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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So far this year, righty David Herndon has thrown to a 3.38 ERA out of the pen for the Phils while his fellow righty Michael Stutes has thrown to a 3.69 ERA. Herndon hasn’t really been better than Stutes, though, has he?

Here’s at look at some of the other numbers for the pair:

No. He really hasn’t. He’s been better at preventing walks than Stutes, but allowed hits and home runs at a higher rate while striking out batters less regularly.

Herndon does have the better ERA, but with a big but. Herndon has allowed 26 runs in his 56 innings, but five of those 26 (19.2%) have been unearned. All 21 of the runs that have been charged to Stutes have been earned.

Another big difference is that Stutes has been good against left-handed hitters while they have hammered Herndon:

Again, just terrible numbers for Herndon against lefties as they hit a silly 364/473/701 against him. If lefties are going to hit 364/473/701 against you it means you can’t pitch against them. Stutes, on the other hand, has been very effective against lefties, holding them to a 216/328/392 line.

Not to be lost in that as well is that as horrid as Herndon has been against left-handed hitters, he’s been fantastic against righties — righties have on-based just .250 against Herndon for the season. By OPS against, Halladay and Bastardo are the only pitchers for the Phils who have faced more than 15 batters this year who have been more effective against righties than Herndon.

The other thing is that Herndon has some impressive numbers late in the season. Over his last 19 appearances, he’s thrown to a 1.48 ERA with a 1.27 ratio and struck out 18 in 24 1/3 innings. Stutes, on the other hand, has a 5.12 ERA over his last 16 appearances. Here’s what the two have done since the All-Star break:

Again, Herndon gets some help with unearned runs. He has allowed nine runs in the second half and only five of them have been earned. But a 1.61 ERA is a 1.61 ERA and whether his ERA number in the second half is misleading or not, there’s still a very good case to be made that 1) he’s been better than Stutes in the second half and 2) he’s been fantastic against righties all year long.

So what are the Phillies going to do? I don’t know, but I think they should make room for Herndon. Stutes seems like a lock for the post-season roster. This suggests the Phils will carry 11 pitchers and slot 11 will go to Blanton or Herndon. My guess is that slots 1-10 go to these guys: Halladay, Lee, Hamels, Oswalt, Worley, Madson, Bastardo, Kendrick, Stutes and Lidge. If you have to pick between Herndon and Blanton, I think you have to go with Herndon given that Roy Oswalt is your #4 starter and that Worley and Kendrick should both be able to provide multiple innings in long relief.

The article linked above suggests that Joe Savery, Justin De Fratus and Domonic Brown will go to Clearwater in case the Phillies need to replace a player on their post-season roster.

The Phillies are 100-60 on the year after beating the Atlanta Braves 4-2 last night. Lee got the start for the Phils and gave up two early runs, allowing a solo shot to Chipper Jones in the first and a second run on a double by Alex Gonzalez in the second. Polanco singled with two outs and the bases loaded in the fourth, knocking in Pence to cut the lead to 2-1 and Rollins tied things up at 2-2 with a solo homer in the fifth. The Phillies pulled ahead 3-2 in the sixth when Victorino’s one-out triple was followed by an RBI-single by Ibanez. Ibanez drove Victorino in again in the eighth. Victorino doubled with one out and again Ibanez followed with a single, scoring Victorino to put the Phils up 4-2.

Lee got his 17th win, holding the Braves to two runs over six innings. Savery, Stutes, Lidge and Madson combined to throw three scoreless innings after he left.

Rollins, Howard, Victorino and Ibanez all had two hits for the Phils.

Rollins is 5-for-his-last-10 coming off of an 0-for-16 coming into the second game on Saturday.

Victorino 4-for-his-last-10 with three extra-base hits.

The Phils lost again last night, but clinched home field advantage throughout the post-season with a loss by the Brewers. The offense struggled again for the Phillies in the game, scoring two runs in the bottom of the late but falling 4-3 as the rally fell short.

The Phils have scored three runs or less in ten of their last 11 games.

Halladay surprised a bit in the game by not being lights-out. Coming into the outing having allowed one run over 17 innings over his last two starts, Halladay gave up a pair of runs in the first on his way to allowing four runs over eight innings in the game. It was the fifth time in 31 starts this season that Halladay was charged with more than three runs in a start. He also curiously walked Lance Berkman intentionally twice in the game after Berkman homered off of him in the first. Both times it worked out for Halladay, who came into the start have issued just two intentional walks for the season.

If we’re voting, I think having Halladay walk two batters intentionally in a start is a pretty poor idea. My argument is as follows: He’s Roy flippin’ Halladay. In 67 starts as a Phillie, last night’s is the only one in which Halladay has walked more than three batters in a game. It’s the first time since June 25, 2008 that he has walked more than three batters in a game pitching for any team. He walked more batters intentionally last night than he did in 489 2/3 innings between 2009 and 2010 combined (one IBB in those two seasons).

