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I’m not sure the Phillies’ problems are as complicated as they may seem. If your team is hitting .202 for a month and is last in the league in runs scored you’re going to lose a whole lot. The Phils hit better last night — it wasn’t the spectacular burst of offense that fans have been hoping for, but a win is a win and the Phils can use all they can get.

Coming off an off-day, the rested pen bailed out Joe Blanton. After Blanton gave up four runs in five innings to the meek Nationals’ offense, Durbin, Madson and Lidge shut Washington down the rest of the way. Blanton left down 4-1 in the fifth, but the Phils got within one in the bottom of the inning, pushed across another run in the seventh to tie the game and won it on a solo blast by Werth in the eighth.

Charlie Manuel rolled a seven last night as well. Manuel put the righty Werth in the starting lineup against the righty Jason Bergmann and left the lefty Jenkins on the bench to start the game. Werth hadn’t faced Bergmann coming into the game and Jenkins was 4-for-6 against him this season and 5-for-9 with a home run in his career. Jenkins got an at-bat against a righty in the game and came up with a big sac fly. Werth went 0-for-3 in his first three at-bats. When he hit against a righty in the eighth, the big lefties typically on the Phillies’ bench, Dobbs and Jenkins, were both unavailable. Even if Manuel wanted to call on a lefty he didn’t have a choice and Werth delivered the game-winner.

The Phillies beat the Washington Nationals last night, winning 5-4 to improve to 67-58.

Blanton got the start for the Phillies and went five innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and a walk. Three of the hits went for extra-bases, a double, a triple and a home run. He struck out three.

With one out in the first, Willie Harris hit an 0-1 pitch out to right to put the Nats up 1-0. Blanton got the next two.

Ronnie Belliard led off the second with a double. Jesus Flores flew to left before Blanton walked Austin Kearns. It put men on first and second for Kory Casto and Blanton got him on a soft liner to short. The pitcher Jason Bergmann grounded to second to leave both runners stranded.

Blanton threw a 1-2-3 third.

Lastings Milledge and Belliard started the fourth with back-to-back singles. It put men on first and second for Flores and Flores singled to left. Milledge scored to put Washington up 2-1 with Belliard moving to second. Blanton avoided further damage, though. He got Kearns to fly to center for the first out. Casto hit it hard but Howard took the line drive for the second out. Bergmann struck out to leave two more runners stranded.

Harris singled with one out in the fifth. Ryan Zimmerman was next and sliced a ball just fair down the right field line and off the base of the wall and then the corner on a weird bounce. Harris scored to make it 3-1 and Zimmerman had a triple. Milledge flew to center with Zimmerman holding for the second out, but Belliard came up with a two-out single into center. Zimmerman scored and it was 4-1. Flores struck out looking for the third out.

Durbin started the sixth with the Phils down 4-3 having hit for Blanton in the bottom of the fifth. Kearns and Casto led off with back-to-back singles. It put men on first and second for Bergmann and Bergmann hit for himself and bunted. Durbin fielded the bunt and threw to third to force Kearns for the first out. Emilo Bonifacio grounded to first for the second out with the runners moving to second and third. Harris flew to right for the third out.

Bergmann hitting for himself and bunting into an out at third was a huge play in the game. The Nats’ fear of their own miserable pen might have helped the Phils out there.

Durbin returned for the seventh and got the first two before Belliard singled and was thrown out trying to steal second.

Madson threw a 1-2-3 eighth with the game tied at 4-4.

Lidge pitched the ninth with a 5-4 lead. He struck out pinch-hitter Aaron Boone, got Bonifacio to pop to short and Harris swinging 2-2 to end the game.

Four scoreless innings from the pen kept the Phils in the game after Blanton was hit hard. Durbin gave up three singles, but was helped by the Bergmann bunt and force at third. As a group the pen went four innings, allowing three singles and striking out five. In the eighth and ninth, Madson and Lidge went two perfect innings while striking out four.

The Phillies’ lineup against righty Jason Bergmann went (1) Rollins (2) Werth (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Burrell (6) Victorino (7) Dobbs (8) Coste. Werth continues to hit second with Victorino batting sixth. Coste catches.

Down 1-0 in the first, the Phils went in order.

Howard led off the second with a single. Burrell popped to short before a double by Victorino moved Howard to third. Dobbs looked struck out on a 1-2 breaking ball, but got the call and hit the a 2-2 pitch into left-center well enough for Howard to tag and score to tie the game at 1-1. Coste flew to center for the third out.

The Phils went 1-2-3 in the third and fourth.

