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This is getting out of hand.

The Phils drop two of three to the division-leading Braves, falling six games back in the NL East. Jamie Moyer is going to have some six-run innings and the inexperienced pitchers in the pen can be counted on to occasionally allow three runs over a four-batter span in the top of the eleventh. But the Phillies need to hit and they aren’t. Valdez and Sardinha combined to go 1-for-20 in the series. That’s a whole lot less of a problem, though, than the 6-for-38 with a walk that Rollins, Victorino and Werth combined to put up.

The key hitters for the Phillies just aren’t getting it done and they haven’t been for a long time.

The why questions are the hard ones and I don’t know the answer. I do think it’s time we all confront the elephant in the room and put the blame where it belongs: squarely on the shoulders of Jayson Werth’s Geico beard.

That thing is atrocious. I’m worried it may be blocking out the guys in the bullpen trying to steal signs from the catcher. Please, please shave. I don’t feel confident it will make things better, but I’m not sure how it could make them worse.

The chart below shows the number of times in the past 25 years the Phillies have won the World Series in the Pre and Post Beard eras:

There it is in black and white.

Seventy-nine games left to play.

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

The Phillies are 43-40 on the season after losing to the Atlanta Braves 7-5 last night. The Braves take the series two games to one. The Phils are in third place in the NL East. They trail the Braves by six games and the Mets by three.

Moyer got the start for the Phillies and went 5 1/3 innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits and a walk. Five of the hits went for extra-bases, two doubles and three home runs. He struck out three.

Martin Prado led off the game and hit a 1-1 pitch out to left to put the Braves up 1-0. Moyer got the next three behind him.

He threw a 1-2-3 second.

The game was tied at 1-1 when he set Atlanta down in order in the third.

Omar Infante started the fourth with what looked like a routine ground ball to short, but Rollins was slow and Infante ran hard and was safe with an infield single. Moyer got the next three to leave him stranded. Victorino made a shoestring catch on a liner hit by Brian McCann for the third out.

He threw a 1-2-3 fifth.

The Phils were ahead 3-1 when he started the sixth. Moyer struck out the pitcher Kris Medlen for the first out, but Prado was next and homered again, this time on a 3-2 pitch. It cut the lead to 3-2. Infante followed that with a single and moved to third when Chipper Jones doubled softly to right. Troy Glaus walked to load the bases and McCann cleared them with a three-run double to the gap in left center. 5-3 Atlanta. Matt Diaz was next and he hit a 2-2 pitch out to center for his first home run of the season. 7-3. Baez took over for Moyer and allowed a two-out double to Melky Cabrera before striking out Medlen to finally end the frame.

Figueroa pitched the seventh. Prado reached on an infield single to start the inning and moved to second on a passed ball after Infante flew to right for the first out. Chipper flew to center with Prado tagging and moving to third. Glaus flew to right to leave him stranded.

Figueroa was back to throw a 1-2-3 eighth.

Figueroa was recalled from Triple-A on June 24. Since then he has made three appearances for the Phils in which he has allowed one hit and one walk in 5 1/3 scoreless innings.

Contreras pitched the ninth with the Phillies down 7-5. Cabrera led off with a double, but Contreras got a strike out and a popup before getting Infante on a ground ball to short to leave Cabrera stranded.

Figueroa threw 22 pitches in the game. Contreras, pitching for the second day in a row, threw 15. Baez threw 12.

It just the second appearance since June 27 for Baez. In those appearances he has thrown 19 pitches over one inning.

The Phillies lineup against righty Kris Medlen went (1) Rollins (2) Victorino (3) Ibanez (4) Howard (5) Werth (6) Dobbs (7) Valdez (8) Sardinha. Sardinha keeps on catching. Valdez at second. Dobbs plays third against the righty.

Rollins led off the first with a single with the Phils down 1-0. A one-out walk to Ibanez moved him to second, but Howard struck out for the second out behind him. Werth was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Dobbs, but Dobbs grounded to short to leave the runners stranded.

Valdez led off the second with a double. Sardinha struck out and Moyer struck out, but Rollins picked them up and doubled into the right field corner to tie the game at 1-1. Victorino grounded to second for the third out.

Rollins 2-for-2 through two innings.

Howard singled with one out in the third, but Werth and Dobbs went down behind him.

1-2-3 in the fourth.

Ibanez walked with two outs in the fifth. Howard was next and he hit a 1-0 pitch out to left to put the Phillies up 3-1. Werth grounded to second for the third out.

The were losing 7-3 when they hit in the bottom of the sixth. Dobbs led off with a single and Valdez hit into a double-play behind him. Sardinha struck out swinging for the third out.

That’s 14 GIDP on the year for Valdez. 14??!