The Phillies are 98-54 on the year after losing 4-3 to the St Louis Cardinals. St Louis takes the series three games to one.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went eight innings, allowing four runs on six hits and four walks. Four of the hits went for extra-bases, three doubles and a home run. He struck out six.

Rafael Furcal was the first batter of the game and he doubled to right. Nick Punto was next and Furcal moved up to third on a passed ball by Ruiz before Punto grounded to first with Furcal scoring from third to put St Louis up 1-0. Albert Pujols grounded to Halladay for the second out before Lance Berkman hit a 1-0 pitch out to right. 2-0. Allen Craig lined to Utley for the third out.

Halladay set the Cards down in order in the second, getting Jon Jay on a ball handled by Ruiz, Gerald Laird on a ground ball to short and Daniel Descalso on a popup to Utley.

The lead was cut to 2-1 when pitcher Kyle Lohse led off the third with a double to center. Furcal bunted him to third with the first out before Halladay walked Punto. With men on first and third, Halladay struck Pujols out looking 2-2 for the second out. Berkman was next, though, and lined a single into center, scoring Lohse (3-1) and moving Punto to second. Craig popped to Utley for the third out.

With two outs in the fourth, Descalso hit a ground ball to first that Gload didn’t handle for an error. Halladay struck Lohse out swinging to leave Descalso at first.

Furcal reached on an infield single to start the fifth and Punto bunted him to second with the first out. Pujols flew to right for the second out and Halladay walked the switch-hitter Berkman intentionally, putting men on first and second with two outs for Craig. Halladay struck Craig out swinging 0-2 to leave both men stranded.

Not a fan of that one, although it’s harder to argue with if Halladay is going to blow Craig away.

Halladay set St Louis down in order in the sixth.

He walked Punto with two outs in the seventh. Pujols was next and doubled to left, plating Punto to extend the St Louis lead to 4-1. Halladay again walked Berkman intentionally, putting men on first and second, and got Craig on a ground ball to third to end the inning.

Again with the intentional walk to Berkman. Enough to make one suspect it has more to do with lack of fear of Craig than it does with fear of Berkman. Worked twice for the Phils, but I’m still not a fan.

Halladay threw a 1-2-3 eighth.

Herndon started the ninth. Furcal doubled to left with one out. Punto was next and Herndon struck him out swinging for the second out. Pujols struck out swinging 0-2 to end the frame.

Five scoreless innings in his last four appearances for Herndon. He has a 1.71 ERA in 19 appearances since the All-Star break. He threw 17 pitches in the game.

The Phillies lineup against righty Kyle Lohse went (1) Rollins (2) Victorino (3) Utley (4) Pence (5) Ibanez (6) Polanco (7) Gload (8) Ruiz. Gload at first for Howard.

Down 2-0, the Phillies went in order in the bottom of the first.

Polanco singled with two outs in the second and Gload reached on an error by Punto at second behind him. It brought Ruiz to the plate with men on first and second and Ruiz singled into right just under the glove of a diving Punto, scoring Polanco and cutting the lead to 2-1. Halladay struck out swinging to leave the runners at first and second.

Punto’s error keeps the inning alive for Ruiz to knock into Polanco. Not a good inning defensively for the Cards at second, with Punto just missing on Ruiz’s single.

Victorino singled with one out in the third and the Phils down 3-1. Utley hit a ball to second. Punto fielded and went to second where Furcal didn’t handle it for an error that left the Phils with one down and men on first and second. Pence loaded the bases with a single to left, but Ibanez struck out swinging 2-2 and Polanco struck out swinging 1-2.

It’s almost like Howard were still in the lineup. No RBI, no contact for Ibanez with one out and the bases loaded and the Phils can’t take advantage of the extra out on the error by Furcal.

Gload singled to start the fourth. Ruiz flew to center for the first out and Halladay bunted Gload up to second with the second. Rollins walked to put two men on base, but Victorino grounded to first to leave them both stranded.

Can Gload score from second on a single with two outs? We may never know. I’m guessing it depends on what kind of a single it is. Not sure I would bunt him to second with the second out unless I was pretty sure.

Pence singled with one out in the fifth. Ibanez was next and smashed a ball back up the middle, but Lohse caught the low line drive and threw to first where Pence was doubled-off to end the inning.

Gload doubled to center with one out in the sixth. Ruiz grounded to short for the second out with Gload holding second. Halladay grounded to second to set the Phillies down.

Down 4-1, the Phils went in order in the seventh.

Polanco walked with two outs in the eighth. With lefty Marc Rzepczynski on the mound for the Cards, Mayberry hit for Gload and grounded to first to end the inning.

Ruiz doubled to left to start the ninth. With righty Jason Motte pitching for St Louis, Moss hit for Herndon and struck out swinging. Rollins was next and he ripped a triple into the gap in right-center, scoring Ruiz to cut the lead to 4-2. Victorino grounded to short for the second out with Rollins scoring. 4-3. Lefty Arthur Rhodes came in to pitch to Utley and Utley singled to right. Righty Octavio Dotel took over for Rhodes and got Pence to ground to third to end the game.