Victorino led off the fifth with a triple. Dobbs was next and hit a ball to left that Harris didn’t catch for an error. Victorino scored to cut the Washington lead to 4-2. Dobbs stole second before Coste singled on a ball deflected by Belliard, moving Dobbs to third. With men on first and third with nobody out, Manuel called on Jenkins to hit for Blanton and Jenkins delivered a sac fly to left that scored Dobbs. 4-3. Coste held first and Rollins hit into a double-play to end the inning.

Blanton had thrown 92 pitches in the game. The bullpen was rested after an off-day yesterday, which may have contributed to hitting for him with nobody out.

1-2-3 in the sixth.

Burrell reached on an infield single in the direction of Belliard to start the seventh. Victorino followed with a ground ball to second and Burrell was forced at second for the first out. A single by Dobbs moved Victorino to third and righty Steven Shell came in to pitch to Coste. Coste hit a ball to right deep enough to score Victorino and tie the game at 4-4. Taguchi hit for Durbin and tried to bunt for a hit but was thrown out to end the inning.

Rollins flew to deep right-center to start the first. With the righty Shell still on the mound, Werth got behind before Shell hung a 1-2 curveball and Werth blasted it out to left-center to put the Phils up 5-4. Huge homer for Werth against a righty after he gets the start against the righty. Howard walked after Utley grounded to first for the second out, but Burrell flew to left to leave him stranded.

Rollins was 0-for-4. He’s 2-for-his-last-25.

Werth was 1-for-4 and won the game with his 17th home run, which is a career-high for him. He has 17 home runs in 284 at-bats this season. No other NL player with at least 17 home runs this season has fewer at-bats (in the AL, Marcus Thames has hit 21 in 246 at-bats for the Tigers).

Utley was 0-for-4. He’s hitting 206/315/444 in August. On-basing .315 for the month after on-basing .336 in July.

Howard was 1-for-3 with a walk. He’s 3-for-his-last-27 and hitting 186/310/373 in August. He has 14 strikeouts in his last 22 at-bats.

Howard had the Phillies only walk in the game.

Burrell 1-for-4 with a strikeout. He’s hitting .173 in August.

Victorino was 2-for-3 with a double and a triple, which were the only extra-base hits in the game for the Phillies other than Werth’s home run.

Dobbs was 1-for-2 with an RBI. 294/324/559 in August.

Coste was 1-for-2 with an RBI. After hitting 208/208/333 in July he’s hitting 194/257/226 in August.

Brett Myers (5-10, 5.02) faces righty Collin Balester (2-5, 5.06) tonight. Balester held the Phils to two runs on six hits over six innings but was outpitched by Myers on July 29. He’s allowed seven home runs in 42 2/3 innings on the season, five of which have been hit by lefties. Myers hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a start in any of his last five outings. In his five starts since his trip to the minor leagues Myers is 2-1 with a 2.48 ERA and an 0.92 ratio.

The merry would be off the charts. They would need to invent new merry-measuring tools.

Cole Hamels is pitching up a storm and the rest of the Phillies seem to be content just to watch. Hamels went eight innings in Florida yesterday, holding the Marlins to two runs on four hits while striking out seven. The Phillies scored two runs in the game and lost in 11 innings.

They scored 11 runs in the three-game set and are having a lot of trouble getting much of anything out of the top and the bottom of their order. The guys who started the games in the one and two spots in the order combined to go 6-for-28 (.214) with one walk in the series while the guys that started the games in the seven and eight spots in the order combined to go 4-for-25 (.160) with one walk.

The Phillies are 1-2 in the last three games that Hamels has started. In each of those three starts he’s gone at least seven innings and allowed two runs. Over his last ten starts the Phillies have scored three or fewer runs five times. He’s thrown to a 3.03 ERA in those ten outings, going at least seven innings in nine of the ten starts. The Phillies are 5-5 in those games.

The Phillies lost to the Florida Marlins yesterday afternoon, falling 3-2 in 11 innings. The Marlins take the series two games to one. The Phillies are 53-46 and start the day in a tie for first place in the NL East with the Mets. The Marlins are a half game behind.

Hamels got the start for the Phillies and went eight innings, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, both home runs. He struck out seven. He needed just 96 pitches to go eight innings.

He started the first with a 1-0 lead. He walked Jorge Cantu with two outs, but got Wes Helms to fly to right for the third out.

He threw a 1-2-3 second and a 1-2-3 third.

Jeremy Hermida led off the fourth and hit a high fly ball to right on the first pitch of his at-bat that went out for his second home run in two days. It cut the Phillies’ lead to 2-1. Cantu lined to third before Helms reached on a single, but Hamels got Dan Uggla to hit into a double-play to end the inning.

Hamels threw a 1-2-3 fifth and a 1-2-3 sixth.

