game hitting 247/326/442 against them for the year with just three home runs.

Righty Carlos Torres set the Phils down in order in the sixth.

Fontenot walked to start the seventh with the lead cut to 5-1. Hamels bunted him to second with the first out before Rollins walked. Victorino grounded to second for the second out and Pence flew to right for the third.

Righty Mike Ekstrom set the Phils down in order in the eighth.

Righty Rafael Betancourt started the ninth. Fontenot walked with one out. Howard hit for Hamels and grounded into a double-play to set the Phillies down.

Rollins was 1-for-3 in the game and 5-for-12 with a walk, two doubles and a triple in the series. He’s hitting 261/315/414 for the year.

Victorino 1-for-3 with a walk and a triple yesterday. 3-for-12 with a walk, a double and two triples in the series. 3-for-8 with a walk and three extra-base hits in the last two games after going 0-for-4 in the opener. 245/311/379 on the year. Rollins and Victorino hit one-two at the top of the order — Rollins leads that duo with a .315 on-base percentage for the season.

Pence 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, which was his only hit of the series. He was 1-for-12, dropping his line on the year to 278/344/477.

Ruiz was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. 5-for-12 with two doubles and a home run in the series. 353/412/595 for the year. He has five home runs in his last 59 plate appearances.

Wigginton 0-for-3 with a walk in his only action of the set. 181/253/319 over his last 79 plate appearances. 244/317/393 on the season.

Polanco 0-for-3 with an RBI. 1-for-7 in the series. 3-for-his-last-29 with a walk and three singles. 263/306/337.

Mayberry 0-for-4 with a strikeout. 2-for-7 with two strikeouts in the set. 234/270/374 for the year. He’s terrible against righties (207/267/273 for the year) but hitting .269 against lefties with a .505 slugging percentage. On-basing .274 against left-handed pitching with zero walks in 95 plate appearances. That’s zero with a z.

Fontenot was 1-for-3 with a walk. 1-for-6 with two walks in the series. 315/365/371 for the year. Should be starting close to every game against a righty given the combination of Polanco being Polanco and Utley needing extra rest.

Utley was 3-for-8 with three RBI in the series and his hitting 262/289/405 over 45 plate appearances for the year. Howard was 0-for-1 yesterday and 0-for-8 with two walks in the set. He’s 2-for-16 so far.

Blanton (7-8, 4.98) faces righty Nathan Eovaldi (1-5, 4.21) tonight in LA. Blanton has a 6.12 ERA over his last nine starts. Eovaldi had a 2.35 ERA over his first five starts of the year but has thrown to a 7.71 ERA over his last three outings.

The Phillies battled Mets’s All-Star RA Dickey all night last night and by the time the ninth inning rolled around it looked like they had won. They gave Papelbon the ball and a 5-4 lead and he didn’t get it done. The closer allowed a pair of runs and the Phils fell 6-5.

Again the intensity was there for the Phillies and again the results were not. They’ve lost seven of their last eight games, three by a single run. Chase Utley has been very good since joining the team, but with last night’s loss the Phils are now 1-6 in the games in which he has played.

It was an extremely frustrating ninth inning for the Phils after a long, tight game that saw them score as many earned runs off of Dickey as the pitcher had allowed over his past seven starts coming into the contest. After a leadoff double, Papelbon got two quick outs and couldn’t put the Mets away. He didn’t get several close calls in two huge two-out at-bats ahead of back-to-back singles that plated the game-winning runs. The first one ended when he hit Jordany Valdespin with a 3-2 pitch and the other when he walked Ruben Tejada on the eighth pitch of Tejada’s plate appearance.

On June 4, Papelbon made news after a game with the Dodgers for saying the home plate umpire sucked and belonged in the minors. No idea whether it’s had any impact on the strike zone he’s seen since then, but I remember thinking at the time he shouldn’t be counting on getting a lot of close pitches for a while. He sure didn’t last night. Either way, Papelbon came into the game on June 4 with a 2.01 ERA and an 0.90 ratio for the season. Including the June 4 outing, over his last nine appearances he has thrown to a 7.00 ERA with a 2.11 ratio.

The Phillies are 37-47 on the year after losing to the New York Mets 6-5 last night. The Mets take the series two games to one. The Phillies are in last place in the NL East, 13 games out of first place.