Moss instead of Brown gets the at-bat against Moss. First at-bat of the year for Moss. Rollins looked good running the bases on his triple. Looked like a double when he hit it to me.

Rollins was 1-for-4 with a triple and a walk. 6-for-18 with a triple in the four-game series. That’s his first walk since August 20 (although he missed about 20 days from August 22 to September 9). 278/339/397 for the year. He hit 20 triples in 2007 and has hit 19 since.

Victorino 1-for-5 with an RBI. 4-for-15 with three walks and a homer in the set. He’s hitting .195 in September and 288/365/505 for the year.

Utley 1-for-5. 4-for-18 in the series. He doesn’t have a walk in his last 63 plate appearances and is on-basing .241 in September. 262/341/430 for the season.

Pence 2-for-5 yesterday and 5-for-17 with two walks and a double in the series. 317/386/541 with the Phillies for the year. He’s tops on the team in all three categories with the exception of on-base percentage — Dane Sardinha has on-based .419 for the Phils this year in his 43 plate appearances.

Ibanez 0-for-4 and struck out twice. 1-for-14 with a grand slam in the series. 4-for-his-last-32 and hitting 242/288/419 for the season.

Polanco 1-for-3 with a walk. 5-for-14 with a double and three walks in the series. He’s hitting 308/395/385 in September. 281/341/345 for the season. He was hitting .273 after going 0-for-4 against the Fish on September 3. He’s 19-for-his-last-57 (.333) with eight walks. 301/381/350 in his 118 plate appearances since August 5.

Gload 2-for-3 with a double. 2-for-7 in the series with a walk and a double. 257/278/314 for the year.

Ruiz 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. 2-for-9 with a walk and a double in the set. 280/371/385 for the season.

The Phils play a double-header with the Nats today. Kendrick (8-6, 3.22) faces lefty Ross Detwiler (2-5, 3.76) in the afternoon game. Righties are hitting .295 against Detwiler for the season and have hit six of the seven home runs he has allowed. Kendrick has a 2.60 ERA over 52 innings in his last 11 appearances since July 6, but seven of the 22 runs he allowed in that time have been unearned. He’s allowed more than three earned runs in just one of his last ten starts. Cliff Lee (16-7, 2.38) faces rookie lefty Tom Milone (1-0, 4.60) in the night game.

It was ugly take two last night as the Phils fell to the Astros 5-2. The Phils made two errors in the game and got all their offense on two swings of the bat, solo home runs by Pence and Ruiz.

In the first two games of the series, Brett Myers and JA Happ, two pitchers who have struggled this season, have held the Phils to two runs over 14 innings. The Phillies, meanwhile, have been awful. Looking sloppy and tired they have slogged through the first two games against one of the worst teams in baseball and lost them both.

The game was also notable because Cole Hamels was again hurt by the long ball. Clint Barmes delivered the biggest swing of the game, a three-run homer off of Hamels in the fourth. The homer was preceded by a Howard error, but the fact that Hamels gave up another big home run seems like a bigger deal than the Phils presumably temporary sloppy play in the field. From the beginning of the season to the end of July, Hamels allowed eight home runs in 152 innings (0.47 home runs per nine innings). Over his last seven starts he has allowed seven in 47 innings (1.34 home runs per nine). Over his last three starts he’s allowed five home runs in 21 innings.

The Phillies are 94-51 on the year after losing 5-2 to the Houston Astros last night. The Phils have lost three in a row, but still lead the NL East by 11 games. They have 17 games left to play and a magic number of one to reach the post-season and a magic number of five to win the division.

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

Hamels got Jason Bourgeois to ground to Rollins for the first out of the bottom of the first. Clint Barmes was next and he doubled to left. JD Martinez followed that with another double to left, scoring Barmes to put the Astros up 1-0. Carlos Lee followed with a single to right that pushed Martinez to third before Hamels hit Matt Downs with a pitch to load the bases. Hamel struck Chris Johnson out swinging at a 3-2 pitch for the second out. Jason Michaels was next and he hit a ground ball to third with Polanco going to Martinez to force Downs and end the inning.

Big strikeout for Hamels for the second out with the bases loaded, which helps limit the damage to a single run.

He got Humberto Quintero on a fly ball to left for the first out in the second and struck pitcher JA Happ out for the second. Bourgeois singled to center and stole second before Hamels struck Barmes out swinging to end the inning.

Matt Downs singled to center with two outs in the third, where the ball went through Mayberry legs for an error that left Downs at third. Johnson grounded to Hamels to leave him there.

