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The Phillies were hammered the last time they saw the Indians, outscored 20-2 as they lost both games of two-game set about two weeks ago. Just about everything went well for the Phils last night as they topped Cleveland 6-2.

Pettibone pitched well. Manuel put righties Mayberry and Frandsen in the lineup against a lefty and they combined to drive in three runs in the first four innings. Up two runs in the eighth with Mike Adams unavailable, Justin De Fratus and Jeremy Horst wriggled out of a jam with one out and runners on the corners.

Frandsen ended the day hitting 467/579/933 against lefties for the year after hitting 400/426/554 against them last year. He plays first base and second base for a team that can’t hit left-handed pitching, in large part because their first baseman and second baseman aren’t hitting left-handed pitching. 412/459/526 in his last 87 plate appearances against lefties going back to the start of 2012.

The Phillies are 19-21 on the year after beating the Cleveland Indians 6-2 last night. After 40 games the Phillies are in third place in the NL East, 3 1/2 games behind the first-place Braves. The’ve won three in a row.

Pettibone got the start for the Phillies and went 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a double. He struck out three.

Fifth start on the year for Pettibone. He still hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a start. He’s pitched into the seventh in two of his last three times out.

He set Cleveland down in order in the top of the first.

The Phillies led 1-0 when Nick Swisher singled softly to center to start the second and moved to third on a double by Carlos Santana. Mark Reynolds popped out to Frandsen at second for the first out before Michael Brantley singled to center, scoring both runners and putting Cleveland up 2-1. Pettibone struck Drew Stubbs and the pitcher Scott Kazmir both out swinging to leave Brantley at first.

Pettibone allowed two walks and hit a batter in the third, but got Mark Reynolds to pop to Frandsen to end the frame with the bases loaded.

Pettibone threw a 1-2-3 fourth and started the fifth with a 3-2 lead. He got the Indians in order in the fifth.

Swisher singled to left to start the sixth, but Santana grounded into a double-play behind him. Pettibone walked Reynolds before getting Brantley to foul out to Michael Young to set Cleveland down.

Pettibone started the seventh up 4-2 and got the first two hitters. Bastardo came in to pitch to the lefty Bourn and Bourn reached on a softly hit single, but Bastardo got Jason Kipnis on a ground ball to Frandsen to end the frame.

Bastardo was back to start the eighth with the Phils still up two runs. Switch-hitter Asdrubal Cabrera led off and tripled high off the wall in right-center. Bastardo got Swisher looking 1-2 for the first out before walking Santana to put runners on the corners for righty Mark Reynolds. Justin De Fratus came in to pitch to Reynolds and got him to pop to Galvis at second for the second out with the runners holding. Horst came in to pitch to the lefty Brantley and struck him out swinging to leave the runners stranded.

The Phillies figure out a way to get through the eighth with Adams still sidelined with lower back issues. De Fratus comes in with one out and runners on the corners and gets Reynolds on a pop-up. Worked great for the Phillies, but i don’t think that’s the formula for success. I think they would have been better off asking Papelbon to try and get five outs.

Bastardo faced five hitters in the game, allowing a walk, a single and a triple and getting two outs. It took a minor miracle for him not to be charged with runs. Opponents have hit .348 against him over his last eight appearances and he’s walked six in 5 2/3 innings.

De Fratus comes up huge in his second appearance of the season, getting Reynolds to pop out with one out and men on the corners. He’s faced two batters in two appearances for the year, striking out one and getting Reynolds to pop up in the other.

Horst also comes up big in the game, striking out the only batter he faces with two down and men on the corners. Lefties are still on-basing .429 against him for the season.

Cabrera’s ball hit off the top of the wall and rolled way away from Revere and into center.

Papelbon started the ninth with the Phils up 6-2. Stubbs led off and bunted for a single, but righty Mike Aviles hit for the pitcher Rich Hill and grounded into a double-play. Bourn grounded to Rollins to end the game.

Again it’s Papelbon in a non-save situation after the Phillies score two in the bottom of the eighth. The Phillies have won six of the last ten games he’s appeared in by four or more runs.

Papelbon allowed two runs in an inning in his first appearance of the year. Since then he’s allowed seven hits and a walk over 15 2/3 scoreless innings in 15 appearances.

Overall the pen goes two scoreless innings in the game, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out two. Bastardo threw 19 pitches in the game. Everyone else was under ten. There was an off-day on Monday, so nobody has pitched more than one day in a row.

The Phillie lineup against lefty Scott Kazmir went (1) Rollins (2) Frandsen (3) Michael Young (4) Howard (5) Delmon Young (6) Brown (7) Ruiz (8) Mayberry. Frandsen plays second with Utley on the bench. Mayberry in center against the lefty with Revere on the bench.