Victorino chased Medlen from the game with a two-out homer in the seventh that cut the lead to 7-4. Lefty Jonny Venters got Ibanez to pop to second for the third out.

Dobbs singled to left with one out in the eighth. With righty Takashi Saito on the mound for Atlanta, Gload hit for Figueroa and singled to center, sending Dobbs to third. Francisco hit for Sardinha with Saito still on the mound. He quickly got behind 0-2, but hit a 2-2 pitch back up the middle for an RBI-single that scored Dobbs and made it 7-5. Castro, who had entered with Baez in the seventh, popped up on the infield to leave the runners stranded on first and second.

Great at-bat for Francisco against the righty.

Billy Wagner set Rollins, Victorino and Ibanez down in order in the ninth.

Rollins was 2-for-5 with two doubles and an RBI in the game. 2-for-13 with a walk in the series. 255/358/471 on the season. He’s 12-for-61 (.198) since returning from the DL.

Victorino was 1-for-5 with his 13th home run last night. He was 2-for-14 in the series and hasn’t walked in his last 34 at-bats. 251/319/448 on the year. You can’t hit second if you on-base .319.

Rollins and Victorino combine to go 4-for-27 (.148) with a walk in the series.

Ibanez was 0-for-3 and walked twice. He was 3-for-11 with a home run and three walks in the series. 242/329/397.

Howard was 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI as he continues to pound the ball to the opposite field. 5-for-12 with a triple and a home run in the set. He’s at 298/351/514 for the year.

Werth was 0-for-3 in the game and was 2-for-11 in the series. He’s 3-for-23 with a walk in July and hitting 279/365/518 for the year.

Dobbs was 2-for-4 in the game. 4-for-8 with a home run, a walk and two RBI in the series. He’s 8-for-his-last-23 and has his line on the year up to 196/260/304.

Valdez was 1-for-3 with a double in the game and 1-for-11 in the series. 252/270/390 on the year. Please take a moment to compare the slugging percentages for the season for Valdez and Ibanez.

Sardinha should get an award for catching so many games in a row in brutal weather. Not so much for hitting, though. He was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in the game and 0-for-9 with six strikeouts in the series. He has 40 plate appearances with the Phillies this year and a career high of 49. He’s hit 205/225/375 for the Phils this season.

Kyle Kendrick (5-3, 4.70) faces righty Johnny Cueto (8-2, 3.56) as the Phils start a four-game set with the Reds. Kendrick has a 5.59 ERA and a 1.45 ratio over his past three starts. He’s fared pretty well against righties this season, but left-handed batters are hitting 318/376/555 against him. Cueto has not allowed more than one run in any of his last four starts, throwing to an 0.70 ERA over 25 2/3 innings. He’s been way better against lefties (225/292/376) than he has against righties (288/360/419) on the year.

The Phils take two of three from the Blue Jays thanks to a win yesterday, which came with a big assist from Jamie Moyer. Moyer’s ratio for the season is at 1.05 and the Phillies are 9-6 in the games he’s started. That’s a better mark than they have in the games started by Halladay (9-7) or Hamels (8-7) or any other pitcher who has started more than one game (they’re 1-0 when Figueroa starts, but that might not be a formula for long-term success).

On June 11 in Boston, Moyer allowed nine runs in an inning against the Red Sox. It’s the only start in his last six in which he’s allowed more than two runs. In his other 14 starts he has thrown to a 3.49 ERA with an 0.95 ratio. In eight of 15 starts he’s allowed two runs or fewer. Overall for the season his ERA sits at 4.30, coming off of a year where he threw to a 5.34 ERA in his 25 starts and a whole lot of people thought he was done.

So what’s he doing differently this year? He allowed a ton of home runs last year, but it’s not just about home runs. Moyer has allowed 15 home runs in 96 1/3 innings, which means he would allow about 31 over 200 innings. Only five NL pitchers have allowed more home runs than Moyer on the year and 24 have pitched more innings. He’s allowing about 1.40 home runs per nine innings, which is worse is worse than his career rate of 1.14 per nine innings if improved over his ’09 rate of 1.50 per nine innings (1.63 per nine as a starter).

Overall, the hits that he’s allowing haven’t done less damage in 2010 than they did in 2008 and 2009 or over his career. He’s actually allowing more bases per hit this year than he has over his career and in 2008 and 2009 combined:

So the hits that he’s allowing are just as bad if not worse and he’s still allowing a lot of home runs.

What he is doing is allowing a whole lot fewer hits and walks.

Opponents are hitting just .230 against Moyer on the season. Righties are hitting .241 and lefties are hitting .177. Moyer had a couple of years where he held righties under .241, but the .230 mark overall and .177 for lefties are his best in, well, forever. When it comes to Jamie Moyer, forever is a long time. Here’s what righties and lefties have hit against him over his career:

In 2003, opponents also hit .230 overall against. Moyer. But it’s a better .230 this year (.23013) than it was in ’03 (.23023).