Hamels walked Uggla with two outs in the seventh, but got Luis Gonzalez to fly to left for the third out. Hamels had thrown just 82 pitches through seven innings.

Cody Ross led off the eighth and hit an 0-1 pitch out to right center, tying the game at 2-2. Hamels struck out John Baker for the first out before Alfredo Amezaga hit for the pitcher Joe Nelson and singled into left. Hamels pick Amezaga off first with Hanley Ramirez at the plate, but Amezaga beat Howard’s throw to second. Howard is absolutely terrible at that play. Hamels struck out Ramirez and got Hermida on a fly ball to center to leave the runner stranded.

Madson set down 3-4-5 in the Florida order in the bottom of the ninth with the scored tied at 2-2.

He came back out to start the tenth, but when lefty Mike Jacobs was announced as the pinch-hitter for pitcher Matt Lindstrom, Romero entered the game. Romero got Jacobs to ground the first pitch of his at-bat to second for the first out. Durbin came in to pitch to Ross and struck Ross and Baker out to end the frame.

Condrey started the eleventh. Amezaga led off with a single and moved to second when Ramirez followed with a walk. Hermida bunted, badly. The ball came back to Condrey. Condrey looked at third, then turned and threw to first but late. Hermida was safe and the bases were loaded. Condrey got ahead of Cantu 0-2 before Cantu blasted a ball off the scoreboard in left — would have probably been a three-run double, but the Marlins only needed one to win the game.

The game was probably lost with the bases loaded and one out anyway, but with the day off today especially Manuel could have brought in Lidge to try to get the strikeout instead of leaving Condrey on to face Cantu.

Two innings for the pen. Everyone was good except for Condrey, who allowed three hits and a walk without getting an out. Nobody threw more than 14 pitches and the Phils have an off day today.

The Phillies’ lineup against righty Josh Johnson went (1) Rollins (2) Victorino (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Burrell (6) Jenkins (7) Feliz (8) Ruiz. Werth in right against the righty. Ruiz catches.

Rollins led off the first with a chopper over the mound that went for an infield single. Victorino flew to left for the first out before Utley moved Rollins to third with a single to right. Howard singled into center and Rollins scored, putting the Phils up 1-0 with Utley going to third. Burrell popped to short and Jenkins grounded back to the pitcher to leave the runners stranded.

Bad result for Burrell with one out and men on first and third.

1-2-3 in the second.

With two outs in the third, Utley walked and came around to score when Howard followed with a double. 2-0. Burrell walked, but Jenkins struck out looking for the third out.

The Phils went 1-2-3 in the fourth.

Victorino bunted for a single with one down in the sixth. Utley grounded back to the pitcher and Howard grounded hard to first.

Burrell led off the sixth with a single. Jenkins was next and he shattered his bat hitting a slow ground ball to second for a double-play. The bat broke at the handle and a large piece of the barrel caught Jenkins in his shoulder or neck. Jenkins crumpled to the ground and was replaced by Werth in the bottom of the inning. Jenkins is not expected to miss any time. Feliz struck out for the third out.

Ruiz led off the seventh with a walk. Hamels hit for himself with the Phils up 2-1 and bunted, but popped it up for the first out. Rollins hit a ground ball to third and Ruiz was forced at second for the second out. Victorino doubled down the left field line and Rollins moved to third. Lefty Renyel Pinto came in to pitch to Utley and got ahead 0-2 before he hit him to load the bases. Howard grounded to second baseman Uggla in shallow right field for the third out.

Righty Joe Nelson set down Burrell, Werth and Feliz in order in the eighth. Werth had entered the game in right in the bottom of the sixth.

The Phils went 1-2-3 in the ninth. Dobbs hit for Hamels and grounded to second for the second out.

1-2-3 in the tenth.

Bruntlett, who had entered the game in the eighth defensively for Burrell, led off the eleventh. Hate that. Bruntlett popped to second for the first out. Werth struck out behind him before Feliz hit a ball that Ramirez didn’t handle for an error. Ruiz moved Feliz to second with a single and Coste hit for Durbin with righty Doug Waechter on the mound. A wild pitch moved the runners to second and third before Coste struck out swinging to leave them stranded.

Rollins was 1-for-5 in the game. 3-for-14 with a double and one walk in the series. 271/336/431 for the season.

Victorino was 2-for-5 with a double. 3-for-14 in the series. 276/345/402 for the year.

At the top of the order Rollins and Victorino combine to go 6-for-28 (.214) with one walk in the set.

Utley 1-for-3 with a walk. 5-for-11 with a walk and two doubles in the series. 296/379/584.

Howard 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. 4-for-13 with a double, a home run and a walk in the series. 236/325/512.

