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The Phils were unable to finish off the sweep of the Marlins last night, getting miserable pitching as they failed to hold leads of 4-0 and 6-3. They made three errors in the game and Domonic Brown had two big miscues, having a ball go through his legs in the outfield to help Florida score two runs in the third and missing second base on a would-be triple ahead of a home run by Mayberry in the sixth.

As bad as that was, it was hard not to notice the bullpen. The Phils used four relievers in the game and three of them ended the day with an ERA over five for the year. Danys Baez gave up a walkoff homer to Mike Stanton with one out in the bottom of the tenth. That pushes his ERA on the year to 5.40. In his two seasons with the Phils he’s now thrown to a 5.44 ERA with a 1.56 ratio in 82 2/3 innings.

For the Phils, it’s the fourth time in the last 13 games the bullpen has had a bad day. In three of those games they’ve been terrible. Through the end of May, the bullpen threw to a 2.80 ERA and a 1.28 ratio in 151 innings. Since June 9 they’ve thrown to a 4.40 ERA with a 1.41 ratio in 57 1/3 innings. Over the last 13 games they’ve thrown 27 innings with a 6.33 ERA and a 1.59 ratio.

The Phillies are 55-33 on the year after losing to the Florida Marlins 7-6 in ten innings last night. The Phils take the series two games to one. They remain in first place in the NL East, but are just three games ahead of the second-place Braves.

Kendrick got the start for the Phils and went five innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks. Only one of the runs was earned. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a double. He struck out two and his ERA on the year actually dropped to 3.64. But he didn’t pitch very well.

Emilio Bonifacio bunted for a single to start the bottom of the first. Omar Infante moved him to second with a single and it brought Gaby Sanchez to the plate with nobody out and men on first and second. Sanchez tried to bunt, of course, and popped it up to Ruiz in foul territory for the first out. Hanley Ramirez hit into a double-play behind him.

Not sure why you would bunt with your three hitter when every batter you’ve sent to the plate in the game has reached base, but it sure helped the Phils.

Up 2-0, Kendrick threw a 1-2-3 second.

The pitcher Anibal Sanchez singled to right with one out in the third and the Phils up 4-0. Kendrick walked Bonifacio before getting Infante on a fly ball to center for the second out. Sanchez was next and singled to right, but the ball went through Brown’s legs and rolled to the wall. Both runners scored, Brown was charged with an error and the lead was cut to 4-2 with Sanchez at third. Ramirez followed that and hit a ball slowly to short. Rollins charged and threw wildly to first. Ramirez had a single, but held first, and Sanchez scored. 4-3. Morrison grounded to second to end the inning.

I guess it was too much to hope for Sanchez to bunt with two outs.

Up 5-3, Kendrick allowed a one-out double to Bryan Petersen in the fourth, but got the next two hitters behind him.

Bonifacio walked to start the fifth, but Ruiz threw him out trying to steal second for the first out. Infante singled to left, but Kendrick got Sanchez to ground into a double-play to end the inning.

Herndon started the sixth up 6-3 after the Phils hit for Kendrick in the top of the inning. Ramirez led off with a single before Logan Morrison hit a 3-1 pitch out to center, cutting the lead to 6-5. Herndon struck out Mike Stanton for the first out before Petersen singled to right. John Buck flew to center for the second out and lefty Dewayne Wise hit for the pitcher Michael Dunn. The righty Carpenter came in to pitch to Wise and got him on a ground ball to second to end the inning.

Carpenter struck Bonifacio out to start the seventh before Infante tripled down the first base line. Sanchez walked before Ramirez singled into center, scoring Infante to tie the game at 6-6 with one out and men on first and second. Morrison was next and he hit a fly ball right at Mayberry. Mayberry didn’t play it right, then dove forward and had it go off of his glove for an error that loaded the bases. It brought Stanton to the plate and he shattered his bat hitting a grounder to third. Martinez made a great play as the head of the bat whizzed past, throwing to second for the first out. Utley made a hop and a strong enough throw to first to double-up Stanton and end the inning.

Great play by Martinez and Utley to get the double-play. The ball wasn’t hit hard. I bet the play where you ignore the huge shards of wood flying past is hard to practice. Two is too many errors for your outfielders to make in one game.