JB Shuck singled to right to start the fourth with the score tied at 1-1. Shuck stole second before Hamels struck Quintero out for the first out. Happ was next and he hit a ground ball to first that Howard didn’t handle. The Phils still might have gotten Happ at first, but Hamels was late to cover and the Astros had men on first and third with one out. Bourgeois singled to left, Shuck scored (2-1) and Happ took second. That brought Barmes to the plate and he delivered the swing of the game, hitting the first pitch he saw from Hamels out to left-center. 5-1. Hamels got Martinez and Lee behind Barmes to end the inning.

Second error in two innings for the Phils, but the real problem is the three-run homer that Hamels allowed to Barmes. The error did cost the Phils a run ahead of the homer, but even with the out Barmes would still have hit a two-run homer if everything else went the same way.

Hamels walked Downs to start the fifth. Johnson flew to center for the first out before Shuck moved Downs to second with a single to right. Hamels struck Quintero out again for the second out and Happ flew to Mayberry to leave both runners stranded.

Herndon set the Astros down in order in the sixth and again in the seventh.

Great outing for Herndon, who now has made two appearances in which he has thrown three scoreless innings since his 69-pitch outing on September 4.

Schwimer pitched the eighth. Shuck led off with a single and Quintero followed that with a single that moved Shuck up to second. Right Angel Sanchez hit for the pitcher Fernando Rodriguez and bunted. Polanco fielded the bunt and went to third, where Shuck was forced for the first out. Bourgeois flew to right for the second out before Schwimer hit Barmes with a pitch, loading the bases. Martinez flew to right to leave them loaded.

Two hits and a hit batter in the inning for Schwimer. That’s also two scoreless appearances in a row for him.

Schwimer threw 21 pitches in the game and Herndon threw 17. Neither has pitched more than one day in a row.

The Phillies lineup against lefty JA Happ went (1) Rollins (2) Polanco (3) Pence (4) Howard (5) Mayberry (6) Francisco (7) Ruiz (8) Martinez. Victorino finally gets a much-needed day off with Mayberry in center. Francisco plays left with Ibanez on the bench against the lefty. Martinez at second with Utley sidelined — Orr is the other choice, but he’s not a great option against a lefty.

The Phils went in order in the first.

They were down 1-0 when they hit in the second. Mayberry doubled to left with one out. Francisco popped to third for the second out. Ruiz got ahead 2-0, but grounded to short 3-1 to leave Mayberry at second.

The Phils went in order in the third.

With one out in the fourth, Pence hit an 0-1 pitch out to left-center, tying the game at 1-1. Howard walked behind him. Mayberry struck out swinging for the second out before Francisco moved Howard to second with a single. Ruiz grounded to short to set the Phillies down.

The Phils were down 5-1 when they hit in the fifth. Martinez and Hamels went down to start the inning before Rollins singled to right. Happ walked Polanco and Pence on ten total pitches, loading the bases for Howard. Howard hit a 3-2 pitch well to left, but a jumping Martinez caught it at the wall to turn the Phillies away.

Almost a big swing for Howard against a lefty. He’s hitting 230/291/358 against lefties for the season.

Ruiz walked with two outs in the sixth, but Martinez grounded to short behind him.

Right Fernando Rodriguez struck out Victorino and Rollins as he set the Phils down in order in the seventh.

Victorino was double-switched into the game in the bottom of the sixth. Would like to see him get more rest. I’d guess Manuel is thinking that he’ll get it after the Phillies lock up the division, but I kind of wish he would get it now.

Rodriguez was back to strike out Pence and Mayberry in a 1-2-3 eighth.

Righty David Carpenter started the ninth for Houston. Bowker hit for Schwimer and struck out looking for the first out. Ruiz followed and hit a 2-2 pitch just out to right, cutting the lead to 5-2. Orr hit for Martinez and popped to short for the second out. Victorino struck out swinging to end the game.

Glad to see Manuel knows that Bowker is on the team. Bowker is now 0-for-5 with four strikeouts with the Phils.

Rollins 1-for-4. 2-for-8 since returning to the starting lineup.

Polanco 0-for-3 with a walk. 0-for-his-last-7.

Pence 1-for-3 with a walk and his 20th home run of the year. 400/462/743 (14-for-35 with four walks, four doubles, a triple and two home runs) over his last 39 plate appearances.

Howard 0-for-3 with a walk and a long fly ball. He’s 3-for-his-last-19 with two home runs.

Mayberry 1-for-4 with two strikeouts and an error. 200/293/343 over his last 41 plate appearances.

Francisco 1-for-3. 7-for-his-last-13 with two walks. He only has 26 plate appearances since July 23 but is hitting 364/423/455 in those plate appearances. 277/367/361 n his last 99 plate appearances since May 28.

Ruiz 1-for-3 with a walk and a home run. 13-for-his-last-37 with seven walks, a double and a home run (351/455/459 over 45 plate appearances).

Martinez was 0-for-3. He’s 2-for-his-last-22 with two singles. I feel like I’m kind of out of words on this one.