Burrell 1-for-3 with a walk. 5-for-12 with two doubles and two home runs in the series. 280/406/594 for the year.

Jenkins 0-for-3 and left five men on base. 2-for-7 with a walk and a home run in the series. 238/291/389 for the year. Werth was 0-for-2 with a strikeout in the game and 1-for-6 in the series. 268/352/468 for the season.

Feliz was 0-for-5 with two strikeouts. 1-for-13 with a triple and six strikeouts in the series.

Ruiz 1-for-4 with a walk. 2-for-8 with a walk in the set. 204/304/269 for the season. Coste was 0-for-1 in the game and 1-for-5 with a double in the series. He’s hitting .125 in July and 276/330/476 for the year.

No game today.

Jamie Moyer and the Phillies’ bullpen shut down the Marlins last night. Moyer held Florida to a pair of runs on four singles over six and Durbin, Romero and Lidge did the rest. Over his last eight starts Moyer has thrown to a 2.86 ERA with a 1.19 ratio. He has a 3.12 ERA for the season in his ten starts away from Citizens Bank Park.

Geoff Jenkins slumped much of the first half, but the first half is over. Jenkins drove in two of the Phils’ four runs in the game, blasting a solo home run out to center in the fourth after he had singled in Burrell in the second.

The Phillies beat the Florida Marlins last night, winning 4-2. They improve to 53-44 on the season.

Moyer got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing two runs on four hits and a walk. All four hits were singles and he struck out three.

Moyer threw a 1-2-3 first.

Mike Jacobs led off the second and lifted a fly ball into right field that Jenkins made a sliding play on in foul territory for the first out. Moyer got the next two behind him.

After a 1-2-3 third he started the fourth up 4-0. Hanley Ramirez led off with a walk and Jeremy Hermida followed with a single that moved Ramirez to third. Jorge Cantu was next and he looped a ball into left-center. It looked like both Victorino and Burrell had a chance to make the play with a dive, but neither did and it fell in-between them for a single. Ramirez scored to make it 4-1. Jacobs followed with a single that loaded the bases for Dan Uggla. Uggla hit into a double-play for the first two outs of the inning. Hermida scored and it was 4-2. Josh Willingham popped up to first to end the inning.

Moyer came back with a 1-2-3 fifth.

Cantu singled with two outs in the sixth. Jacobs was next and popped to Howard to leave Cantu stranded.

Durbin started the seventh with the Phils still up 4-2. He struck out Uggla and Willingham before getting Cody Ross on a ground ball to short.

Durbin returned for the eighth and got the first two before Ramirez singled. With the lefty Hermida due to hit, Romero came into the game. Righty Wes Helms hit for Hermida and lined to short to end the inning.

Lidge threw a 1-2-3 ninth with a 4-2 lead to nail down his 21st save.

Three scoreless innings for the pen in which they allow one hit. Durbin threw 24 pitches, Romero five and Lidge, coming off 2/3 of an inning in an All-Star game in which he warmed up six times, threw 11.

The Phillies’ lineup against righty Ricky Nolasco went (1) Rollins (2) Victorino (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Burrell (6) Jenkins (7) Feliz (8) Ruiz. Jenkins in right against the righty with Ruiz behind the plate.

1-2-3 in the first.

Howard led off the second and hit a tracer out to right on a 1-0 pitch to put the Phils up 1-0. Burrell was next and doubled down the third base line. Jenkins singled up the middle and Burrell chugged around to score from second. 2-0. Feliz struck out, Ruiz popped to first and Moyer flew to left to leave Jenkins stranded.

Rollins led off the third with a double. Victorino flew to right for the first out before Utley singled into right. Rollins scored from second and the Phils were up 3-0. Howard flew to left and Burrell struck out swinging to set the Phillies down.

Jenkins led off the fourth and blasted a 1-0 pitch out to center. 4-0. The Phils went in order behind him.

With one out in the fifth Victorino tried to bunt and looked like he was hit by a pitch on the leg but didn’t get the bat out of the way. The home plate ump called it a foul ball. Manuel argued and was ejected. Victorino flew to center for the second out before Utley doubled to right. Howard was walked intentionally, but Burrell fouled out to third to leave both runners stranded.

The Phils went 1-2-3 in the sixth and the seventh. Taguchi hit for Moyer to lead off the seventh and popped to short.

Utley was hit by a pitch to start the eighth and went to second on a wild pitch. Howard struck out for the first out. Burrell was next and he flew to deep center for the second out. Utley should have tagged but was halfway to third when Ross caught the ball and had to hold second. With lefty Renyel Pinto on the mound Werth hit for Jenkins. Righty Doug Waechter entered the game for Florida and got Werth swinging for the third out.