With one out in the bottom of the first, Frandsen hit a 1-2 pitch out to left, putting the Phils up 1-0. Michael Young followed with a walk, but Howard and Delmon Young went down behind him.

The Phillies were down 2-1 when they hit in the second. Mayberry singled with two outs, but Pettibone stuck out looking to leave him stranded.

Brown also hit the ball well leading off the inning, but Swisher made a nice play at first to take a hit away from him.

Through two innings, the righties that Manuel had inserted into the lineup (Mayberry and Frandsen) were 2-for-2 with the only hits for the Phils, a single and a home run.

Frandsen was hit by a pitch with one out in the third. Michael Young followed and hit a might-have-been double-play ball to short, but Kipnis’s throw to first wasn’t handled for an error that left Young at second with two down. Howard struck out to leave him stranded.

Young probably would have been safe at first even if the Kipnis throw had been handled there. But the error gives him an extra base.

Brown singled to center with one out in the third and moved up to second when Ruiz followed with a walk. They both scored when Mayberry doubled to the gap in left-center, putting the Phillies on top 3-2. Pettibone and Rollins went down on a pair of ground outs to leave Mayberry at second.

Three runs for the Phils in the game at that point with all three driven in by the righties put in the lineup with a lefty on the hill for Cleveland.

Frandsen was again hit by a pitch to start the fifth. Michael Young was next and hit a ball softly into center, which was caught by Bourn for the first out. Frandsen had misread it and was easily doubled off of first. Howard followed with a single, but was left at first when Delmon Young grounded to Kazmir to end the inning.

Assuming the Indians don’t get a double-play on the ball hit hard by Delmon Young and Brown still homers, the Frandsen base-running play costs the Phils two runs. Brown’s homer is a three-run shot that brings in Frandsen and Howard instead of a solo blast.

Brown led off the sixth and hit a 1-0 pitch from Kazmir out to left, putting the Phillies up 4-2. Righty Cody Allen took over for Kazmir and got Ruiz, Mayberry and Pettibone in order to end the inning.

Righty Bryan Shaw started the seventh. Rollins led off with a single and Frandsen bunted him to second with the first out. Michael Young grounded to short for the second out and Howard was walked intentionally, putting runners on the corners for Delmon Young. Young popped out to Swisher in to leave both men stranded.

Not a fan of the Frandsen bunt, even against a righty. Howard has walked nine times on the season and four of them have been intentional. 151 total plate appearances. If you take out the four times he was walked intentionally, that leaves him with five walks in 147 plate appearances, which is 3.4%.

Ruiz singled to center off of Shaw with one out in the ninth and took second on a wild pitch before Mayberry singled into center, scoring Ruiz to make it 5-2. Nix hit for Horst and lefty Rich Hill came in to pitch to Nix. Nix flew to center for the second out. Hill walked Rollins intentionally to pitch to Galvis and Galvis singled to left. Mayberry scored to make it 6-2, but Brantley threw Galvis out trying for second to end the inning.

Rollins is hitting 261/292/370 against lefties for the season. Walking him intentionally is a poor idea, even if it works.

Rollins was 1-for-4 with a walk in the game. He’s 8-for-his-last-25 with two doubles and a home run.

Frandsen was 1-for-1 with a home run. Kazmir hit him with pitches twice. 2-for-his-last-7 with two home runs. He made a base-running mistake in the fifth, getting doubled off of first.

Michael Young 0-for-3 with a walk. He’s 2-for-his-last-17 with two singles and five walks.

Howard 1-for-3 with a single and a walk. The single was softly hit to left field, but it did come off the lefty Kazmir. 2-for-his-last-22 with two singles, one walk, which was intentional and 11 strikeouts. 195/214/390 against lefties for the year.

Delmon Young 0-for-4 and left four men on base. He came into last night’s game 5-for-his-last-10. 1-for-16 at CBP so far.

Brown was 2-for-4 with his seventh home run. He also had a hit taken away by Swisher on a nice play in his first at-bat. 301/307/548 with five home runs over his last 75 plate appearances. One walk in his last 79 plate appearances. 238/300/386 against righties for the year and 314/328/600 against lefties.

Ruiz 1-for-3 with a walk. 5-for-his-last-14 with five singles.

Mayberry 3-for-4 with a double and three RBI.

Hamels (1-5, 4.18) faces righty Corey Kluber (2-2, 5.64) this afternoon. Hamels wasn’t good in either of his first two starts on the season, but has thrown to a 2.41 ERA since, holding opponents to a .186 average in those six outings. The Phils have scored ten runs in his last six starts and gone 1-5. Kluber started the year pitching in the pen for the Indians, then moved to rotation where both of his first two starts were pretty good. He came into his most recent start with a 3.06 ERA and allowed eight runs over 4 2/3 innings to the Tigers. Righties have hit .356 against him for the season.