Roy Halladay (17-5, 2.44) faces righty Bud Norris (6-9, 3.78) this afternoon. Norris has been very effective against righties this year, but lefties have had more success. Righties have hit just 208/281/346 against him while lefties have put up a 287/357/478 line. He’s tailed off a little towards the end of the year, throwing to a 4.86 ERA over his last eight starts. Over his last 11 starts he’s given up 12 home runs in 64 1/3 innings, which is too many (at that rate he’d allow about 37 over 200 innings). Halladay faced Houston on opening day, holding them to a run over six innings.

IronPigs up 1-0 over Columbus after winning game one of the five-game series 5-2. Brandon Moss hit a three-run homer in the first and Mathieson got the start and the win for the Pigs.

Matt Gelb tweets that Domonic Brown, 1-for-4 in game one of the series, may be back with the Phils when it’s over.

Kendrick looking forward to returning to start on Thursday.

Coming off a bizarre weekend in which the Phils suffered from a lack of depth in their pen, Cliff Lee was fantastic last night as the Phils hammered the Braves on their way to a 9-0 win. Lee threw a complete game shutout without allowing a walk or an extra-base hit.

Over his last six starts, Lee has allowed two runs in 48 2/3 innings. In those six starts he has surrendered just 28 hits in 48 2/3 innings.

It was a real nice break for the bullpen, which curiously seemed not to have enough bodies against the Marlins this weekend despite the expanded September rosters. With Kendrick away for the birth of a child, the weirdness started on Saturday. Pitching for the third straight day, Bastardo started the eighth with a 4-3 lead and walked the first two batters he faced. Herndon took over for him and allowed home runs to three of the six batters he faced. The Phils lost that game 8-4. The next day, Herndon threw 69 pitches over 3 2/3 innings and the Phils lost in 14. It’s a little tough to understand why the Phillies simply didn’t have more relievers available for those games. Herndon shouldn’t be throwing 69 pitches in a game, he shouldn’t be doing it the day after he throws 20 pitches and he especially shouldn’t be doing it in September.

The Phillies are 89-48 on the year after pounding the Atlanta Braves 9-0 last night. The Phils remain in first place in the NL East, 8 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta.

Lee got the start for the Phillies and threw a complete game shutout, holding the Braves to five singles. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out six. He threw 100 pitches in the game.

He got Michael Bourn on a ground ball to second to start the game. Martin Prado was next and he grounded to short for the second out before Brian McCann singled to right. Lee struck Dan Uggla out swinging 1-2 to set the Braves down.

Matt Diaz led off the second with an infield single with the Phils up 2-0. Lee got the next three, striking Freddie Freeman out swinging, getting Alex Gonzalez on a fly ball to left and left-handed hitting left fielder Jose Constanza on a grounder to second.

The strikeout of Freeman for the first out of the inning was Lee’s 200th for the season.

Lee struck pitcher Derek Lowe out to start the third and got Bourn and Prado behind him. Bourn hit a hard ground ball to first off the body of Howard, but Howard picked it up and tagged Bourn as he flew past for the second out.

Lee got McCann, Uggla and Diaz in order in the fourth. Diaz hammered a ball to right center, but Victorino took it on the warning track after a long run for the third out.

Up 5-0, Lee struck out Freeman and Constanza in a 1-2-3 fifth. Howard made a long run and a sliding basket catch near the fence in foul territory to retire Gonzalez for the second out.

Up 7-0, he set the Braves down in order in the sixth.

Uggla reached on an infield single with one out in the seventh, but Lee got Diaz to ground into a double-play behind him.

Freeman started the eighth with a single into center, but Gonzalez grounded back to Lee behind him and Lee threw to Martinez at second to start the double-play. Constanza was next and he reached on an infield single. Righty Jack Wilson hit for the pitcher Peter Moylan and Lee got Wilson to ground to third for the third out.

Up 9-0, Lee set the Braves down in order in the ninth. He struck out Bourn, got Prado on a ground ball to short and McCann on a ground ball to second.

The Phillies lineup against righty Derek Lowe went (1) Victorino (2) Polanco (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Pence (6) Mayberry (7) Ruiz (8) Martinez. Martinez plays short with Rollins on the DL and Valdez on the bench. Mayberry in left against the righty with the lefty Ibanez on the bench. Ibanez was 6-for-45 (.133) against Lowe for his career around the time Manuel was figuring out his lineup.

Polanco singled off the glove of Bourn in center with one out in the first and moved to third when Utley followed with a single to right. Howard walked on four pitches and the bases were loaded for Pence. Pence singled to left, scoring Polanco and Utley to put the Phils up 2-0 with men on first and second with one out. Mayberry struck out swinging 2-2 for the second out and Ruiz grounded to third to end the inning.

The Phils went in order in the second.

Howard singled with two outs in the third. Pence grounded to second behind him.