Phils can’t score after putting a man on second with no outs. Howard can’t move the runner to third. Utley should have gone to third on Burrell’s ball, but if Werth was going to strike out anyway it wasn’t going to matter. Burrell gets to hit against the lefty with lefties hitting third, fourth and sixth in the lineup.

Ruiz reached on a dribbler to third with one out in the ninth. With righty Joe Nelson on the mound, Dobbs hit for Romero. Ruiz stole second and the catcher John Baker threw the ball into center field. Ruiz went to third, but Dobbs struck out and Rollins struck out to leave him stranded.

Dobbs already had two strikes on him when Ruiz went to third, but still can’t bring the runner home with a fly ball with one out.

Rollins was 1-for-5 with a double.

Victorino 0-for-4.

Utley 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

Howard 1-for-3 with a walk and his 29th homer.

Burrell 1-for-4 with a strikeout and four men left on base.

Jenkins 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBI. Also made a nice defensive play in the second.

Feliz 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.

Ruiz 1-for-4.

Kyle Kendrick (8-3, 4.47) faces lefty Scott Olsen (5-4, 3.77) this afternoon. Olsen has been tough on lefties this season, they’re hitting .177 against him. Righties are hitting .258. Howard has hit him well in his career, he’s 10-for-21 with three doubles and two home runs. Utley 3-for-21. The Phillies have won eight of the last ten games that Kendrick has started. Lefties are hitting .320 against him, righties just .247. He’s also walked way more lefites, who are on-basing .386 against him, than righties. About 55% of the batters that Kendrick has faced (258 of 469) have been left-handed, but they have drawn 75% (24 of 32) of the walks he has allowed. Impressively he has walked only eight of the 211 right-handed batters he’s faced (about 3.8%). By comparison, looking at his fellow righties, Myers has walked about 6% of the right-handed hitters he’s faced, Eaton about 7.4% and Blanton 7.8%.

Chad Durbin’s corporate minions would like you to know he has a blog. I’m here to help.

The Phillies are playing terribly, but Kyle Kendrick either hasn’t noticed or doesn’t care. Kendrick’s line from last night doesn’t look spectacular, but coming off eight shutout innings against the A’s Kendrick took a shutout and a 5-0 lead into the seventh inning last night. The last time the Phillies won a game that was started by someone other than Cole Hamels or Kyle Kendrick was June 12.

The struggling Phillies have won seven of the last eight games that Kendrick has started.

Apparently the Phils think Kendrick has been doing Brett Myers’ job so long they can do without Myers. Myers accepted a demotion to Triple-A and the Phillies have called up left-handed reliever RJ Swindle from Triple-A. Swindle will give the Phillies a much-needed second lefty in the bullpen and could potentially allow Romero to take on a bigger role in relief.

The Phillies’ season may hinge on Myers’ ability to turn his season around. The Phils can make the playoffs without a big second starter behind Cole Hamels. What I don’t think they can do without a big second starter behind Cole Hamels is be successful in the playoffs. That pretty much leaves two choices — Brett Myers can become the second starter they’re going to need or they can trade for one. I would be stunned if they trade for one, so I think we better be hoping that Triple-A is the cure for whatever is ailing Myers.

Myers deserves credit for accepting the assignment to Triple-A, much as he deserves credit for how little whining he’s done about being pinballed between the pen and the rotation. The Phillies deserve to have him get some people out.

The Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves last night, winning 8-3 to improve to 45-39 on the year. In addition to the nice start by Kendrick, the game was highlighted by a nice inning by a struggling Tom Gordon and a mini-breakout by the scuffling Geoff Jenkins. The Phillies also managed to put together some nice at-bats and put the game out of reach with a big ninth inning after failing to execute offensively in both the seventh and the eighth.

Kendrick got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks. Three of the hits went for extra-bases, all doubles. He struck out two.

Gregor Blanco led off the first with a walk and Kelly Johnson bunted him to second. Chipper Jones moved Blanco to third with a ground ball to Howard. Mark Teixeira was next and he went down on a ground ball that Utley fielded in shallow right field, almost behind first base.

Brian McCann led off the second with a double but was left stranded when Mark Kotsay flew to left, Jeff Francoeur grounded to second and Brent Lillibridge went down swinging.

Up 5-0 in the third, Kendrick set the Braves down 1-2-3.

Chipper walked to start the fourth. Teixeira flew to right for the first out before McCann moved Chipper to second with a single. Kendrick struck out Kotsay for the second out. Francoeur grounded to second for the third.

With two outs in the fifth, Blanco singled and stole second. Johnson grounded to second for the third out.

Chipper led off the sixth with a double. Teixeira flew to right before McCann moved Jones to third with a ground out to first. Kotsay popped to Feliz in front of the mound for the third out.