Update: The Phillies have agreed to a minor league deal with 31-year-old right-handed pitcher Carlos Zambrano. Zambrano has not appeared in the majors in 2013 and went 7-10 with a 4.49 ERA and a 1.50 ratio in 35 appearances (20 starts) for the Marlins in 2012. He was pretty good as recently as 2010 when he threw to a 3.33 ERA over 129 2/3 innings for the Cubs in 36 appearances (20 starts). He walked 75 in 132 1/3 innings in 2012.

The Phillie rotation includes Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay these days, but Kyle Kendrick has clearly been the best starter of the group. Kendrick went seven strong innings last night as the Phils topped the Marlins 7-2.

Just about everybody thought it was a fluke when a 22-year-old Kendrick went 10-4 with a 3.87 ERA in 2007 and helped to pitch the Phillies into the playoffs. We might all want to reconsider. Kendrick is 28 now and he’s thrown to a 3.44 ERA over his last 46 starts going back to the start of 2011.

The Phillies, meanwhile, are having a lot of success against the Fish and the Mets and a whole lot less against everyone else. 8-2 against the Marlins and Mets and 5-14 against everyone else.

The Phillies are 13-16 on the year after beating the Miami Marlins 7-2 last night. The Phillies have won four of their last six.

Kendrick got the start for the Phillies and went seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks. Three of the hits went for extra-bases, a double, a triple and a home run. He struck out five.

Kendrick was charged with five runs in 5 2/3 innings in his first start of the season. Since then he’s made five starts in which he’s thrown to a 1.54 ERA with a 1.03 ratio. Opponents have hit .219 against him in those starts and the Phils have gone 4-1. Lefties are hitting 233/291/370 against him for the season.

Juan Pierre was the first batter of the game. He drew a walk and moved up to second when Donovan Solano singled to center. Pierre stole third before Placido Polanco hit into a double-play, scoring Pierre to make it 1-0 with the bases empty. Dobbs singled into left, but Kendrick retired Justin Ruggiano on a ground ball to short to end the frame.

Marcell Ozuna doubled with one out in the second, but Kendrick got the next two hitters to leave him stranded.

It was 1-1 when Kendrick started the third. Solano and Polanco singled back-to-back with one out, but Kendrick got Dobbs swinging for the second out. Ruggiano walked to load the bases, but Kendrick got Rob Brantley looking to leave them loaded.

Through three innings, Kendrick had allowed four singles, two walks, a double and a stolen base, but held Miami to a single run.

Adeiny Hechavarria tripled with one out in the fourth. The pitcher Alex Sanabia was next, though, and Kendrick got him on a ground ball to first with Hechavarria holding third for the second out. Pierre popped to Rollins to end the inning.

No run for the Fish after putting a man on third with one out.

The Phils led 2-1 when Kendrick set Miami down in order in the fifth. Solano smashed a ball back up the middle and off of Kendrick’s leg to start the frame, but Kendrick went after the ball quickly and threw to first to get the out.

Nice play by Kendrick. Solano hit the ball hard.

The Phils led 4-1 Ruggiano homered to center to start the sixth. 4-2. Kendrick retired the next three.

He set the Marlins down in order in the seventh. Lefty Chris Coghlan hit for the pitcher Jon Rauch and struck out looking for the first out.

Adams set Polanco, Dobbs and Ruggiano down in order in the eighth with the Phils still up by two.

Adams drops his ERA to 3.27 with the outing. He hasn’t allowed a hit or a walk over two innings in his last two appearances.

Papelbon started the ninth with a 7-2 lead after the Phils scored three in the bottom of the eighth and set the Marlins down in order.

Ideally, Papelbon wouldn’t be pitching in the ninth with a five-run lead no matter how many runs you score in the bottom of the eighth. The Phillies play ten more days in a row before their next off-day, which is on May 13.

Papelbon allowed two runs in an inning in his first appearance of the year. Since then he’s thrown nine scoreless innings in nine appearances.

Overall the pen went two scoreless innings in the game in which they struck out two and did not allow a hit or a walk. Adams threw 14 pitches and Papelbon eight. Neither of them has thrown more than one day in a row.

The Phillie lineup against righty Alex Sanabia went (1) Rollins (2) Utley (3) Michael Young (4) Howard (5) Delmon Young (6) Brown (7) Mayberry (8) Kratz. Revere on the bench with a swollen finger, so Mayberry plays center against the righty. Delmon Young makes his first appearance in right as a Phillie. Kratz catches.

Michael Young doubled to center with two outs in the bottom of the first and the Phils down 1-0. Howard struck out swinging to leave him stranded.

First extra-base hit for Young since April 10. He came into the game 19-for-his-last-63 (.302) with 19 singles.

Brown lined a homer out to right with one out in the second, tying the game at 1-1. Mayberry and Kratz went down behind him.