Lefties are 11-for-62 against Moyer this year. The .177 average he has held them to is nearly a hundred points better than their .272 over his career.

Moyer’s batting average for balls in play is at a career-low .230 overall and a microscopic .119 for left-handed hitters. So maybe he’s been a little bit (or a lot) fortunate. It’s also true, though, that Moyer’s walks are down significantly from his career levels. The percentage of batters he faces who walks is down for the third season in a row and this year it’s down a lot:

Moyer has walked 17 batters in 96 1/3 innings this season, which is about 1.59 per nine innings. That’s the best mark he’s had for any year of his career. He’s only had one other season where he walked fewer than 1.89 men per nine inning. For the Mariners in 1998 he issued 42 walks in 234 1/3 innings (1.61 walks per nine).

Madson threw an inning for Single-A Clearwater yesterday and allowed a run.

Sounds like we shouldn’t be expecting to see Polanco tonight and maybe not for a couple of days.

The Phillies got Jimmy Rollins back in the lineup last night, but it was a guy who has been here all along that did the heavy lifting as the Phils topped the Cleveland Indians 2-1. Jamie Moyer was fantastic, holding Cleveland to a run on two hits over eight innings.

The lack of offense from the Phils continues to baffle. Last night they failed to deliver an extra-base hit yet again. After scoring two runs in the bottom of the first they were shut out the rest of the game on two singles and two walks.

The game was also notable in how it ended. Lefty JC Romero pitched to three hitters in the top of the ninth with a one-run lead. Two of them reached before Lidge came in to record back-to-back strikeouts to end the game. After the game, Manuel responded to a question about the closer situation by saying, “Lidge is our closer. In my mind, he’s our closer and that’s what counts.” Maybe so, but what’s happening in Manuel’s mind, while interesting, is a whole lot less important to the Phillies than what happens on the field and last night it was someone other than Lidge facing three batters in the ninth inning of a one-run game.

All that said, I think bringing on Romero to pitch to switch-left-switch to start the inning is a pretty good idea. It’s just not the way it’s always been done with this team.

Not to be forgotten is that Manuel also had been ejected from the game, so he shouldn’t have been involved with the decision on who pitched the ninth inning anyway.

The Phillies are 36-32 on the year after a 2-1 win over the Indians last night. They have won four of their last six but scored just three runs in their last two games. They’re in third place in the NL East, 4 1/2 games behind the first-place Braves.

Jamie Moyer got the start for the Phillies and went eight innings, allowing a run on two hits and a walk. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a solo home run. He struck out five and dropped his ERA on the year to 4.43. Four of his last five starts has been really good with nine runs allowed in an inning in Boston on June 11. Nine runs in an inning will do a number on your numbers (4.22 ERA over his last five starts in this case), but Moyer is pitching very well.

He got three ground balls in a 1-2-3 first.

He started the second inning up 2-0. He got two more ground outs to start the second before lefty Russell Branyan came to the plate and hammered the first pitch he saw way out to right. 2-1. Anderson Hernandez grounded to Utley for the third out.

Moyer threw a 1-2-3 third and struck out two while setting Cleveland down in order again in the fourth.

He got two ground outs and a fly ball to right in a 1-2-3 fifth.

Moyer got the first two in the sixth before Trevor Crowe reached on an infield single. The lefty Shin-Soo Choo was next and walked on five pitches. Crowe stole third before Moyer got Carlos Santana on a fly ball to left to leave both runners stranded.

He came back with a 1-2-3 seventh and then set the Indians down in order again in the eighth. Former Phil Jason Donald hit the ball well in the eighth, but Victorino tracked it down on the warning track for the second out of the inning.

Romero started the ninth with a one-run lead and got the switch-hitter Crowe on a ground ball to second for the first out. The lefty Choo was next and hit a ball back up the middle that Rollins fielded behind second, but Choo was safe with an infield single. Switch-hitting Carlos Santana was next and Romero walked him on a 3-2 pitch that was nowhere near the plate. It brought righty Austin Kearns to the plate with one out and men on first and second. Lidge came in to pitch to him and struck him out swinging at a 2-2 slider for the second out. Righty Jhonny Peralta followed Kearns, also coming to the plate as the go-ahead run. Lidge struck him out swinging at a 2-2 slider as well to end the game.

Romero threw 13 pitches in the game and Lidge ten.

The Phillies lineup against righty Mitch Talbot went (1) Rollins (2) Polanco (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Werth (6) Ibanez (7) Victorino (8) Schneider. Rollins returns to the lineup and the leadoff spot. Victorino is dropped all the way to seventh. Schneider catches with Ruiz on the DL.