Francoeur and Lillibridge started the seventh with back-to-back singles. It put men on first and second for the pitcher’s spot and switch-hitter Greg Norton hit for the pitcher Manny Acosta. With the Phils up 5-0, Kendrick stayed in to pitch to Norton. Norton got up 2-0 before he ripped a double into right-center. Francoeur and Lillibridge both scored and the Phillies’ lead was cut to 5-2. Romero came in to pitch to the lefty Blanco and got him on a ground ball to first that moved Norton to third for the first out. He walked Johnson, which brought up Chipper with men on first and third. Chipper walked on five pitches to load the bases. Teixeira hit a double-play ball to Utley that Utley didn’t field cleanly. He recovered in time to get the out at first as everyone moved up a base and Norton scored to make it 5-3. McCann grounded to second to end the inning.

Utley should have started a double-play on Teixeira’s ball. His bobble cost the Phils a run.

Gordon threw a 1-2-3 eighth with a 5-3 lead. He got the first out with the help of a nice play by Rollins on a ground ball back up the middle by Kotsay.

Lidge pitched the ninth with an 8-3 lead. He allowed a one out single to Blanco, but struck Johnson and Jones out behind him to end the game. Lidge is really well-rested since the Phillies never win, so no objection from me about pitching with a five-run lead.

Three scoreless innings from the pen. The best news is the 1-2-3 frame from Gordon. In the three innings they allowed one hit and two walks, both issued by Romero. Lidge threw 17 pitches, Romero 15 and Gordon nine.

The Phillies’ lineup against righty Charlie Morton went (1) Rollins (2) Victorino (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Burrell (6) Jenkins (7) Feliz (8) Ruiz. Howard returns to the fourth spot in the order with Burrell back at fifth. Jenkins plays right against the righty after Werth started back-to-back games against righties in Texas. Ruiz catches.

Rollins led off the first with a single but the Phils went in order behind him.

Burrell started the second and got behind 1-2 before he blasted a home run to left to put the Phils up 1-0. Ruiz drew a walk with two outs, but Kendrick popped to second to end the frame.

Rollins started the third with a single. Victorino was next and he lined a ball out to right for his third home run of the season. 3-0. Utley and Howard followed with back-to-back singles that put men on first and second with nobody out for Burrell. Burrell singled into left and Utley scored. 4-0. Howard went to third. Jenkins followed and he singled to left. Howard scored and it was 5-0 with men on first and second. Feliz struck out, Ruiz flew to right and Kendrick went down swinging.

1-2-3 fourth.

Jenkins doubled with two outs in the fifth. Feliz struck out to leave him stranded.

1-2-3 in the sixth.

With one out in the seventh Utley and Howard singled back-to-back. Burrell drew a walk that loaded the bases and Werth ran for Burrell at first. Jenkins got ahead 3-0 but popped to Lillibridge in foul territory. Feliz grounded to second for the third out.

Don’t mind Jenkins swinging 3-0, but his popout looked huge at the time.

Ruiz walked to start the eighth. Taguchi hit for Romero with lefty Will Ohman on the mound. Taguchi bunted badly, too hard, back to the pitcher. Ohman threw to second, but his throw was in the dirt and not handled. Taguchi was safe at first and Ruiz safe at second. Rollins bunted the runners to second and third and the Braves walked Victorino, who came into the game hitting .224 against lefties, intentionally. Not a fan of that move, but it worked out great for Atlanta. Ohman struck out Utley and struck out Howard to end the inning.

Twice in two innings the Phillies were unable to score after loading the bases with one out.

They did finally blow it open in the ninth. Werth led off with a single and stole second as Jenkins struck out for the first out. McCann’s throw to second went into center field, allowing Werth to go to third. Feliz was next and he hit a fly ball into left deep enough to score Werth and put the Phils up 6-3. The Phils tacked on more with two outs afterwards, but that looked like a huge at-bat for Feliz at the time. Ruiz walked. Dobbs hit for Gordon and singled, moving Ruiz to second. Rollins walked to load the bases. Victorino singled into left and Ruiz and Dobbs both scored. 8-3. Utley flew to right to leave the runners stranded at first and second.

Rollins 2-for-4 with a walk.

Victorino 2-for-5 with a home run and four RBI.

Utley 2-for-6 and left six men on base.

Howard 2-for-5 and left four men on base.

Burrell 2-for-3 with a walk and a home run, his 20th on the year.

Jenkins 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI.

Feliz 0-for-4 with a big sac fly and three strikeouts. He left six men on base.

Ruiz 0-for-2 with three walks.