Kendrick dumped a soft single into center to start the third, but Rollins grounded into a double-play behind him and Utley struck out for the third out.

Howard homered to left with one out in the fourth, putting the Phils up 2-1. Brown delivered a two-out single later in the frame, but Mayberry flew to left to leave him at first.

Kratz walked to start the fifth and Kendrick bunted him to second with the first out. Rollins was next and hit a ball to second that Solano didn’t handle for an error, leaving the Phils with runners on the corners and one out for Utley. Utley flew to right, deep enough for Kratz to tag and score, putting the Phils up 3-1. Michael Young followed with a single, sending Rollins to third. With Howard at the plate, a passed ball scored Rollins (4-1) and moved Young up to second. Howard was walked intentionally and the righty Sanabia got the righty Delmon Young to ground to short to end the inning.

Marlins tally an error, a passed ball and an intentional walk in the frame and the Phillies gave them one out on a bunt. If they get an out on the ball booted by Solano they are out of the inning with no damage done.

Righty Jon Rauch walked Mayberry with one out in the sixth. Kratz struck out for the second out and Kendrick grounded to second to end the inning.

It was 4-2 when righty Tom Koehler set Rollins, Utley and Michael Young down in order in the seventh.

Koehler came back to start the eighth. He walked Howard and Nix back-to-back before Brown singled to left, scoring Howard to make it 5-2 with nobody out and runners on first and third. Mayberry was next and he went down on a ball handled by the pitcher for the first out with Brown moving up to second. With Kratz at the plate, a wild pitch scored Nix (6-2) and moved Brown up to third. Kratz singled into left and Brown scored. 7-2. Frandsen hit for Adams and grounded into a double-play to end the inning.

Not quite sure why the righty Koehler seemed like the right guy to use in a two-run game to face Howard, Nix and Brown to start the inning. Lefty Mike Dunn had thrown 17 pitches the day before. Whatever the reason, it didn’t work out well for Miami as all three of them reached to start the frame and the Phils went on to score three runs.

Rollins was 0-for-4 to drop his average to .243. 220/289/341 against righties.

Utley 0-for-3 with an RBI.

Michael Young 2-for-4 with a double. His UZR/150 at third base for the year is -0.3.

Howard 1-for-2 with two walks and a home run. One of the walks was intentional. He came into the game with three walks in 105 plate appearances for the season. He now has five, two of which are intentional.

Delmon Young 0-for-3. 2-for-9 with a home run on the season.

Brown 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. 12-for-his-last-31 with a walk, two doubles and two home runs (387/394/645).

Mayberry 0-for-3 with a walk. He has a huge opportunity to work his way into an everyday role with the Phillies willing to sit Revere, but things went real bad for him when he has a similar chance in 2012. The Phillies damage his value as a player when they play him in center — the more he plays center the more his overall value will decrease, cause he’s not very good there. He’s 5-for-his-last-35 at the plate (.143). His dWAR for the year as calculated by Baseball-Reference is -0.6. The Phillies have played less than a fifth of the season.

Kratz 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. He’s 7-for-his-last-26 with four walks and a home run (269/367/385).

Pettibone (1-1, 4.35) faces righty Ricky Nolasco (2-2, 3.82) tonight. Pettibone’s made two starts for the Phils and both have been okay. Opponents have hit .333 against him, but he’s done well to limit the walks, walking just two in 10 1/3 innings. Nolasco has allowed more than three runs in just one of his six starts. He faced the Phils on April 12 and held them to a run over six innings. The Phils won the game 3-1 when they scored two runs charged to Jon Rauch in the top of the tenth.

The Phillies couldn’t figure out 25-year-old lefty Jeff Locke last night. Locke came into the game with a career ERA of 5.67 and made the best start of his career, throwing six shutout innings as the Pirates beat the Phillies 2-0.

The Philiies put multiple runners on base in the first, second and fourth innings last night, but were unable to score. After the fourth inning they had two hits, both singles that came in the eighth.

Four of the eight position players the Phils started last night ended the day hitting under .230 for the season (Revere, Brown, Kratz and Galvis). Those four players have combined to post an on-base percentage of .261 over 259 plate appearances in 2013.

The Phillies have been shut out in three of their last eight games. In ten of their last 12 games they have scored three runs or less. They’re hitting 182/239/280 against left-handed pitching with a .520 OPS, which is 30th of 30 MLB teams. Their hitters batting number one in the order have a .272 on-base percentage for the season, which is 27th of 30 MLB teams. They are 12th in the NL in on-base percentage and 14th in walks. Only two NL teams have struck out more.

The Phillies are 9-12 on the season after losing 2-0 to the Pittsburgh Pirates last night. The teams have split the first two games of a four-game set.

Hamels got the start for the Phillies and went eight innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk. Four of the hits went for extra-bases, three doubles and a homer. He struck out six.