Polanco singled with one out in the first and moved to second when Utley followed with a walk. Howard was next and hit a 1-0 pitch into left for a single that scored Polanco (1-0) and moved Utley to third. Werth hit a fly ball to center deep enough for Utley to score and put the Phils up 2-0. Ibanez followed and hit a fly ball to center deep enough for Crowe to catch it and end the inning.

Victorino walked to start the second with the lead cut to 2-1. Schneider hit into a double-play behind him and Moyer struck out.

The Phils went in order in the third.

Werth walked with one out in the fourth and moved to third when Ibanez followed with a single to right. Victorino was next and hit a ground ball to second. Donald fielded and threw to Hernandez at second for the second out of the inning with Victorino safe at first, but Ibanez was ruled out on interference and the run was taken off the board with the inning over.

Manuel got ejected arguing the call, which cost the Phils a run, but the ump got it right. Ibanez was way off of second.

The Phillies went in order in the fifth.

Howard singled with two outs in the sixth, but Werth flew to right behind him to set the Phillies down.

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

Rollins was 0-for-4 in the game and is hitting 311/429/578 in 45 at-bats for the season.

Polanco was 1-for-4. He’s 7-for-his-last-22.

Utley 0-for-2 with a walk. 6-for-his-last-16 with a double, a triple and a home run. He walked 20 times in April and has walked 19 times in May and June combined.

Howard was 2-for-3 with an RBI. He’s hitting 329/368/686 in June.

Werth was 0-for-1 with a walk and an RBI. He’s hitting .218 in June after going 0-for-17 with ten strikeouts to end May. He’s 12-for-his-last-72 (.167). On the plus side, maybe the Phillies will be able to afford him next year after all.

Ibanez 1-for-3 with a strikeout. He’s 4-for-his-last-20. His slugging percentage dropped to .371 after the June 6 against the Padres. He had gotten it back up over .400 since then, but it’s back going the wrong direction and sitting on .400 at the start of the day today.

Victorino was 0-for-2 with a walk in the seven-hole. He’s 1-for-his-last-14.

Schneider was 0-for-3. He was hitting 303/395/364 after going 3-for-4 against the Red Sox on June 12. He’s gone 1-for-14 since, dropping his line on the year to 234/333/277.

Another game for the Phils without an extra-base hit.

Kyle Kendrick (4-2, 4.48) faces righty Jake Westbrook (4-4, 4.76) tonight. Kendrick has been really good in three of his last four starts with one bad outing against the Marlins. Westbrook allowed five runs in seven innings against the Mets last Thursday. He missed the 2009 season off of Tommy John surgery and his rates of allowing hits, walks and home runs are all up above his career marks since his return.

Coming off just about the ugliest start you can imagine, Jamie Moyer bounced back last night to hold the Yankees to a pair of runs on three hits over eight innings as the Phils got a much-needed win in New York.

As bad as things have been, though, it’s going to take more than that to convince most fans the Phils have found a way out of their long, miserable funk. More than the home runs by Werth and Howard, more than the three-run triple by Victorino. A lot more. After an early outburst in last night’s game plated them six runs before the end of the third inning, the Phils didn’t manage a base-runner in the last five innings of the game.

The Phillies are 33-30 on the season after a 6-3 win over the Yankees last night.

Moyer got the start for the Phillies and went eight innings, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, both solo homers. He struck out five.

He threw a 1-2-3 first.

The Phils were up 4-0 when he started the second. Robison Cano hit a 2-2 pitch out to right to cut the lead to 4-1. Moyer got the next two.

He threw a 1-2-3 third with a 6-1 lead and set New York down in order again in the fourth.

Jorge Posada homered to left with one out in the fifth to make it 6-2. Moyer got Curtis Granderson and Kevin Russo behind him.

He threw a 1-2-3 in the sixth, getting a nice play from Werth in right on the second out on a sinking liner hit to right.

Moyer walked Alex Rodriguez with one out in the seventh, but got Cano to hit into a double-play behind him.

Russo reached on an infield single with two outs in the eighth. Moyer got Gardner on a fly ball to left to end the inning.

Lidge entered to start the ninth with a 6-2 lead. He struck out Jeter and Swisher to start the inning before Teixeira drew a walk. Teixeira took second without a throw before A-Rod lined a double into left, scoring Teixeira to make it 6-3. Cano followed that with a single that moved Rodriguez to third and it brought Posada to the plate as the tying run. Lidge struck him out swinging 2-2 to end the game.

Lidge threw 31 pitches in the game. It’s the second time in ten appearances on the year that he’s been charged with a run and the first time since April 30.

The Phillies lineup against righty AJ Burnett went (1) Victorino (2) Polanco (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Werth (6) Ibanez (7) Dobbs (8) Schneider (9) Valdez. Dobbs at DH with Schneider catching and Valdez at short. Polanco back hitting second with Utley third after they were flipped in the first game of the series.