Adam Eaton (2-6, 4.86) faces righty Jorge Campillo (3-2, 2.54) tonight. Campillo has made 22 appearances for the Braves this season, only eight of which have been starts. In his eight starts he’s 3-2 with a 3.15 ERA and a 1.05 ratio. Lefties are hitting just .179 against him overall for the year and he’s give up just four home runs and 12 walks in 67 1/3 innings. The Phillies have lost seven of the last ten games that Eaton has started. Overall his walk rate and home rate are improved over 2007, but he has walked six in his last 12 innings and has allowed at least one home run in five straight starts.

Good thing Shane Victorino showed up or that could have been embarrassing.

Rich Harden pitched great for the A’s yesterday afternoon, holding the Phils to a pair of singles by Victorino over eight innings while striking out 11. Sadly it doesn’t take great pitching to beat the Phillies these days, they lost for the seventh time in eight games. Over those eight games the Phillies have scored 15 runs.

Tom Gordon continues to struggle with shoulder soreness and the-other-team-hits-it-really-hard-and-far-itis. You have to wonder if the Phils are going to have to act in some way to deal with the problem soon.

Yesterday’s game did help produce the best Charlie Manuel quote in a long time: “We need to be more focused or something.” I do love that. Almost makes the whole thing worth it. Maybe we need to get more focused or maybe we need to order some pizza. Either way.

The Phillies lost to the Oakland A’s yesterday, falling 5-0. After dropping the series two games to one the Phils are 43-37 on the season.

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

Mark Ellis led off the first and walked on four pitches. Ryan Sweeney was next and he blasted an 0-1 pitch into left-center for a double that scored Ellis and put Oakland up 1-0. Jack Cust was next and he singled into right. Victorino charged and made a strong throw home, but not in time to get Sweeney. The A’s led 2-0. Eric Chavez struck out swinging for the first out. Eaton got Bobby Crosby on a fly ball to right and Jack Hannahan on a ground ball back to the mound to end the inning.

He threw a 1-2-3 second and a 1-2-3 third. Dobbs made a nice play for the second out in the third, charging and bare-handing a Rajai Davis bunt and making a strong throw to first.

With one out in the fourth Crosby doubled to left and Hannahan followed with a walk. It put men on first and second for Carlos Gonzalez and Gonzalez hit a ground ball to second. Hannahan was forced at second for the second out and Crosby moved to third. Daric Barton flew to right to leave both runners stranded.

Rob Bowen led off the fifth with a double. Ellis followed and lined to second for the first out before Davis reached on an infield single. With men on first and second, Cust walked to load the bases. Eaton struck out Chavez for the second out before he got Crosby to pop to Howard to leave the bases loaded.

With one out in the sixth, Gonzalez lined the first pitch of hit at-bat out to left to make it 3-0. Eaton got the next two.

Ellis reached on an error by Rollins to start the seventh. Davis grounded back to Eaton and Ellis was forced at second for the first out. Eaton struck out Cust for the second out before Davis was gunned down by Ruiz trying to steal second on a pitchout to end the inning.

Gordon started the eighth and walked the leadoff man Chavez. Crosby flew to right for the first out before Hannahan doubled to center and Chavez scored to make it 4-0. Gonzalez was next and again hit the first pitch of his at-bat, lining it into center for a single. Victorino charged but didn’t handle the ball. It bounced off his side and Chavez came in to score. Gonzalez went for second, but Victorino picked up the ball and threw Gonzalez out at second for the second out of the inning with the A’s up 5-0. Flash struck out Barton to set the A’s down.

Two hits and a walk in the inning for Gordon. In his last three appearances Gordon has allowed seven runs on five hits and three walks in two innings. Rest apparently wasn’t the cure — before yesterday’s appearance he hadn’t pitched since June 15. He threw 18 pitches, but you have to think the Phillies are thinking about what to do with him at this point.

The Phillies’ lineup against righty Rich Harden went (1) Rollins (2) Utley (3) Burrell (4) Howard (5) Dobbs (6) Victorino (7) Werth (8) Jenkins (9) Ruiz. Still not back to normal. Victorino again finds himself moved down in the order, even against the righty. Utley up to two and Burrell up to three again. The lefty Dobbs gets the start at third and hits fifth. Werth in right with Jenkins the DH.

Rollins and Utley struck out in a 1-2-3 first.

1-2-3 in the second.

Werth and Jenkins struck out in a 1-2-3 third.

1-2-3 fourth.

With two outs in the fifth, Victorino singled to center. Werth went down swinging for the third out.

Ruiz walked with one out in the sixth. Rollins struck out and Utley popped to third.

1-2-3 seventh.

Victorino started the eighth with an infield single with the Phils down 3-0. Werth struck out and Jenkins struck out before Victorino stole second. Then Ruiz struck out.