Third straight good start for Hamels. Over those three starts he has thrown to a 2.57 ERA with a 1.00 ratio and struck out 19 in 21 innings. The Phillies have scored a total of four runs in those games and gone 0-3.

Starling Marte led off the top of the first with a softly hit single to left and stole second. Jose Tabata went down on a ground ball to short before Andrew McCutchen hit a ball to Young that was mishandled for an error. It left runners on first and second with one out for Gaby Sanchez. Hamels struck Sanchez out for the second out and got Russell Martin on a fly ball to center to leave the runners stranded.

McCutchen’s ball was chopped to third. Young tried to backhand it and didn’t field it cleanly. Nice job by Hamels to work around the misplay after it put runners on first and second with one down.

Neil Walker led off the second with a ball hit hard to short that Rollins didn’t handle for another Phillie error. Hamels got the next three to set the Pirates down, with the help of a fantastic play by Young for the first out. Brandon Inge ripped a ball down the third base line, but Young made a diving stop, got to his feet and made a very strong throw to first in time to retire Inge.

Just an outstanding play by Young helps Hamels keep the Pirates off the board after the Rollins error to start the frame. I don’t recall seeing him making a throw like that before. Inge is slow, of course, but it was still rather impressive.

Marte doubled to left to start the third. Tabata and McCutchen went down behind him before a walk to Sanchez put men on first and second. Martin grounded to third to leave the runners stranded.

Neil Walker reached on an infield single to start the fourth. Inge was next and doubled off the base of the wall in right-center, scoring Walker to put the Pirates up 1-0. Clint Barmes was next and flew to center for the first out with Inge tagging and moving up to third. The pitcher Jeff Locke was next and grounded to short with Inge holding third and two down. Marte popped to Rollins to leave the runner stranded.

Walker’s ball to start the inning was chopped between third and short and not handled cleanly by Rollins. Rollins probably wouldn’t have been able to throw Walker out if he had handled it cleanly.

Sanchez doubled to left with two out in the fifth, but Hamels struck Martin out swinging to leave him there.

He struck out Walker, Inge and Barmes in a 1-2-3 sixth.

He set the Pirates down in order in the seventh. Lefty Travis Snider hit for the pitcher Locke and grounded to Hamels for the first out.

With one out in the eighth, Sanchez hit a 2-1 pitch out to right, putting the Pirates up 2-0. Martin followed with a single to left, but Hamels got the next two.

Aumont set the Pirates down in order in the ninth.

Aumont still hasn’t been charged with an earned run this season, but he has walked six in 6 1/3 innings over seven appearances.

One scoreless inning for the pen. Aumont threw seven pitches in the game.

The Phillie lineup against lefty Jeff Locke went (1) Rollins (2) Galvis (3) Young (4) Howard (5) Mayberry (6) Brown (7) Revere (8) Kratz. Utley on the bench against the lefty with Galvis playing second. Young moves up to third in the order with Mayberry hitting fifth.

Young walked with two outs in the bottom of the first. Howard was next and doubled to left-center, moving Young up to third. Mayberry grounded to second to leave both runners stranded.

The ball never got past the outfielders, so it was not a huge surprise that Young didn’t score as McCutchen got the ball in quickly. Nice hustle by Howard to get to second on the hit.

Howard doubles off of a lefty.

Revere reached on an error by Marte with one out in the second and Kratz walked behind him. Hamels bunted the runners up to second and third with the second out, but Rollins went down swinging to leave the runners stranded.

The Phils leave runners on second and third in each of the first two innings.

Young and Howard struck out in a 1-2-3 third.

Down 1-0, Mayberry led off the fourth with a triple to right. Brown was next and was hit by a pitch. The Pirates brought the infield in and Revere hit a ball to third with Mayberry thrown out at the plate. Kratz was next and grounded into a double-play to end the inning.

The Phillies went in order in the fifth and again in the sixth.

Lefty Tony Watson started the seventh for Pittsburgh and struck out Brown and Revere while setting the Phils down in order.

Righty Mark Melancon started the eighth. Nix hit for Hamels and singled to right. Rollins flew to right for the first out. Utley hit for Galvis and struck out swinging for the second. Young moved Nix up to second with a single to left, but Howard grounded to first to set the Phillies down.

Righty Jason Grilli set Mayberry, Brown and Revere down in order in the ninth with the Pirates up 2-0.

Rollins was 0-for-4 with a strikeout in the game. He’s on-basing .250 against lefties for the year after on-basing .281 against them in 2012 and .280 in 2011.

Galvis 0-for-3 to drop his average on the year to .226. He’s 0-for-his-last-11.

Young 1-for-3 with a walk and an error. Also made a fantastic defensive play in the second, which probably saved the Phillies a run. He has at least one hit in 14 straight games. 12-for-his-last-40 with 12 singles.