Utley was hit by a pitch with two outs in the second and took second on a wild pitch, but Howard grounded to second for the third out.

Ibanez walked with one out in the second and stole second with Dobbs at the plate. Dobbs singled to right and Ibanez scored to put the Phils up 1-0. Schneider walked and there were men on first and second for Valdez. Valdez hit a ground ball back up the middle that went off the foot of Burnett and rolled back towards the plate. Valdez was safe with a single and the bases were loaded. Victorino drove a 3-2 pitch in to the gap in right center, clearing the bases as Victorino slid into third just safe with the Phils up 4-0. Polanco struck out and Utley grounded to first to end the frame.

Great job by Victorino to stretch for a triple with one out. Polanco strikes out with one out and a man on third to keep the Phillies from getting more.

The lead was cut to 4-1 when the Phillies hit in the third. Howard led off and hit an 0-1 pitch out to center. 5-1. Werth was next and quickly got behind 0-2 before he hit a 2-2 pitch out to right to make it 6-1. Burnett got the next two before walking Schneider. Valdez struck out to leave Schneider stranded at first.

Victorino walked to start the fourth and stole second. Polanco flew to right for the first out. Utley was next and hit a ball to first that Teixeira fielded, but Burnett failed to cover first and Utley was safe with a single as Victorino moved to third. Lefty Boone Logan took over for Burnett. Utley stole second before Logan struck out Howard for the second out and the righty Werth was walked intentionally to load the bases. Ibanez grounded to second to leave the runners stranded. Ruiz was out of the lineup with a sore left ankle.

Polanco can’t move the runner up from second with nobody out. Howard strikes out with a man on third and one out.

The Phillies went in order in the fifth. With the lefty Logan still on the mound for New York, Francisco hit for Dobbs to start the inning and grounded back to Logan.

The Phils went in order in the sixth.

Chad Gaudin pitched the last three innings of the game for New York, setting down nine Phillies in order.

Victorino was 1-for-4 with a walk, a triple and three RBI in the game.

Polanco 0-for-5 and struck out twice. It ends a nine-game hitting streak for Polanco. Including last night he’s hit 333/364/381 over his last ten games.

Utley was 1-for-4 with a strikeout.

Howard 1-for-4 with a home run and struck out twice. He’s on pace to hit 28 home runs this year.

Werth 1-for-3 with a walk and a strikeout. Also on pace to hit 28 home runs this year. His doubles pace is down to 62.

Ibanez 0-for-3 with a walk to drop his average on the year to .246.

Dobbs 1-for-2 with an RBI. He’s hitting .154 for the season.

Schneider 0-for-2 with two walks. He’s hitting .278 with a .395 on-base percentage all of the sudden. 7-for-his-last-15 with four walks and two doubles.

Valdez was 1-for-4 and struck out three times. He’s on-basing .250 for the season and has 106 plate appearances.

Kyle Kendrick (3-2, 4.80) faces lefty Andy Pettitte (8-1, 2.46) tonight. Kendrick was in a nice groove, throwing to a 2.79 ERA over his last six starts before getting hammered by the Marlins on June 8. He allowed six runs in five innings in that game. Lefties are still hitting 316/383/530 against him for the year. Pettitte hasn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his last four starts and just twice in 12 outings on the season. Lefties are hitting 171/192/237 against him for the season.

The article linked above about Ruiz’s sore ankle says that Rollins could return to the active roster on Saturday.

The Phillies showed some life in the first two games of their four-game set with the Padres, but yet another weak start from Blanton and a big out they gave away on the bases in the bottom of the tenth cost them yesterday. Tonight they’ll look for another win as they try to take three of four in their series against the Padres.

On Friday the Phillies scored three runs or less for the twelfth game in a row, but got a win anyway thanks to nice work from Halladay and a big day for Victorino. Victorino was 2-for-4 with a double and a home run and scored two of the three runs as the Phils won 3-2.

Moyer was fantastic on Saturday and the Phils finally scored more than three runs in a game as they won 6-2. Moyer threw a complete game and the middle of the order showed some much-needed life as Utley, Howard, Werth and Ibanez combined to drive in all six Phillie runs.

Blanton was miserable again yesterday, allowing five runs in five innings to push his ERA over six for the year. The Phillies scored five times in the first two innings, but the Padres pulled ahead 6-5 with a run off of Baez in the tenth. Polanco walked with one out in the bottom of the tenth, but was thrown out trying to go to third when Utley followed with a single. It put him on the bench watching when Howard delivered a single that would have tied the game and Werth followed with his third strikeout on the day to end the game.

The Phillies are 30-25 on the year after losing to the San Diego Padres 6-5 in ten innings yesterday. They trail the Braves by two games in the NL East. The Mets are in third place a game behind the Phils.