Hamels got the start for the Phillies and went seven innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, both home runs. He struck out seven.

Up 1-0, he set the Mets down in order in the top of the first.

He started the second up 2-0. Scott Hairston led off and hit a 1-1 pitch out to left-center, cutting the lead to 2-1. Hamels got the next three.

The pitcher RA Dickey singled to left with one out in the third. Ruben Tejada popped up to Fontenot in foul territory for the second out before Daniel Murphy moved Dickey to second with a single. David Wright was next and he singled into center, scoring Dickey to tie the game at 2-2 and moving Murphy to third. Hamels walked Hairston and the bases were loaded for Lucas Duda. Hamels got the lefty Duda on a ground ball to first for the third out.

Up 3-2, Hamels set the Mets down in order in the fourth.

Tejada singled to center with one out in the fifth. Murphy was next and Hamels struck him out swinging 0-2 for the second out. Wright was next. Hamels got ahead of him 0-2, but Wright hammered a 1-2 pitch out to left for a two-run homer that put New York ahead 4-3. Hairston lined to third for the third out.

The Phillies led 5-4 when Hamels started the sixth. He got the first two before Thole singled to right. Hamels struck Kirk Neuwenhuis out swinging 3-2 to leave Thole at first.

Hamels threw a 1-2-3 seventh. Righty Justin Turner hit for Dickey and grounded to third for the first out. Victorino made a nice sliding catch on a ball hit by Tejada for the second out and Murphy popped to Fontenot for the third.

Bastardo threw a 1-2-3 eighth with the Phils still up a run.

Nice inning for Bastardo in a tight game. That’s the first time since June 9 he hasn’t allowed a hit or a walk in an appearance. Opponents have hit .303 against him over his last eight outings and he’s walked five in 7 2/3 innings.

Papelbon started the ninth. Ike Davis led off and lined a ball right over the glove of Rollins and into left center for a double. Ronny Cedeno ran for Davis at second. Josh Thole bunted Davis up to third with the first out. Papelbon blew Kirk Nieuwenhuis away on four fastballs, striking him out swinging 1-2 for the second out. Lefty Jordany Valdespin, who hit a three-run game-winner off of Papelbon on May 7, hit for the pitcher Bobby Parnell. Papelbon worked Valdespin inside and hit him with a 3-2 pitch, putting runners on the corners. Ruben Tejada was next and Valdespin stole second before Papelbon walked him on a 3-2 pitch, the eighth of his at-bat. Murphy was next. Papelbon got ahead of him 0-2 before Murphy hit a 1-2 pitch back up the middle. The ball went off of Papelbon’s leg and toward the first base line. Papelbon tracked it down near the line and had a chance to get Murphy with a tricky throw to first to end the game, but slipped fielding the ball and everyone was safe. Cedeno scored and the game was tied at 5-5 with the bases still loaded for Wright. Wright blooped the first pitch of his at-bat into right, just in front of a charging Pence for a single that scored Valdespin and ended the game.

Papelbon was throwing for the second day in a row. He has been charged with runs in four of his last five appearances. Opponents have hit .409 against him in those outings. He has a 4.87 ERA over his last 21 appearances, raising his ERA on the season from 0.82 after 11 appearances to 3.45.

The Phillies lineup against righty RA Dickey went (1) Rollins (2) Pierre (3) Pence (4) Ruiz (5) Victorino (6) Wigginton (7) Polanco (8) Fontenot. Utley on the bench after playing two straight days with Fontenot at second. Pierre in left against the righty. Wigginton plays first after homering in game two of the set.

Rollins led off the game with a walk and was forced at second on a ground ball by Pierre for the first out. Pence flew to center before Ruiz was hit by a pitch, putting men on first and second for Victorino. Victorino, hitting right-handed against the righty, singled into center, scoring Pierre to put the Phils up 1-0 with runners on first and third. Wigginton struck out swinging at an 0-2 pitch way out of the strike zone to leave the runners stranded.

Polanco singled on a ball in and out of the glove of Niewenhuis in center to start the second. Fontenot struck out for the first. Hamels tried to give himself up, but wound up bunting for a single that put runners on first and second for Rollins. Rollins doubled to right, scoring Polanco to make it 2-0 with men on second and third. Pierre lined softly to short for the second out and Pence fouled out to first to end the frame.