Howard 1-for-4 with a double and struck out twice. He’s 6-for-his-last-15. Doubled off of the lefty in the game, but he’s still hitting just 111/158/222 against lefties for the season.

Mayberry 1-for-4 with a triple. He’s 7-for-his-last-24 with four extra-base hits and ten strikeouts. His numbers are good so far against both righties and lefties — the Phillies should let him play a lot until they aren’t.

Brown 0-for-3 and struck out twice to drop his average to .206. He’s 2-for-his-last-21 with two singles.

Revere 0-for-4 and struck out twice. He’s 5-for-his-last-33.

Kratz 0-for-2 with a walk. He didn’t walk at all in his first 57 plate appearances and has two walks in his last seven.

Halladay (2-2, 6.04) faces lefty Wandy Rodriguez (2-0, 0.56) tonight. Halladay’s first two starts of the season were both terrible and his last two both good. Over his last two outings he’s thrown to a 1.80 ERA with an 0.67 ratio. Opponents have hit .143 against him and two of the three runs he’s allowed have come on solo homers. He walked six in 7 1/3 innings in his first two starts and has walked three over 15 in his last two. Three walks in 15 innings is 1.8 per nine innings, which is similar to his career walk rate of about 1.9 per nine innings. Rodriguez has been battling a hamstring problem that caused him to miss a recent start, but has been outstanding when he has pitched. He’s allowed a run on five hits and a walk in his 16 innings for the season. Opponents are 5-for-52 with a double against him for the year (096/145/115).

The Phillies lost again last night, falling 4-3 to the Cardinals as they dropped their fourth straight.

The Phils got a solid start from Cole Hamels and twice tied the game late, once at 2-2 in sixth and again at 3-3 in the seventh. Carlos Beltran homered off of Mike Adams in the eighth to put the Cards ahead again. The Phils failed to score in the ninth after putting runners on first and third with nobody out.

The Phillies have not scored more than three runs in a game in any of their last seven games, averaging 1.86 runs per game over those seven. They haven’t drawn a walk in the last four games.

Charlie Manuel started a switch-hitting backup infielder in left and a righty in right last night, leaving two left-handed outfielders on the bench against a right-handed starter for St Louis. He used one of the lefties on the bench to pinch-hit for the right-handed starting outfielder against a right-handed pitcher with two outs in the bottom of the eighth and the Phillies down a run. I’m having some trouble making sense of those decisions.

The Phillies are 6-10 on the year after losing 4-3 to the St Louis Cardinals last night. They have lost four in a row and five of six.

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

Hamels has been solid in his last two starts after allowing 13 runs in 10 2/3 innings over his first two starts to begin the season.

Carlos Beltran singled with one out in the top of the first, but was thrown out trying to steal as Matt Holliday struck out to set St Louis down.

Yadier Molina singled to right with one out in the second and moved up to second when David Freese followed with a walk. Hamels struck Jon Jay out looking before Molina and Freese pulled off a double-steal. Pete Kozma grounded to third to leave the runners stranded.

Hamels threw a 1-2-3 third.

He walked Holliday to start the fourth. Alan Craig was next and lined a ball to right. Mayberry slipped and it went for a double, which moved Holliday up to third. Molina followed and lined a ball into the right-field corner for another double, clearing the bases and putting St Louis up 2-0. Hamels struck out Freese and Jay behind Molina and got Kozma on a ground ball to Utley to leave Molina stranded.

Hamels set the Cardinals down in order in the fifth and again in the sixth.

It was 2-2 when Freese doubled to right to start the seventh. Jay bunted him up to third with the first out. Kozma was next and flew to right. Freese tagged and scored to put St Louis up 3-2. Hamels struck the pitcher Adam Wainwright out to end the frame.

Adams started the eighth with the game tied at 3-3. He struck Matt Carpenter out for the first out, but Beltran was next and he hit a 2-1 pitch out to left, putting the Cards up again at 4-3. Adams got Holliday on a ground out to short before Craig walked and moved up to second on a Molina single. Hamels got Freese swinging 2-2 to leave both runners stranded.

Adams faced six batters in the game, allowing a single, a walk and a home run while getting three outs. He’s allowed four hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings over his last two times out.

Papelbon threw a 1-2-3 ninth.

Papelbon has throw five scoreless innings over his last five appearances, allowing one hit and one walk.

Overall the pen goes two innings in the game, allowing a run on two hits and a walk. Adams threw 22 pitches and Papelbon 11.