Stutes pitched the eighth with the game still tied at 6-6. Buck singled with one out and Brett Hayes ran for him at first. Mike Cameron hit for the pitcher and Stutes threw wildly to first trying to pick off Hayes for an error that allowed Hayes to take second before Cameron popped up to Howard for the second out of the inning. Stutes struck Bonifacio out swinging 2-2 to leave Hayes at third.

Third error of the game for the Phillies.

Baez set the Marlins down in order in the ninth.

He was back to start the tenth and got Morrison on a ground ball to second for the first out. Stanton was next and he rocketed a 2-1 pitch out to left to give Florida a 7-6 win.

Not a good day for the pen in long relief of Kendrick. They went 4 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and a walk.

Carpenter threw 26 pitches in the game, Stutes 23 and Baez 22. Herndon 16. Off day today, so those guys should be available for the Braves.

The Phillies lineup against righty Anibal Sanchez went (1) Rollins (2) Martinez (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Ibanez (6) Ruiz (7) Brown (8) Mayberry. Martinez makes his first appearance of the year at third. Mayberry plays center with Victorino still sidelined with thumb problems. Martinez shouldn’t be hitting second in any lineup, regardless of injuries.

Rollins led off the game with a single. Martinez struck out behind him for the first out before Utley singled to right. Rollins rounded second for third and Stanton’s throw went to third, but was cut off by Ramirez and Utley was caught up between first and second and tagged out for the second out. Howard struck out to leave Rollins at third.

Brown walked with two outs in the second. Mayberry was next and he hit a 1-0 pitch out to left, putting the Phils up 2-0. Kendrick struck out swinging for the third out.

Utley doubled with two outs in the third and Howard was walked intentionally behind him. Ibanez was next and he laced a double to left-center, just out of the reach of Petersen. It cleared the bases and the Phils led 4-0. Ruiz was hit by a pitch behind him before Brown struck out swinging to end the frame.

It was 4-3 when the Phillies hit in the fourth. Mayberry and Kendrick both struck out swinging before Rollins laced a 3-2 pitch out to right, putting the Phils up 5-3. Martinez walked behind him before Utley flew to center.

Rollins continues to show power against righties with the home run off of Sanchez. He’s slugging .292 against lefties for the year compared to .417 against righties. Nice to see Martinez draw a walk.

Howard singled to start the fifth, but Ibanez hit into a double-play behind him. Ruiz was next and hit the ball hard, but Ramirez handled it at short and threw to first for the third out.

Brown led off the sixth and lined a ball to left-center just past a sliding and flailing Petersen. He raced all the way around to third, but it was ruled that he failed to touch second and was the first out of the inning. Mayberry was next and homered again to left, putting the Phils up 6-3. Valdez hit for Kendrick, who had thrown just 81 pitches and allowed one earned run in five innings, and lined to left. Rollins popped to second for the third out.

Early hook for Kendrick. He wasn’t pitching well, but that was early. I’d feel better about it if the Phils had a better hitter to stick up there than Valdez. Brown costs the Phils a run with the base-running mistake ahead of the home run.

The Phils went in order in the seventh.

In the eighth they went in order with the score tied at 6-6.

Mayberry grounded to second for the first out in the ninth. With righty Leo Nunez on the mound for the Fish, Gload hit for Stutes and popped to short for the second. Rollins walked and stole second on a pitchout (with help of a terrible throw from Hayes) before Martinez walked. It put men on first and second for Utley and Utley flew to left to leave them both stranded.

The Phils went in order in the tenth.

Rollins 2-for-4 with a walk and a homer in the series. 7-for-13 with two walks, a double, a home run and two stolen bases in the three-game series. 264/338/384 for the year.

Martinez was 0-for-3 and walked twice. He made a great play to avoid a flying bat and start a double-play in the seventh. He also made a very nice catch in center early in game two of the series. If only he could hit. 2-for-13 with a triple, two walks and four RBI in the set. 182/229/247 for the year.

Utley 2-for-5 with a double. 4-for-13 with a double and two strikeouts in the series. 287/380/462 for the year. 324/412/529 in his last 120 plate appearances.