With two outs in the ninth, Burrell crushed a ball high off the scoreboard in left and then rolled about half way back to short with Emil Brown chasing behind it. Burrell had a triple and was left stranded when Howard grounded to second to end the game.

Rollins was 0-for-4 in the game with three strikeouts. 1-for-12 with a walk in the series. He’s hitting 271/336/436 for the year.

Utley was 0-for-4 in the game. 4-for-11 with a double and a triple in the game. 293/382/600 for the year.

Burrell was 1-for-4 with a triple in the game. 3-for-10 with a home run in the series. 272/408/508.

I had assumed that the Phillies were going to exploded out of this collective slump, but it looks a little like they might sludge out of it slowly. Utley and Burrell might be starting to hit a little bit better.

Howard was 0-for-4. 1-for-13 in the set. 213/307/457 for the year.

Dobbs was 0-for-3 in his only action in the series. He’s hitting 337/376/465 for the year. Feliz was 3-for-9 with a triple in the series and is hitting 263/313/420 for the year.

Victorino was 2-for-3 in the game and 5-for-10 in the series. 280/351/382 for the year.

Werth was 0-for-3 and struck out three times. 1-for-9 with three walks and five strikeouts in the set. 257/349/479.

Jenkins 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. Wow. 0-for-8 with five strikeouts in the series. 2-for-his-last-41. 239/289/378. I have no idea what the Phillies should do with Jenkins. They need him to hit.

Ruiz was 0-for-2 with a walk yesterday and 0-for-5 with a walk in the series. 219/305/296 for the season. Your slugging percentage is one of those things you’d like to see higher than your on-base percentage. Coste was 2-for-3 with two RBI in the series. 315/375/531. Needs to play a lot more.

Brett Myers (3-9, 5.51) faces lefty Kason Gabbard (2-3, 4.96) tonight in Texas. The 26-year-old Gabbard has made 11 starts this season and walked 34 in 52 2/3 innings. He rarely gives up the long ball, he’s allowed just three on the year. Righties are hitting .309 against him, lefties .231. He has a 6.75 ERA over his last seven starts. The Phils have lost nine of the last ten games that Myers has started. Over his last three starts he’s allowed eight home runs in 19 innings. In each of his last three and six of his last nine starts he’s allowed at least four runs.

You would probably guess that the right field platoon of Jenkins and Werth hasn’t been a smashing success, but you may not have realized just how bad it has been. Here’s a look at how the Phillies are producing offensively by position this season, using OPS as the measure (does not include yesterday’s games):

It’s not going to be a surprise to many people that third base continues to be a big problem for the Phils. Howard’s struggles compared to other first basemen in the league have been more dramatic than I would have guessed. The right field production has been a worse problem than either of them.

You can also see the problem in right field if you look at production by spot in the batting order compared to other teams in the NL, again using OPS as the measure and not counting yesterday’s games:

Werth has moved around some, but generally speaking the six-hole is the home of Werth and Jenkins this season. If you look at the list, two of the other problems areas at one (Rollins) and four (Howard) seem likely to improve as the season progresses.

The problem in right for the Phillies is primarily Jenkins, who has not hit well for much of the season and is currently 2-for-his-last-24, and the fact that Werth has been less effective with the bat while playing right field than he has overall. Here’s what the Phillies who have gotten at least 25 plate appearances as a right fielder have done offensively this season while playing right field:

Werth is hitting 268/351/490 overall and 290/362/613 in 93 at-bats as a center fielder. That’s probably just a coincidence, but it does help explain why the numbers are so bad for the team overall. Jenkins is the big question mark. His numbers are just bad, pretty much the worst for his career since 1998, despite he gets to hit almost exclusively against right-handed pitching. 194 of his 213 plate appearances have come against righties, about 91.1%. His career line overall, 276/345/493 (287/356/520 against righties) is much better than that despite the fact that only about 76.5% of his career plate appearances have come against righties.

The good news for the Phillies is that it’s reasonable to expect Jenkins to hit much better the rest of the year than he has so far.

Adam Eaton (2-4, 4.57) faces righty Ervin Santana (8-3, 3.40) tonight. Santana was hit hard his last time out. On Saturday against the Braves he allowed six runs over 5 2/3 innings. Before that he had made three straight starts where he pitched at least into the seventh inning and allowed less than two runs. Opponents are hitting .208 against him for the season. righties just .192 and lefties .272. He has walked just 21 overall in 95 1/3 innings. Eaton has a 3.49 ERA over his last five starts and has allowed three or fewer runs six of his last seven times out. He hasn’t walked more than two hitters in a game in any of his last six starts.