Mayberry walked to start the fourth. Ruiz was next and hit a ball to short that Gonzalez didn’t handle for an error, putting men on first and second with nobody out. Martinez bunted the runners to second and third with the first out. Lee grounded to first with the runners holding for the second, but Victorino picked him up, singling to left to bring both runners in (4-0). Victorino took second as the throw came to the plate and Ruiz slid in safely on a close play. With Polanco at the plate, Victorino stole third and tried to come home when the ball wasn’t handled by McCann, but McCann threw to Lowe covering and Ruiz was tagged out to end the inning.

With one out in the fifth, Utley hit a popup that went unhandled for a triple. Lowe walked Howard intentionally, putting men on first and third for Pence. Pence doubled to right, scoring Utley (5-0) and sending Howard to third. Mayberry walked to load the bases. Ruiz hit the first pitch of his at-bat into center, scoring Howard and Pence (7-0) and moving Mayberry to second. Martinez grounded to first for the second out with the runners moving up to second and third. Lee struck out swinging 1-2 to leave both runners stranded.

Second walk for Mayberry in two plate appearances.

Polanco was hit by a Scott Linebrink pitch with one out in the sixth. He took second on one wild pitch by Linebrink and third on another before Utley flew to center. Polanco tagged and tried to score, but Bourn threw him out to end the inning.

Howard led off the seventh and got ahead of Linebrink 3-0 before hitting a 3-1 pitch out to right center. 8-0. Righty Peter Moylan took over for Linebrink and got Pence, Mayberry and Ruiz in order. Pence hit the ball well to left, but was retired on a leaping catch by Constanza for the first out.

Lee singled off of righty Arodys Vizcaino with one out in the eighth and Victorino walked behind him. Polanco followed with a single to left that scored Lee and put the Phils up 9-0 with one out and men on first and second. Utley flew to center for the second out, with Victorino tagging and moving up to third. Howard flew to center to leave both runners stranded.

Victorino was 1-for-4 with a walk and two RBI in the game. He’s 2-for-his-last-14 and hitting 205/300/341 over his last 50 plate appearances.

Polanco 2-for-4 with an RBI. He’s 6-for-his-last-28 (.214). Of the 83 NL players with 400 plate appearances for the season, his .335 slugging percentage is 81st.

Utley 2-for-5 with a triple. He’s 4-for-his-last-30 (.133).

Howard 2-for-3 with two walks and a home run. He’s 7-for-16 with seven walks and two home runs in the first five games of September.

Pence 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI. Constanza made a nice play in left to take another hit away from him. Pence was 2-for-his-last-16 coming into the game.

Mayberry 0-for-2 with two walks. 3-for-his-last-21. He’s on-basing .329 for the year and .322 against righties.

Ruiz 1-for-4 with two RBI. 5-for-his-last-14 and 302/392/403 over his last 299 plate appearances.

Martinez was 0-for-3. Of the 181 NL players with 175 plate appearances for the season, his .257 on-base percentage is 179th.

Worley (10-1, 2.87) faces righty Tim Hudson (14-8, 3.05) tonight. Hudson has a 2.27 ERA over his last 16 starts. In two starts against the Phils this year he’s 1-0 with a 2.45 ERA. The Phillies have won 13 games that Worley has started in a row. He’s been a little less impressive his last few times out, throwing to a 4.64 ERA over his last six starts.

Over the weekend, the Phils lost two of three to the Marlins.

On Friday the Phils won the series opener 5-3 to improve to 42 games over .500 for the first time in team history. Oswalt pitched into the seventh inning, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing three runs while striking out seven. Victorino led off the game with a triple and game in to score when Polanco followed with a sac fly, putting the Phils up 1-0. The Fish got the run back in the bottom of the first thanks to a leadoff double by Emilio Bonifacio, tying the game at 1-1. Omar Infante led off the third with a double and came around to score, too, putting Florida up 2-1. The Phils pulled ahead to stay in the fifth. Pence led off and reached on error by Bonifacio and Mayberry followed that with a two-run shot. 3-2 Phils. The Phils loaded the bases without a hit in the top of the sixth before Mayberry’s sac fly plated Utley to make it 4-2. Oswalt gave up a solo homer to Jose Lopez in the bottom of the inning, cutting the lead to 4-3. Victorino led off the seventh with a single and took second on a misplay by Mike Stanton in right, moved to third on a ground out and came in to score on a wild pitch. 5-3. Oswalt left with one out in the seventh. After his exit, Stutes, Bastardo and Madson closed out the game, combining to allow one hit over 2 2/3 scoreless innings.

The Phils lost the second game of the series 8-4 on Saturday. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second on a two-run triple by Valdez, which was followed by an infield single by a hustling Hamels. Hamels allowed a two-run homer to Mike Cameron in the bottom of the second, though, and a solo shot to Stanton in the third that tied the game at 3-3. Hamels drove in another run in the fourth when his two-out single brought Ruiz home from second, putting the Phils back on top 4-3. Bastardo took over for Hamels in the eighth and walked the first two men he faced. Herndon took over for him and gave up a long three-run homer to Gaby Sanchez, which was followed by a solo homer by Cameron and another solo homer by Dobbs and put the Marlins up to stay at 8-4. The Phils allowed five home runs in the game. In the eighth, Bastardo faced two batters and walked them both. Herndon faced six batters and allowed a three-run homer and two solo shots.