Howard 1-for-4 with a walk. 5-for-13 with a double, a home run and two walks in the series, both of which were intentional. 258/356/486 for the year.

Ibanez 1-for-5 with a double and two RBI. 4-for-14 with a double, a home run and six RBI in the series. 236/285/400 for the year.

Ruiz 0-for-4. 1-for-9 in the series and he was twice hit by pitch.

Brown 1-for-3 in the game with two big mistakes — missing second the would-be triple and having the ball go through his legs in the third. 5-for-10 with three walks in the series. He’s hitting 239/322/410 for the year.

Mayberry was 2-for-4 with three RBI in the first multi-homer game of his career. 2-for-5 with a walk in the series in his first action with the team since June. 239/325/422 in 123 plate appearances for the season. He and Brown have very similar lines for the year.

No game today. Atlanta tomorrow night.

Seven runs in four games should do it. Four runs in three games is even better.

Still no sign of the offense as the Phils dropped their fourth straight last night. Oswalt made his return to the rotation and looked pretty good in the five innings he was able to go. The Phils went into the eighth down 1-0 and got a gift run with the help of a dropped popup to tie things up, but Baez started the ninth and allowed hits to the first three men he faced and St Louis pushed a run across on a walkoff single to win 2-1.

The Phils are 25-16 on the year after losing to the St Louis Cardinals 2-1 last night. They have lost four games in a row for the first time on the season and are 7-8 in May.

Oswalt got the start for the Phillies and went five innings, allowing a run on seven hits and a walk. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a double. He struck out three.

He got Ryan Theriot to line to Rollins for the first out in the bottom of the first. Then he struck Jon Jay out swinging 2-2 for the second out and Albert Pujols out looking 3-2 to end the inning.

Matt Holliday fouled out to Howard for the first out in the second. Lance Berkman was next and he singled to center but was forced at second for the second out when Allen Craig followed and grounded to short. Yadier Molina moved Craig to second with a single to right, but Oswalt got Daniel Descalso to pop to Rollins in foul territory to leave both men stranded.

Pitcher Jaime Garcia led off the St Louis third and grounded to Oswalt. Theriot and Jay followed with back-to-back singles, with Jay’s sending Theriot to third. Oswalt got Pujols to hit a double-play ball to Rollins to keep St Louis off the board.

Oswalt walked Berkman with one out in the fourth and Craig moved him to second with a single to center. Molina was next and he singled to left. Berkman tried to score and looked like he didn’t have much of a chance, but the throw from Mayberry came in on a hop and a little up the third base line. The ball and Berkman arrived about the same time with Berkman sliding in to avoid Sardinha’s tag and the Cards led 1-0. It brought Descalso to the plate with men on first and second and he grounded to Valdez with Molina forced at second for the second out. Oswalt struck Garcia out for the third out, leaving runners at the corners.

Mayberry didn’t make a great throw, but Sardinha still had a chance to get Berkman and missed the tag.

Pujols doubled to right with two outs in the fifth, but Oswalt got Holliday on a ground ball to second for the third out.

Stutes started the sixth and made just three pitches before hurting his back and exited for Kendrick. Kendrick walked Berkman and Berkman moved up to second on a ground out by Craig and then third when Molina was retired on a ball handled by Kendrick. Kendrick walked Descalso intentionally, putting men on first and third for the pitcher Garcia. Garcia grounded to third to end the inning.

Another intentional walk for Kendrick, who has walked five intentionally in 21 2/3 innings.

Kendrick allowed a two-out single to Pujols in the seventh, but Holliday lined to Francisco to leave Pujols stranded.

Two scoreless frames in the game for Kendrick. He has a 1.15 ERA and a 1.09 ratio over 15 2/3 innings in his last eight appearances (one of which was a start).

Bastardo started the eighth with the game tied at 1-1. He got Berkman and Tyler Greene to start the inning before Molina doubled. Bastardo walked Descalso behind Molina and switch-hitter Nick Punto hit for the pitcher Garcia with two men on base. Bastardo struck him out swinging 1-2 to leave both men stranded.