The Phillie lineup against righty Adam Wainwright went (1) Rollins (2) Galvis (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Young (6) Mayberry (7) Revere (8) Kratz. Brown on the bench after hurting his back the previous day. Revere drops to seventh in the order with Rollins leading off. Galvis starts in left, making his first career appearance there, with Nix and Carrera on the bench. Mayberry in right against the righty. Freddy Galvis is a pretty atrocious guy to start in left. The lefties Nix and Carrera watch against a righty while the switch-hitting non-outfielder Galvis starts in left? Huh? That’s terrible. Freddy Galvis has 2,179 plate appearances in the minors and 223 career plate appearances in the majors. They’ve demonstrated he’s a really, really poor offensive player. He really shouldn’t be starting in left field for you. If you have two left-handed outfielders on your team that you don’t prefer to start in the outfield over a light-hitting utility infielder, you might want to consider replacing them.

Galvis singled to right with one out in the bottom of the first, but Utley hit into a double-play behind him.

Howard singled to start the second, but the Phillies went in order behind him.

The Phils went in order in the third.

Down 2-0, Utley singled with one out in the fourth and moved up to second on a single by Howard. Young grounded into a double-play to end the inning.

Second GDP for Young in two games and third in the last five.

The Phils went in order in the fifth.

They got back-to-back doubles from Rollins and Galvis with one out in the sixth, cutting the lead to 2-1. Utley followed Galvis’s double with a single into center that scored Galvis and tied the game at 2-2. Howard and Young both grounded out to set the Phillies down.

The Phillies trailed 3-2 when Mayberry led off the seventh and dribbled an infield single to third. Revere bunted Mayberry to second and Mayberry took third on a wild pitch. Kratz singled into left and Mayberry scored, tying the game at 3-3. With the righty Wainwright still pitching, Brown hit for Hamels and grounded to second for the second out. Rollins flew to right to leave Kratz stranded.

Big hit for Kratz, who has just had a miserable start to the season. He didn’t have an RBI in his last 25 at-bats coming into the game. Second hit of the game for Galvis drives in Rollins.

The Phils trailed 4-3 when righty Trevor Rosenthal started the bottom of the eighth for the Cards. Howard and Young singled back-to-back with two outs, putting men on first and second with one down for Mayberry. Carrera ran for Howard at second and righty Edward Mujica came in to pitch for St Louis. Nix hit for Mayberry and struck out swinging 0-2 to leave both runners stranded.

Huh? No, really. You want Nix hitting against a righty with the game on the line but Mayberry (and Galvis) starting against a righty? You want it enough to take Mayberry out of the game and put Carrera in it (Carrera took over in right in the ninth). I don’t get it.

Revere singled into center off of Mujica to start the ninth with the Phils still down a run. Kratz was next and moved Revere up to third with a soft single into right. Frandsen hit for Papelbon and grounded to short. It probably would have been a double-play ball, but Kozma didn’t handle it cleanly and then went to first to get one out. Revere was not going on contact and held third. It brought Rollins to the plate with one out and runners on second and third. Mujica struck him out swinging 2-2 for the second out. Lee ran for Kratz at second and Galvis grounded to second to end the game.

Second big hit for Kratz in the last three innings, but the Phillies don’t score after putting runners on first and third with nobody out. Huge strikeout for Rollins with one out and runners on second and third. Revere doesn’t score from third on the ground ball to short with nobody out.

Rollins was 1-for-5 in the game with an enormous strikeout in the ninth inning. He’s 2-for-his-last-23.

Galvis was 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. He’s 7-for-his-last-17 with two walks, a double and a home run. He’s a bad, bad, bad hitter, though. If you let him hit long enough, he’ll put up bad, bad, bad numbers.

Utley 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Howard 3-for-4. He’s 12-for-his-last-31 (.387).

Young was 1-for-4 and left four men on base. 7-for-his-last-24 with seven singles.

Mayberry 1-for-3. He has an impressive 286/394/536 line for the season.

Revere 1-for-3 with a big single to start the ninth. He’s on-basing .246 for the year without an extra-base hit. Still leads the team in plate appearances.

Kratz 2-for-4 with two big hits and an RBI. That’s the first multi-hit game of the season for Kratz.

Halladay (1-2, 7.63) faces lefty Jaime Garcia (1-0, 1.86) tonight. Halladay was terrible in his first two starts of the year before holding the Marlins to a run over eight innings in his most recent start. Garcia has been pretty good in all three of his starts this season. He’s walked nine in 19 1/3 innings, but opponents are hitting just .208 against him.

John Lannan is on the DL and could miss 6-8 weeks. Joe Savery has been called up.

Their season is only eight games old, but twice already the Phillies have needed a big start from Cliff Lee and twice he has delivered. Last night he gave the overworked middle relievers a break as he went 8 2/3 innings in an 8-3 win over the Mets.

After two starts, Lee is 2-0 with a 1.08 ERA and an 0.60 ratio. He has thrown 16 2/3 innings, striking out 14 and walking none. Righties are hitting .133 against him.