On Sunday the Phils lost 5-4 in 14 innings. Bonifacio tripled off of Halladay to start the bottom of the first and came in to score on a single by Infante to put Florida up 1-0. The Phils pulled ahead 2-1 in the top of the second with two runs on three hits and a big throwing error by Dobbs. Florida tied the game up again in the bottom of the third when Sanchez doubled ahead of a Logan Morrison ground ball to first in which Halladay couldn’t handle the toss from Howard when covering first. The Marlins took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth on singles by Bryan Petersen, Buck and Lopez, but the Phils jumped back ahead 4-3 on a two-run single by Howard in the seventh. Schwimer took over for Halladay in the bottom of the seventh and gave up a walk and a double to the first to men he faced. Schwimer managed to limit the damage to one run, with a ground out by Sanchez plating Infante to tie the game at 4-4. It stayed scoreless until the bottom of the 14th, when Herndon walked Cameron with the bases loaded to force in Bonifacio as the winning run.

Herndon threw 69 pitches in relief for the Phillies in the game, walking seven in 3 2/3 innings. The Phillies played the game under protest after a play in the sixth inning in which Pence hit a ball to right field that was originally ruled a double. It appeared a fan reached out to interfere with the ball, the play was reviewed and the call changed to an out. I’d guess the Phils have close to no chance of a successful protest. The Florida fielder (Petersen) was interfered with — the ball wasn’t going to be a home run so they play shouldn’t have been reviewed to start with, but it was close enough to being a home run that it’s reasonable to suggest that was the focus of the review.

Cole Hamels returned from the DL looking fantastic last night. He held the Reds to a run on two hits over six innings while striking out seven as the Phils won 3-2. One of the two hits, a triple that led to the only run he allowed, came when the outfielder who was about to catch the ball on the warning track in right slipped and fell.

Victorino broke a 1-1 tie with two-run homer in the eighth.

The pen struggled in the bottom of the eighth last night as Stutes, with the help of some bad defense, allowed a run on three hits that got the Reds within one. For Stutes it was the eighth time in his last 16 appearances that he had been charged with at least one run. Over those 16 games he has thrown to a 5.66 ERA. You have to wonder if we’re going to start to see less of Stutes late in games, especially given how well Herndon has been pitching. Over his last 13 appearances, Herndon has allowed one run on 12 hits and a walk over 16 2/3 innings (0.54 ERA and an 0.78 ratio) while striking out 15.

Stutes’s outing could have been worse, too. With one lefty in the pen for the Phils, Bastardo pitched a scoreless seventh. That left the Phils without left-handed relief options and the eighth inning ended with Stutes getting a monster left-handed hitter, Joey Votto, to ground to second with runners on first and third and the Phils up by a run. The Phillies are going to need to put another lefty in their pen or start using the one they have, Bastardo, differently.

The Phillies are 84-46 on the year after beating the Cincinnati Reds 3-2 last night.

Hamels got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing a run on two hits and a walk. One of the hits was a triple that would have been caught if the outfielder about to catch it hadn’t slipped and fell. He struck out seven.

He struck Brandon Phillips out looking for the first out in the bottom of the first. Dave Sappelt was next and he struck out swinging for the second. Joey Votto flew to left to end the inning.

Jay Bruce lined to Utley to start the bottom of the second. Yonder Alonso grounded to first for the second out. Drew Stubbs got ahead 3-0, but Hamels came back and struck him out looking 3-2.

Hamels struck Edgar Renteria out swinging for the first out in the third. Ryan Hanigan was next and flew to right. Pitcher Homer Bailey grounded to second for the third out.

Phillips led off the fourth and hit a ball well to right center. Pence was in position to catch the ball on the edge of the track, but fell down. The ball dropped and Phillips had a triple. Hamels struck Sappelt out swinging for the first out, but Votto followed that with a ground out to second that scored Phillips and put the Reds up 1-0. Bruce grounded to third to set Cincy down.

With the score tied at 1-1, Hamels set the Reds down in order in the fifth.

Hanigan singled to right to start the sixth and Bailey bunted him to second with the first out. Phillips was next and flew to center, deep enough for Hanigan to tag and move up to third with two down. Hamels struck Sappelt out swinging to leave Hanigan at third.

Bastardo started the seventh and walked the lefty Votto on five pitches, but struck out Bruce, Alonso and Stubbs all in a row behind him.

Bastardo has allowed one run in 8 1/3 innings over his last eight appearances, giving up one hit and striking out 12. He has allowed 19 hits in 50 2/3 innings for the year.