Baez started the ninth. Theriot led off with an infield single. Jay moved him to second with a real single and Pujols blooped a ball that fell in right for another single, loading the bases. Holliday was next and he hit a ground ball to short. Rollins fielded and threw home to force Theriot for the first out. Berkman was next and Romero came in to face him, forcing the switch-hitter Berkman to hit right-handed. Berkman hit the ball over the head of Martinez, who was playing shallow in center, to plate Jay and give St Louis a 2-1 win.

Berkman is hammering both lefties and righties this season. Over his career he’s been better against righties (308/424/590 against righties and 261/365/418 against lefties). So no argument with Romero.

I think you can have an argument about no Madson in the ninth. Baez’s line looks awful, but one of the singles he allowed was an infield hit and another a softly hit ball by Pujols.

Over his last four appearances, Baez has allowed six runs on ten hits and two walks over four innings (13.50 ERA and a 3.00 ratio). Last year with the Phils he threw to a 5.48 ERA and a 1.64 ratio.

Stutes and Romero were both pitching for the second day in a row, but I’m going to be surprised if we see Stutes any time soon. Kendrick threw 24 pitches in the game, Bastardo 21, Baez 13, Stutes three and Romero one.

Stutes will see a doctor today.

The Phillies lineup against lefty Jaime Garcia went (1) Rollins (2) Martinez (3) Polanco (4) Howard (5) Mayberry (6) Francisco (7) Valdez (8) Sardinha. Polanco returns to the lineup and the three-hole. Martinez in center with Mayberry in left, Francisco in right and Ibanez on the bench against the lefty. Valdez plays second against the lefty with the lefty Orr on the bench. Sardinha catches with Ruiz on the bench.

Martinez singled to center with one out in the first and moved to second on a ground out by Polanco. Howard flew to center to leave him at second.

Descalso made a very nice play at third and a strong throw to first on a ball hit down the line by Polanco for the second out.

Mayberry led off the second with a single and stole second, but was left there when Francisco flew to center, Valdez popped to Theriot and Sardinha lined to third.

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

With the Phils down 1-0, Valdez hit a ball just over Descalso and down the line for a double with one out in the fifth. Sardinha followed that with a walk and Oswalt bunted the runners to second and third with the second out. Rollins flew to Jay in left-center to leave both runners stranded.

Polanco singled with one out in the sixth. Howard struck out behind him and Mayberry grounded to third.

The Phillies went in order in the seventh.

With one out in the eighth, Rollins popped a ball up on the infield that Tyler Greene just dropped for an error. Martinez moved him to third with a single before Polanco flew to center for the second out, deep enough for Rollins to tag and score, tying the game at 1-1 with two outs and Martinez at first. Howard struck out swinging to leave Martinez stranded.

The Phillies went in order in the ninth. With righty Fernando Salas on the mound for St Louis, Orr hit for Valdez and struck out looking for the third out.

Rollins was 0-for-4.

Martinez had a nice game, going 2-for-4 with a big single in the eighth to help the Phils score their run. He’s 7-for-29 on the year with seven singles and two walks. Glad to see him have a nice game, but it seems pretty hard to argue that he’s a good use of a roster spot.

Polanco was 1-for-3 with an RBI. 222/258/259 in May.

Howard was 0-for-4 and struck out three times. If you want to make a ranked list of the problems with the Phillies offense, you need to put the fact that Howard has hit 208/300/431 over his last 150 plate appearances way higher than who the offensive players filling out the roster are.

Mayberry was 1-for-4. He’s 4-for-his-last-23.

Francisco 0-for-4. 218/327/346 for the season. Having a starting right fielder who has hit 218/327/346 on the year should go pretty high on the list, too.

Valdez was 1-for-3 with a double, which was the only extra-base hit in the game for the Phillies. The Phils are slugging .345 as a team in May. Valdez is on-basing .265 this season and .297 over the 463 plate appearances the Phillies have given him over the last two years.

Sardinha 0-for-2 with a walk. Unfortunate he wasn’t able to tag Berkman out and prevent the first St Louis run of the game. 3-for-17 on the year.

Ibanez didn’t play in the game, but it feels like he needs to be included in order to help fill out the list of things that are more important to the offense than the players filling out the roster. He’s hitting 223/280/338 for the year.