No out on the Hamels bunt helps the Phils, but they can’t get more after putting runners on second and third with one down. Pierre lines to short for the second out with the runners holding.

The lead was cut to 2-1 when Ruiz doubled to right to start the third. Victorino struck out, Wigginton struck out and Polanco struck out, leaving Ruiz at second.

It was 2-2 when the Phillies hit in the fourth. Fontenot led off with a single to center and Hamels struck out trying to bunt him to second for the first out. Rollins moved Fontenot to second with a single, putting two men on for Pierre. Pierre struck out swinging for the second out, but Pence followed with a single into center that scored Fontenot, putting the Phils up 3-2, and moved Rollins to second. Ruiz grounded to short for the third out.

Another tough at-bat for Pierre as he strikes out for the second out after being unable to bring the runner in from third with one out in the second.

Wigginton singled with one out in the fifth, but Polanco hit into a double-play behind him.

They trailed 4-3 when they started the sixth. Hamels singled with one out and scored when Rollins followed with a triple. 4-4. Pierre was next and put a pretty bunt down the first base line. Dickey fielded and threw to first as Rollins scored, putting the Phillies up 5-4. Pence grounded to short for the third out.

The Phils went in order in the seventh.

Fontenot doubled with one out in the eighth off of righty Jon Rauch. Utley hit for Hamels and lefty Tim Byrdak came in to pitch to him. Utley stayed in to face the lefty and singled to shallow left. Fontenot tried to score from second, but Hairston’s throw from left was on line and beat him to the plate by a lot. He blasted Thole, but Thole held the ball for the second out. Utley moved up to second on the play at the plate and Byrdak walked Rollins intentionally, putting two men on for Pierre. Mayberry hit for Pierre with the lefty still on the mound. Righty Pedro Beato came in and got Mayberry on a ground ball to third to end the frame with both men stranded.

Righty Bobby Parnell set the Phillies down in order in the ninth.

Rollins was 3-for-3 with two walks, a double and a triple in the game. 4-for-12 with two walks, two doubles and a triple in the set. 262/318/414 for the year.

Pierre 0-for-3 with an RBI and five men left on base in the game. 2-for-7 with two singles in the series. 317/355/387 for the year.

Pence was 1-for-5 with an RBI. 4-for-12 with four singles and two RBI in the set. 287/351/489 for the year.

Ruiz was 1-for-4 in the game and 4-for-12 with a double and two home runs in the series. 355/419/596 on the year.

Victorino 1-for-5 with an RBI. 1-for-13 in the series. 247/313/373 on the season.

Wigginton 1-for-4 with two strikeouts. 3-for-7 with two walks and a home run in the series. 203/259/351 over his last 81 plate appearances. 249/320/402 for the year.

Polanco 1-for-4 in the game and 2-for-11 with a walk in the series. 205/293/260 over his last 83 plate appearances. 269/314/346 on the year.

Fontenot 2-for-4 with a double in his only action of the series, raising his line on the season to 338/378/403.

Kendrick (2-8, 5.35) faces righty Tim Hudson (6-4, 3.87) tonight. The Phillies have lost four of the last five games that Kendrick has started and he’s thrown to a 7.67 ERA in those outings. Lefties are on-basing .404 against him for the season. Hudson threw to a 1.93 ERA in June, but allowed six runs to the Nats in his only start in July. He’s allowed just four home runs on the season and righties are hitting 245/288/325 against him for the year.

First, a disclaimer. Today’s post is about Game Score. I understand Game Score isn’t a great stat for a whole lot of reasons. That said, I think we can use Game Score to help illustrate part of what’s wrong with the Phillies so far in 2012.

One day, maybe not too long from now, people are going to remember back fondly to the 2008 Phillies and how Halladay and Lee and the starting rotation led the Phils to World Series glory. That will be wrong, of course. Halladay and Lee weren’t on the 2008 Phillies and the rotation wasn’t very good at all. Myers, Kendrick and Eaton combined to make 79 starts for the Phillies in which they threw to a 5.14 ERA with a 1.51 ratio.

The relievers were the part of the 2008 team that dominated. The offense was very good, but the bullpen was great. Phillie relievers threw to a 3.22 ERA in 2008, the best mark in the league.