Stutes started the eighth with a 3-1 lead. Renteria went down on a foul ball Howard took with a basket catch near the Cincinnati dugout for the first out before Hanigan singled to center. Lefty Fred Lewis hit for the pitcher Bailey and Stutes struck him out looking. Phillips was next and he singled to left on a ball deflected by Polanco, moving Hanigan up to third. Sappelt was next and chopped a ball to third that Polanco fielded. He threw to first in the dirt and Howard couldn’t scope it. Hanigan scored (3-2) and Phillips moved up to third as the ball got away from Howard. Sappelt was given a single on the play and Polanco was charged with an error, leaving runners on the corners with two down. Stutes got Votto on a ground ball to second to end the inning.

One lefty in the pen for the Phils and Bastardo had already pitched. They got lucky. Stutes pitching to Joey Votto in the bottom of the eighth with men on first and third and a one-run lead isn’t what you’re looking for. Stutes also stayed in the game to face the lefty Lewis as the tying run, but it’s not really the same thing. It’s not like the pen was exactly worn down with use, either, as the Phils hadn’t played in either of the two previous days.

Madson started the ninth. Bruce led off and chopped a ball past a diving Howard and into right for a single. Madson struck Alonso out swinging 0-2 for the first out. Stubbs was next and hit a one-hopper to first that would have been a double-play, except that Stubbs was running too and beat Utley’s relay to first. Stubbs stole second as the count went 2-0 on Renteria, but Madson got Renteria to ground to first to end the game.

Stutes threw 27 pitches in the game. Bastardo 18 and Madson 17. Everyone is well-rested after two days with no games over the weekend.

The Phillies lineup against righty Homer Bailey went (1) Victorino (2) Polanco (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Pence (6) Mayberry (7) Ruiz (8) Valdez. Ibanez continues to sit with a sore groin despite a pinch-hitting appearance on Friday. Mayberry starts in left against the righty. Valdez at short with Rollins on the DL.

Polanco and Utley struck out as the Phils went in order in the top of the first.

Howard, Pence and Mayberry went in order in the second.

Bailey set the Phillies down in order in the third, too.

Utley reached on an infield single with two outs in the fourth. Howard flew to center to leave him stranded.

The Phils trailed 1-0 when they hit in the fifth. Mayberry was next and hit a ground ball to first with Pence forced at second for the first out. Ruiz moved Mayberry to third with a single. Valdez was next and lined a ball to left that Sappelt played oddly, then dived at and missed. Valdez had a double, Mayberry scored to tied the game at 1-1 and Ruiz moved up to third. Hamels struck out swinging 2-2 for the second out. Victorino struck out looking at a 3-2 pitch to leave both runners stranded.

Phils can’t get any more after putting men on second and third with one out.

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

Valdez started the seventh with a single to left. With the righty Bailey still on the mound for the Reds, Martinez hit for the pitcher Bastardo. He tried to bunt Valdez to second, but popped the bunt up to Votto in foul territory for the first out. Victorino was next and he hit the first pitch of his at-bat, a hanging curve ball, out to right for a two-run homer that put the Phils up 3-1. Polanco struck out behind him and Utley popped to short.

With the lead cut to 3-2, the Phils went in order in the ninth.

Victorino was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer. He’s 2-for-his-last-14.

Polanco 0-for-4, struck out three times and made an error at third. He has one extra-base hit, a double, in his last 104 at-bats.

Utley 1-for-4 and struck out twice.

Howard 0-for-4 and struck out twice. 3-for-his-last-24 with ten strikeouts.

Top four in the lineup for the Phils went 2-for-16 with eight strikeouts in the game.

Pence 1-for-4 with a weird fall-down on the warning track that helped Phillips triple.

Mayberry 0-for-4. 1-for-his-last-12.

Ruiz 1-for-3. 310/373/430 since the All-Star break.

Valdez 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. He doubled in the first run of the game for the Phils and singled ahead of Victorino to score the second. He’s hitting 304/353/543 in 46 at-bats so far in August.

Roy Halladay (15-5, 2.56) faces righty Bronson Arroyo (8-10, 5.02) tonight. Arroyo has had a miserable season, but threw eight shutout innings against the Marlins in his most recent start. Lefties are pounding him this year, hitting 324/376/590 against him for the season. He made one start against the Phillies this year, allowing nine runs in 2 2/3 innings on May 23. Halladay has made one start against the Reds this season, allowing three runs in seven innings on May 25.

Hamels is quoted here as saying: “Because it’s so late in the season, I want to be able to finish the season healthy and go into the postseason healthy.” Hopefully someone in the organization is in touch with the fact that the Phils still have about a fifth of their season left to play and aren’t actually in the post-season at this point. They aren’t really that close yet either. The magic number for the Brewers, who have played better than the Phils since the All-Star break and have a 10 1/2 game lead in the NL Central, is 18. The Marlins, who are 59-74 and 26 1/2 games behind the Phils in the NL East, could still finish ahead of the Phils in the division. That probably won’t even happen, but I’m just sayin.