Blanton got the start for the Phillies and went five innings, allowing five runs on 11 hits and no walks. Four of the hits went for extra-bases, two doubles and two home runs. After seven starts he has a 6.07 ERA for the season.

Jerry Hairston singled with one out in the first. Adrian Gonzalez was next and he hit a 3-2 pitch out to left center to put San Diego up 2-0. Chase Headley followed with a double to right before Nick Hundley popped out to Howard for the second out. The former Phil Matt Stairs was next and he singled into center, scoring Headley to make it 3-0. Stairs stole second, really he did, before Tony Gwynn grounded to first to end the frame.

At least Blanton didn’t wait till late in the game to get plastered this time.

The lead was cut to 3-1 when Blanton started the second. Lance Zawadzki, San Diego’s switch-hitting second baseman, led off with a single to left. Blanton struck out the pitcher Kevin Correia for the first out before Zawadzki stole second. Blanton struck out Scott Hairston and got Jerry Hairston to ground to third to set the Padres down.

The Phillies started the third up 5-3. Gonzalez and Headley singled back-to-back to start the inning, but Blanton got Hundley, Stairs and Gwynn in order to leave them stranded.

He got the first two in the fourth before Scott Hairston doubled to center. Jerry Hairston followed with a single to right, scoring Hairston to make it 5-4. Jerry Hairston went to second when the throw came home, but Headley popped to third to leave him there.

Hundley hit Blanton’s first pitch of the fifth out to left-center to tie the game at 5-5. Blanton set down the next three Padres.

Durbin pitched the sixth. He allowed a two-out single to Jerry Hairston, but got Gonzalez to fly to right behind him.

He was back to start the seventh, too. He gave up a leadoff single to Headley, but got Hundley to hit into a double-play behind him. Romero came in to pitch to the lefty Stairs and struck him out for the third out.

Gwynn singled off of Romero to start the eighth and Zawadzki bunted him to second. Righty David Eckstein hit for the pitcher Ryan Webb and Contreras came in to pitch to him. Eckstein hit a ball to third. Polanco fielded and threw to first for the second out. Gwynn tried to go to third, but Howard threw to Polanco and Gwynn was tagged out to set San Diego down.

Lidge threw a 1-2-3 ninth.

Baez started the tenth. Headley led off with a single and Hundley bunted him to second. Will Venable was next and he grounded out to Utley for the second out, with Headley taking third. Righty Oscar Salazar hit for the pitcher Mike Adams and reached on an infield single to short. Headley scored and San Diego led 6-5. Baez got Eckstein on a ground ball back to the mound for the third out.

Everyone in the pen was rested after the complete game by Moyer on Saturday. Durbin threw 20 pitches, Baez 16, Lidge 14, Romero 13 and Contreras one.

The Phillies lineup against righty Kevin Correia went (1) Victorino (2) Polanco (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Werth (6) Ibanez (7) Schneider (8) Castro. Schneider behind the plate in the day game after the night game. Castro at short with Valdez on the bench.

Victorino singled to start the bottom of the first with the Phils down 3-0 and stole second. Polanco hit a ball to second that Zawadzki didn’t handle for an error. Victorino held second, so it brought Utley up with men on first and second. Utley grounded to first with the runners moving to second and third. Howard grounded to second and everyone moved up a base again, with Victorino scoring to cut the lead to 3-1. Werth struck out swinging to end the inning.

The Phillies scored the rest of their runs for the game in the second. Ibanez led off with a walk before Schneider flew to center for the first out. Castro was next and hit a ground ball to short. Ibanez was forced at second for the second out with Castro safe at first. Blanton moved Castro to second with a two-out single and then Victorino walked, loading the bases. Polanco singled to left and everyone moved up a base. 3-2 with the bases still loaded. Utley walked. 3-3. Howard singled to right on a ball deflected by Zawadzki, putting the Phillies up 4-3. Righty Sean Gallagher came to pitch to Werth and walked him. 5-3. Ibanez grounded to short to finally set the Phillies down.

With two outs and a man on first, the Phils score four runs by going single-walk-single-walk-single-walk.

Blanton walked with two outs in the third. Victorino was hit by a pitch behind him and Polanco singled to center to load the bases. Utley struck out swinging to leave them loaded.

The Phils went in order in the fourth.

Schneider singled to center to start the fifth with the game tied at 5-5. Castro bunted him to second with the first out. With the righty Gallagher still on the mound for San Diego, Dobbs hit for Blanton and struck out swinging. Victorino flew to center for the third out.

Righty Ryan Webb set them down in order in the sixth.

Schneider doubled off of Webb with two outs in the seventh, but Castro struck out behind him.