In 2012, the Phillies have played 81 games and won 36 of them. Looking at those 81 games, though, and using Game Score as the measure, in 46 of them the combination of the Phillies starting pitcher and the Phillies offense was better than the combination of the other team’s starting pitcher and their offense.

The Start Log tracks the Game Score of the starting pitcher for the Phillies for each game as well as the Game Score for the Phillies’s opponent. It also tracks, for each game, whether the Game Score for the Phillies starting pitcher was better or worse than the Game Score for the starting pitcher of their opponent. Here’s the team’s actual record in 2008 and in 2012 and the number of games the Game Score for their starting pitcher was better or worse than the Game Score of their opponent.

So, in 2008, the Phillies actually went 92-70. In those 162 games, though, the Game Score of their starting pitcher was better than the game score of their opponent just 77 times.

So far in 2012, the Game Score of the starting pitcher for the Phillies have been better than the Game Score of the opponent’s starting pitcher in 46 of 81 games.

The Phillies haven’t won 46 games this year or even come close. In 2008, they won 15 games more (92 for the year) than the number of games in which the Game Score for their starting pitcher was better than the Game Score for the other team’s starting pitcher. In 2012, they have won ten fewer games than the number of games in which the Game Score of their starting pitcher was better than the Game Score of the other team’s starting pitcher.

So if the Phillies had just won the game in which their offense and starting pitcher combined to be better than the other team’s offense and starting pitcher (at least according to Game Score), they would be 46-35 right now instead of 36-45.

They didn’t.

There have been three games this season that the Phillies won when the Game Score of their starting pitcher was better than the Game Score of the other team’s starting pitcher. There have been 13 games in which the Game Score of the Phillies starting pitcher was better than the Game Score of the other team’s pitcher and the Phillies lost.

Here are the three games that they won despite a worse game score:

• May 1: Phillies 4, Atlanta 2. Hamels Game Score 56, Brandon Beachy’s Game Score 61. The Phils go in to the top of the eighth tied 2-2 and score two runs off of Jonny Venters.
• May 24: Phillies 10, St Louis 9. Blanton 19, Westbrook 21. Blanton and Westbrook were both terrible in the game, but Blanton a little worse according to Game Score. The Phils scored four runs charged to the St Louis bullpen after Westbrook left while the Cardinals scored just two runs in 4 2/3 innings off of the Phillies pen after Blanton left.
• May 30: Phillies 10, Mets 6. Lee 51, Dillon Gee 56. Lee allows three runs over six innings while Gee allows two runs over 6 2/3. Both pens are terrible in the game, but the Phillies outscore the Mets 7-3 after the end of the seventh inning.

That’s the complete list of games so far in 2012 when the Game Score of the other teams starting pitcher has been better than the Game Score of the pitcher for the Phillies and the Phillies have won the game anyway.

Here’s the list of the games the Phillies have lost despite a better Game Score from their starter. This one’s longer (13). For one thing it happened in two of the first three games of the season:

• April 7: Pittsburgh 2, Phillies 1 (ten innings). Lee 66, Jeff Karstens 59. Lee and Karstens both pitch well. The game goes to extra-innings and the Pirates win it with a run off of Blanton on a double, a hit batter and a single.
• April 8: Pittsburgh 5, Phillies 4. Worley 62, James McDonald 57. Worley and McDonald both pitch well with Worley a little better. Both starters are gone after six innings with the Phils up 2-1. The Phillies score two off of the Pirate pen in the seventh to go up 4-1, but two runs off of Stutes in the bottom of the inning cut the lead to 4-3. Kendrick and Bastardo combine to allow a run in the bottom of the eighth, with Matt Hague singling off of Bastardo to drive in Andrew McCutchen and tie the game at 4-4. Herndon allows a leadoff double to Casey McGehee to start the bottom of the ninth and the Pirates win the game on a walkoff single by McCutchen off of Herndon.

After dropping two in a row over the first three games of the season, it didn’t happen again until early May.