Cole Hamels (4-2, 3.19) faces lefty Jorge De La Rosa (5-1, 3.70) tonight. De la Rosa had his worst start of the year his last time out, allowing five runs in 5 2/3 innings to the Padres. In his eight starts, lefties have hit .107 against him with no extra-base hits. Hamels has thrown to a 2.29 ERA and an 0.92 ratio since his first start of the season.

Not yet, probably, but he sure is making it look like it will only be a matter of time.

Vance Worley gave the Phils his second good start in two tries last night as the Phils rolled to a 7-4 win over the Nats. The game wasn’t as close as the score as Washington hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth.

Worley allowed a run on four hits over six innings last night and struck out seven. He’s allowed a run on six hits and four walks over 12 innings in his two starts combined.

Worley wasn’t the only Phillie who shined as the Phils banged out 11 hits coming off a game where they managed 12. Raul Ibanez has broken out of his long slump in a big way. After going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles in the series opener, Ibanez went 3-for-4 last night and hit his first home run since April 7. Rollins shined again as well, going 2-for-4 with a walk and an RBI in his second straight day in the leadoff spot.

The Phillies are 20-9 on the year after beating the Washington Nationals 7-4 last night. They are 11 games over .500 for the first time on the year.

Worley got the start for the Phils and went six innings, allowing a run on four hits. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, both doubles. He didn’t walk anyone and struck out seven.

He struck Danny Espinosa out looking for the first out of the game before Ian Desmond grounded to short for the second out. Jayson Werth struck out swinging 2-2 to end the frame.

Adam LaRoche struck out looking to start the second before Ramos doubled to right. Laynce Nix flew to center and Jerry Hairston popped up to Valdez to leave Ramos stranded.

Alex Cora led off the third and hit a ball that was deflected by Valdez but found center for a single. The pitcher Jason Marquis was next, tried to bunt, couldn’t and struck out for the first out. Espinosa flew to center for the second out and Worley struck Desmond out swinging 1-2 to leave Cora stranded.

Worley threw a 1-2-3 fourth. LaRoche struck out looking at a 3-2 pitch he thought was inside for the second out and argued. Jim Riggleman came out to argue and was ejected. The pitch in question was a strike.

Cora singled with two outs in the fifth, but Worley got Marquis on a ground ball to short behind him to turn Washington away.

Worley started the sixth with a 3-0 lead and hit the leadoff man Espinosa. Desmond followed with a ground out to short that moved Espinosa to second with one down. Werth struck out for the second out, but LaRoche followed and blasted a double off the wall in left. Espinosa scored to cut the lead to 3-1. Ramos was next and hit a ball down the third base line. Polanco made a very nice play on the line and the long throw to first to end the frame.

JC Romero, just off the DL, pitched the seventh with a 7-1 lead. He got the first two before Cora singled to center. Righty Brian Bixler hit for the pitcher Brian Broderick and grounded to first to set Washington down.

Stutes pitched the eighth. Werth singled with two outs and took second on defensive indifference. LaRoche walked behind him, putting two men on for Ramos, but Ramos fouled out to Schneider to leave both men stranded.

Baez started the ninth with the Phils still up by six runs. Nix lead off with a single, but Baez struck Hairston and Cora out behind him. Lefty Matt Stairs hit for the pitcher Todd Coffey and moved Nix to third with a single. Stairs took second without a throw before Espinosa hit a 2-1 pitch out to center for a three-run homer that cut the Phillie lead to 7-4. Baez got Desmond on a ground ball to short to end the game.

Three innings for the pen in which they allowed three runs on five hits and a walk. Baez threw 18 pitches, Stutes 16 and Romero 15.

The Phillies lineup against righty Jason Marquis went (1) Rollins (2) Victorino (3) Polanco (4) Howard (5) Francisco (6) Ibanez (7) Schneider (8) Valdez. Rollins stays in the leadoff spot for the second straight game. The lefty Schneider catches with Sardinha on the bench. The righty Valdez plays second with the lefty Orr on the bench.

Rollins led off the bottom of the first with a single, but Victorino popped to short and Polanco hit into a double-play behind him.

Howard and Francisco both struck out to start the second, but Ibanez was next and he singled to right. Schneider went down in a dribbler out in front of the plate to end the inning.