Manuel didn’t use Gload to hit for Castro there with Valdez and Gload both available. Both players would get a chance later in the game.

Right Mike Adams was pitching for the Padres when the Phils hit in the eighth. Gload hit for Contreras to start the inning and grounded to short. Victorino grounded to first before Polanco singled. Utley hit a ball to first that Gonzalez didn’t handle and was safe on the second San Diego error of the day. With two outs and men on first and second, Howard struck out swinging 0-2 to end the inning.

Gload hits with nobody on in the eighth instead of with a man on in the seventh.

Adams walked Schneider with two outs in the ninth. The righty Francisco pinch-hit for the righty Castro with the righty Adams on the mound and moved Schneider to third with a single to right. Ruiz hit for Lidge and Valdez ran for Schneider at third. Francisco took second without a throw, but Ruiz grounded back to Adams to end the inning.

Odd inning. Francisco against the righty works out, but the Phils come up empty.

Heath Bell was on to protect a 6-5 lead in the ninth for San Diego. Polanco walked with one out. Utley was next and he singled softly into center. Polanco went for third, but Gwynn made an excellent throw to nail him at third for the second out. Howard moved Utley to third with a single, but Bell struck Werth out swinging 1-2 to end the game.

It took a nearly perfect throw from Gwynn to get Polanco, but it would have been a really fantastic time not to make an out on the bases.

The Phillies scored five runs in the first two innings then none in the next eight. This whole thing is really unusual.

Victorino was 1-for-4 with a walk and scored two runs. He’s 5-for-his-last-12 with a double, a triple and a walk.

Polanco was 3-for-5 with two RBI. 6-for-his-last-13 with six singles.

Utley was 1-for-5 yesterday with a walk and five men left on base. He’s 3-for-19 with a double in June. 130/231/152 with one extra-base hit, a double, over his last 46 at-bats.

Howard 2-for-6 with three RBI yesterday. 5-for-his-last-13 with a double, a walk and seven strikeouts.

Werth was 0-for-5 with a walk and three strikeouts in the game. He’s 3-for-his-last-34.

Ibanez was 0-for-4 with a walk. He’s 0-for-his-last-10 and 1-for-17 in June.

Schneider was 2-for-4 with a walk and double, which was the only extra-base hit of the game for the Phillies. He’s 7-for-29 on the season. Ruiz was 0-for-1 yesterday and is 2-for-his-last-8.

Castro 0-for-3 with a strikeout to drop his line on the year to 227/252/278 in 97 at-bats. Ninety-seven is too many at-bats to give a guy who isn’t going to surprise you by hitting 227/252/278. He’s 0-for-his-last-13.

Cole Hamels (5-4, 4.20) faces lefty Wade LeBlanc (2-4, 3.67) tonight in game four of the series. Hamels threw just 24 pitches in his last start before rain forced him from the game. He got two outs and was charged with three runs. LeBlanc has some strange numbers. Overall, they aren’t as good as his 3.67 ERA, opponents are hitting 296/365/446 against him for the year, but he has allowed two runs or less in seven of his nine starts.

New York’s RA Dickey is the latest hurler to stump the Phils. Dickey tossed six shutout innings last night as the Mets pounded the Phils 8-0. In their last three games the Phillies have been shut out twice and nearly no-hit once. In the other game they were shut out through eight innings before scoring three in the bottom of the ninth to turn a blowout into a five-run loss.

Moyer didn’t pitch well in last night’s game, failing to go six innings for the first time this year. The bullpen allowed four runs in three innings. The Phils had plenty of chances to score, but let them all slip away. Most notably, they loaded the bases with nobody out in the second and came away empty. In the seventh, Utley and Howard struck out back-to-back with a man on third and less than two outs.

The Phils have lost five of seven and scored 15 runs over those seven games. In four of the seven they scored one run or zero runs. They’re 26-18 on the season with the loss. They are three games ahead of the second-place Marlins in the division, but just four ahead of the Nats and Mets, who have the same record at the bottom of the division.

Jamie Moyer got the start for the Phillies and went five innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a double. He didn’t strike out a batter.

Jose Reyes led off the bottom of the first with a single and Luis Castillo bunted him to second. Reyes stole third and came in to score on a ground out by Jason Bay, putting the Mets up 1-0. Ike Davis flew to center for the third out.

Moyer got David Wright to start the second, but Angel Pagan and Rod Barajas singled back-to-back behind him. It put men on first and third for Jeff Francoeur and Francoeur singled to left, scoring Pagan to put the Mets up 2-0. The pitcher RA Dickey was next and bunted the runners to second and third with two outs. Reyes grounded to third for the third out.

Moyer threw a 1-2-3 third.