• May 7: Mets 5, Phillies 2. Halladay 65, Niese 52. Halladay pitches way better than Niese, allowing two runs over seven innings while Niese allows two runs over five. The teams go into the ninth inning with the score tied at 2-2 and Papelbon allows a three-run homer to Jordany Valdespin.
• May 8: Very next day. Mets 7, Phillies 4. Blanton 52, Batista 39. Blanton leaves in the seventh with the Phils up 4-2, one out and runners on first and second. Qualls allows a two-run single with both runs charged to Blanton (4-4) and Bastardo allows another RBI-single, which puts the Mets up 5-4. Schwimer is charged with two runs in the top of the ninth.
• May 9: Third day in a row. Mets 10, Phillies 6. Lee 59, Gee 37. Lee outpitches Gee and leaves up 4-2 after six innings. Kendrick allows three runs in the seventh (down 5-4) and comes back to start the eighth for reasons unknown. He’s charged with two more in the eighth, one of which scores on a two-run shot by Ike Davis off of Contreras. Contreras is charged with two more runs in the seventh and Sanches allows a solo homer in the ninth.
• May 12: Padres 2, Phillies 1. Halladay 64, Edinson Volquez 59. Bullpen didn’t blow anything in this one. Halladay allowed two runs over seven innings while striking out ten, giving him a better Game Score than Volquez, who allowed a run over six innings.
• June 5: Dodgers 2, Phillies 1. Lee 70, Chad Billingsley 63. Blame this one on Manuel, not Game Score or the pen. Lee and Billingsley are both very good. Lee starts the eighth with a 1-0 and allows hits to four of the first five men he faces, the last of which is a two-run double to Elian Herrera on his 122nd pitch of the game.
• June 7: Dodgers 8, Phillies 3. Hamels 51, Aaron Harang 46. Dodgers lead 4-3 after six. Phillies don’t score in the last three innings. Qualls faces six men in the ninth. One reaches on an error and the other five get hits as he is charged with four runs in a third of an inning.
• June 9: Baltimore 6, Phillies 4. Worley 62, Tommy Hunter 51. All three runs Worley allows over six innings are unearned. Thome singles home Pierre in the top of the eighth to tie the game at 4-4. BJ Rosenberg makes his major league debut in the bottom of the twelfth and faces two batters, walking Chris Davis before giving up a walkoff homer to Adam Jones.
• June 10: Baltimore 5, Phillies 4. Lee 48, Hammel 43. Hammel and Lee both allow four runs over six innings. Savery starts the bottom of the tenth. Jones reaches on an error by Wigginton with one out before Matt Wieters’s walkoff double wins the game for Baltimore.
• June 15: Toronto 3, Phillies 0. Worley 62, Drew Hutchison 52. Toronto starter Hutchison has to leave after two-thirds of an inning (Game Score is virtually worthless in games where a starter leaves very early due to injury). Worley goes seven innings and allows three runs, all three of which are unearned. The Toronto bullpen throws 8 1/3 scoreless innings.
• June 21: Colorado 4, Phillies 1. Worley 61, Jeff Francis 54. Worley starts the seventh with a 1-0 lead and allows a two-run homer to Chris Nelson with two outs. Schwimer allows a two-run homer to Wilin Rosario in the ninth.
• June 24: Tampa Bay 3, Phillies 2. Hamels 75, Price 70. Hamels throws seven shutout innings and Bastardo starts the eighth up 1-0. Bastardo walks two of the first three men he faces before giving up a three-run homer to Carlos Pena. The Phils score a run on three hits in the bottom of the eighth but lose by a run.

For nine of those 13 I would say the pen at least a major contributor to the loss if not the primary cause (4/7, 4/8, 5/7, 5/8, 5/9, 6/7, 6/9, 6/10 and 6/24).

More generally, whether it is a failure by their offense or a failure by their bullpen, the Phillies are not winning when they get solid starting pitching.

Here are the records the Phillies have put up in games where their starter recorded a Game Score of 51-70 over the last six years:

Year	Record	Winning PCT	% of games
2012	22-19	.537	50.6
2011	45-25	.643	43.2
2010	47-20	.701	41.4
2009	42-21	.667	38.9
2008	47-19	.712	40.7
2007	41-18	.695	36.4

A higher percentage of the games in that 51-70 window for the Phillies this year with worse results. The Phils are 22-19 (.537) in 2012 in games in that window. Coming into the 2012 season they were 222-103 (.683) in games where their starter had a Game Score in that range.

The next update to Philliesflow won’t be until Thursday.

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