The Phils went in order in the third.

Polanco singled with one out in the fourth. Howard grounded to second with Polanco forced at second for the second out. Francisco grounded to third to leave Howard stranded.

Ibanez hit the first pitch from Marquis in the fifth out to right-center, putting the Phils up 1-0. Schneider followed with a single on a ball deflected by the first baseman LaRoche and Valdez followed with a ground ball to short with Schneider forced at second for the first out. Worley lined a single into left, moving Valdez to second, and Rollins walked to load the bases for Victorino. Victorino singled to left and everyone moved up a base. 2-0. Polanco was next and hit a fly ball to left for the second out, deep enough for Worley to tag and score, putting the Phils ahead 3-0. Howard lined to Espinosa to leave Rollins and Victorino stranded.

The lead was cut to 3-1 when Francisco started the sixth with a walk. He moved to second when Ibanez followed with a single to right. Schneider singled to right, too, and the bases were loaded for Valdez. Valdez delivered a single to left and everyone moved up a base. 4-1. Righty Brian Broderick took over for Marquis and Gload hit for Worley and struck out swinging 2-2 for the first out. Rollins followed with another single that moved everyone up again and made it 5-1. Victorino hit a ground ball to second. Espinosa tossed to second to force Rollins for the second out, but the relay to first from Desmond was wide of LaRoche for an error that allowed Victorino to take second. Schneider and Valdez both scored on the play to extend the lead to 7-1. Polanco lined to Desmond for the third out.

Victorino probably would have beaten the play at first even if Desmond hadn’t thrown the ball away. Manuel again uses Gload earlier in the game than he tended to last year. Gload has a bad at-bat, striking out with the bases loaded and nobody out, but Rollins picks him up and the Nats throw the ball away.

The Phils went in order in the seventh.

Schneider and Valdez went down to start the eighth. With righty Todd Coffey pitching for Washington, Martinez hit for Stutes and drew a walk. Rollins grounded to Coffey for the third out.

Third plate appearance for Martinez since April 24.

Rollins was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a walk. He’s 4-for-8 with a triple and two walks hitting out of the leadoff spot in the last two games.

Victorino 1-for-4 with two RBI. He’s 10-for-his-last-30.

Polanco 1-for-3 with an RBI.

Howard 0-for-4 with a strikeout.

Francisco 0-for-3 with a walk. He’s 1-for-his-last-12.

Ibanez 3-for-4 with a home run, which was the only extra-base hit of the game for the Phils. 5-for-8 with two doubles and a home run in his last two games.

Schneider was 2-for-4 to raise his average on the year to .184.

Valdez 1-for-4 with an RBI. He’s 3-for-his-last-28 with three singles and a walk.

Halladay (4-1, 2.14) faces lefty John Lannan (2-3, 3.78) tonight. Lefties have hit 167/286/300 against Lannan so far this season, righties 313/382/434. He faced the Phils on April 13 and allowed three runs, two earned, over six innings. Halladay has made one start this year in which he allowed more than two runs in the game. He started the April 13 game against the Nats and threw a complete game, allowing two runs in the ninth long after any normal human being would have been taken out of the game. Not sure what Halladay is, but I’m sure it’s not a normal human being.

David Herndon was sent to Triple-A to make room for Romero. The Phils continue to carry 14 hitters, including three catchers. Ruiz hasn’t played since last Wednesday (April 27).

The Phils beat Baltimore yesterday, winning 4-3 on a two-run walkoff single in by Carlos Rivero.

Hamels started the game for the Phils and allowed two first-inning runs on two walks and a double. After the first, he set down nine Baltimore batters in order. He has now made three spring starts, allowing three hits and four walks while throwing to a 1.80 ERA and striking out seven over ten innings. If he were to allow 2.7 hits per nine innings in the regular season, it would be notable.

Contreras, Baez, Meyer and Carpenter all threw scoreless innings in the game. Despite a rough early outing in a B-game, Baez had now thrown 3 1/3 scoreless frames in official action. Contreras and Carpenter have now both made two appearances and each has thrown two scoreless innings. Meyer had an ugly outing early and has allowed two runs on two hits in three innings overall.