Wright led off the fourth and hit a ball into shallow center that Victorino didn’t see. It dropped and Wright had a double. Pagan walked to put men on first and second for Barajas. Barajas flew to center deep enough for Wright to go to third. Francoeur was next and he delivered a sac fly too, this one to left. Wright scored and it was 3-0. Dickey flew to right for the third out.

Reyes started the fifth with a pretty bunt single and stole second. Castillo moved him to third with a ground out before Bay singled to left to bring him in and put the Mets up 4-0. Bay stole second and Davis walked. It put men on first and second with one out, but Moyer got Wright on a fly ball to left and Pagan on a fly to center.

Herndon started the sixth after the Phils hit for Moyer in the top of the inning. He allowed a one-out double to Francoeur. Lefty Chris Carter hit for the pitcher Dickey and singled into center, scoring Francoeur to making it 5-0. Herndon got Reyes and Castillo to end the inning.

Herndon came back to throw a 1-2-3 seventh. Opponents are hitting .373 against him for the year.

Figueroa started the eighth with the Phils down 5-0. Barajas singled with one out before Francoeur lined to left for the second out. The pitcher Raul Valdes was next and he doubled just out of the reach of Werth. Barajas scored and it was 6-0. Reyes was next and tripled just out of the reach of Werth. 7-0. Castillo singled to left. 8-0. Bay grounded to third to finally end the inning.

Werth was playing really shallow with Valdes at the plate. A little too shallow apparently. That would have been a nice out to have. Figueroa’s ERA for the year is up to 5.09 for the year. He’s allowed runs in two of his last three appearances, giving up five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Herndon threw 30 pitches in the game, Figueroa 29.

The Phillies lineup against righty RA Dickey went (1) Victorino (2) Polanco (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Werth (6) Ibanez (7) Ruiz (8) Castro. Castro plays short with Rollins on the DL, hitting eighth with Ruiz seventh.

The Phils went in order in the first.

They hit in the top of the second down 1-0. Howard led off and smashed a ball off the arm of Dickey for a single. Dickey stayed in the game and Werth singled as well, sending Howard to second. Ibanez singled to left and the bases were loaded for Ruiz. Ruiz hit a ball back to the mound. Dickey fielded and threw home to start the double-play with Barajas going to first for the second out. Castro walked to load the bases again, but Moyer struck out swinging to turn the Phillies away.

No run in the inning on three hits and a walk. That’s tough to do.

Victorino started the third with a walk with the Phillies down 2-0. Polanco hit a ground ball to second and Victorino was forced for the first out. Utley struck out before Howard sent Polanco to second with a single. Werth walked to load the bases yet again, but Ibanez lined to short to leave them all stranded.

The Phils went in order in the fourth.

They were losing 3-0 when they hit in the fifth. Polanco singled with one out. Utley followed and grounded to second with Polanco forced for the second out. Howard flew to center to set the Phillies down.

It was 4-0 in the sixth. Ibanez and Ruiz singled back-to-back with one out. It put men on first and second for Castro and he lined to Davis at first for the second out. With the righty Dickey still pitching for the Mets, Dobbs hit for Moyer and struck out swinging 1-2.

Lefty Raul Valdes started the seventh with a 5-0 lead. Victorino led off with a walk and moved to third when Polanco followed with a double. Utley struck out and Howard struck out. Werth got to hit against the lefty and hit a ground ball in the hole between third and short. Wright made a nice play to field the ball diving to his left and threw Werth out at first to end the frame.

That’s awful. No run for the Phils when Utley and Howard both strike out with a man on third and less than two outs.

Castro walked with two outs in the eighth. With the lefty Valdes still on the mound for the Mets, Francisco hit for Herndon and popped to Reyes to leave Castro stranded.

Polanco singled off of Valdes with one out in the ninth, but Utley and Howard went down behind him.

Victorino was 0-for-3 with two walks in the game. It’s tempting to blame the offensive woes on the .310 on-base percentage in the leadoff spot, but Victorino is hitting 280/356/548 so far in May.

Polanco was 3-for-5 with a double, which was the only extra-base hit for the Phils in the game.

Utley 0-for-5.

Howard 2-for-5.

Werth 1-for-3 with a walk.

Ibanez 2-for-4. He’s hitting 214/283/357 against lefties this season.

Ruiz 1-for-4. He’s 1-for-his-last-17.

Castro was 0-for-2 with two walks, giving him four for the season.

Joe Blanton (1-2, 5.06) faces lefty Hisanori Takahashi (3-1, 2.53) tonight in game two of the series. Blanton has been very good early in the game this year and very bad late. So far the results are bad overall. Takahashi has made 15 relief appearances and one start on the season. The start came on Saturday against the Yankees and he threw six shutout innings. He does walk a lot of righties, though. They are hitting 241/347/373 against him for the season.

Some words about Brad Lidge and how good he feels here. The article suggests he could be activated next week.