Lidge pitched the other inning and allowed the other run. He hit Nolan Reimold with one out and Reimold came around to score on a two-out double by Josh Bell. Lidge has now made four appearances and allowed runs in three of them, throwing to a 6.75 ERA and allowing five hits, a walk and hitting two batters over four innings.

Howard homered in the fourth, his third of the spring. 292/346/708 after 24 at-bats.

Victorino doubled in the fifth to plate Josh Barfield for the second run. Victorino was 2-for-3 in the game to raise his spring average to .333. Barfield started at second and went 0-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored. He’s 5-for-10 so far.

The Phils started the bottom of the ninth down 3-2. They loaded the bases on walks to Barfield, Dane Sardinha and a bunt single by Michael Martinez before Rivero lined a two-run single into center. Martinez played center field in the game and went 2-for-2, raising his average to .190 (4-for-21 with no walks). Rivero played third and went 2-for-2. He’s 4-for-12 so far.

Mayberry doubled in the second inning. He was 1-for-3 on the day and has a 280/333/600 line for the spring (7-for-25 with two walks, two doubles and two homers).

Rollins was 0-for-3 to drop his average to .185 (5-for-27 with a double and no walks). Polanco is hitting .208 after going 0-for-3. Ibanez 0-for-2 with a walk to drop his average to .182 — he’s 4-for-22 with four singles.

Delwyn Young played right and went 1-for-4. 320/346/360 over 25 at-bats (8-for-25 with a double and a walk).

Blanton pitches today as the Phils face the Tigers.

Ben Francisco has a stiff neck.

No new news on Utley, except that we keep getting closer to games that matter and he keeps not playing.

This article from Sunday wonders if the Phils might be interested in trading for Mike Cameron. I’m going to be surprised if the Phillies trade for a right-handed outfielder.

One thing to remember when you consider how many innings the new rotation might save the pen in 2011 is that in 2010 the bullpen threw less innings than any other team in the National League. Phillie relievers tossed just 421 innings last year, the fewest in the league by a fairly wide margin. The Arizona Diamondbacks were 15th in the NL in bullpen innings pitched with 439. The Giants were 14th, and they threw 461 innings in relief — 40 more than the Phillies. Only one team in the DH-loving AL threw fewer innings in relief. The Mariners called on their pen to throw 419 1/3 innings, which was 1 2/3 less than the Phillies.

So even before adding Cliff Lee to the rotation, and even without a full year of Oswalt, the Phillies were already calling on their bullpen to throw fewer innings than any team in their league and almost any other team in baseball.

For the last three seasons, the Phils have been in the bottom half in the NL in terms of innings pitched in relief. In two of the three years they have been among the three teams that threw the fewest innings in relief.

Here’s the number of innings the Phillies bullpen has thrown per season over the past five years and their rank in innings pitched in relief in the NL for that year:

In 2006, the Phillies threw 539 innings in relief. Only three teams in the NL threw more innings in relief that year, the Mets, Nationals and Cubs. By 2008, only two NL teams (the Brewers and the Diamondbacks) threw fewer innings in relief than the Phils. In 2010, the Phils were 16th in the 16-team league in innings pitched by their relievers (no NL team threw fewer).

There is bad news, though, and that’s that the bullpens, with one notable exception, have generally not gotten better at preventing runs as the number of innings they throw relative to the rest of the league goes down. The table below has the same three columns as the table above, but adds the NL rank for runs allowed per inning in relief for each year.

In 2006, the bullpen was throwing a ton of innings, but they were also allowing fewer runs per inning pitched in relief than every bullpen in the league except for the Mets and the Padres. Last year the bullpen threw fewer innings than any other team in the league, but their effectiveness in terms of runs allowed per innings pitched was in the middle of the pack. 2008 is the only year in the last four in which the bullpen excelled at preventing runs. In that year the Phils were near the bottom of the league in bullpen innings pitched and at the very top in terms of runs allowed per inning pitched. You may recall that things turned out well for the team that year.

JC Romero appears to be headed back to the Phils. Five guys in the pen at this point: Romero, Baez, Contreras, Madson and Lidge. Many articles, including this post, suggest that the addition of Romero makes it less likely the Phils would bring back Durbin.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Valdez 2-for-4.

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