The offense delivered seven early runs, scoring four in the second before Howard, Young and Mayberry all hit solo home runs in the third. Mayberry started in right against a right-handed pitcher and had a big day, going 2-for-4 with three RBI. He’s 4-for-12 with three doubles, a home run and three walks against righties in the early going (333/467/833). Young tripled and homered, going 3-for-4 in the game and driving in a pair of runs.

The Phillies are 3-5 on the year after beating the New York Mets 8-3 last night. The teams have split the first two games of the three-game series.

Lee got the start for the Phillies and went 8 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits. Only two of the runs were earned. Three of the hits went for extra-bases, a double, a triple and a home run. He struck out six and didn’t walk a batter.

Daniel Murphy and John Buck both singled in the top of the first, but Lee got Marlon Byrd on a fly ball to center to leave two men stranded.

Lucas Duda singled to start the second, but Lee got Justin Turner to ground into a double-play behind him. Ruben Tejada flew to right for the third out.

Lee started the third up 4-0 and set the Mets down in order.

It was 7-0 when he started the fourth. David Wright led off and reached on a throwing error by Rollins, putting a man on for Buck. Buck hit the first pitch he saw from Lee out to right, cutting the lead to 7-2. Lee got the next three.

Second home run the opposite way for Buck in two games in the set. The error by Rollins ahead of the home run costs the Phils a run.

It was 8-2 when Jordany Valdespin tripled to center with one out in the fifth. Valdespin scored on a passed ball (8-3) before Lee struck out Collin Cowgill for the second out. Murphy doubled to right, but was left at second when Wright grounded to short.

Second miscue by the Phils on the passed ball by Kratz, although Valdespin would have scored from third on Murphy’s double anyway.

Lee set the Mets down in order in the sixth. Lefty Mike Baxter hit for the pitcher and struck out looking for the third out.

Lee needed seven pitches to set New York down in order in the seventh.

He struck out Murphy in a 1-2-3 eighth.

Byrd singled to right with one out in the ninth. Righty Anthony Recker hit for the pitcher Brandon Lyon and Lee struck him out looking for the second out. Turner was next and moved Byrd up to second with a single. Lee had thrown 106 pitches in the game and Manuel called on Adams to pitch to the righty Ruben Tejada. Tejada struck out looking 0-2 to end the game.

I thought it was a very good decision by Manuel to pull Lee when he did. The middle of the pen has been overused, but the guys at the back, Adams, Papelbon, Aumont and Bastardo, haven’t had a ton to do.

It was the third appearance of the year for Adams. He has struck out four in 2 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing one hit.

The Phillie lineup against righty Dillon Gee went (1) Revere (2) Rollins (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Young (6) Brown (7) Mayberry (8) Kratz. Kratz behind the plate after Quintero caught Halladay in game one of the set. Revere continues to lead off despite his slow start in combination with Rollins hitting well. Mayberry starts in right against the righty with Nix on the bench.

The Phillies went in order in the bottom of the first.

Young and Brown singled back-to-back with one out in the second. Brown’s ball was hit softly to left. The throw went to third and hit Young, allowing Brown to move up to second. Mayberry cleared the bases with a double down the third base line. 2-0. Kratz grounded to third for the second out before Lee singled into center, scoring Mayberry to put the Phils up 3-0. Revere moved Lee up to second with a single before Rollins doubled into the right field corner. Lee scored (4-0) and Revere moved up to third. Utley flew to left to leave the runners at second and third.

Very nice hustle on the bases by both Young and Brown on Brown’s single. Young took third on the single and Brown ran hard to take the extra-base when Duda’s throw hit Young.

Revere doesn’t score from first on the two-out double by Rollins.

Howard led off the third and hit a 1-1 pitch out to left-center. 5-0. Young was next and hit the first pitch he saw out the opposite way. 6-0. Brown flew to left for the first out before Mayberry lined a 1-0 pitch out to left. 7-0. Kratz singled, but Lee and Revere went down to leave him stranded.

Quite an inning as Howard, Young and Mayberry all put home run number one for the season on the board. All three go after Gee early in the count. Howard and Young hit the ball out the opposite way and Mayberry pulls his down the line.

Righty Glen Burke was on the mound for the Mets when the Phils hit in the fourth with their lead cut to 7-1. Utley walked with one out. Howard lined to Tejada for the second out before Utley stole second. It brought Young to the plate and he tripled to center, scoring Utley to make it 8-1. Brown grounded to short for the third out.

Young was again aggressive on the bases as he went for three. The Mets probably would have had him with a good relay to third. They didn’t get one.

It was 8-3 when Burke set the Phillies down in order in the fifth.

Utley walked off of lefty Scott Rice with two outs in the sixth, stole second and took third on a throwing error. Howard struck out swinging to leave him at third.

Righty Latroy Hawkins set Young, Brown and Mayberry down in order in the seventh.

Brown is 5-for-25 against righties on the season.

Righty Brandon Lyon set Kratz, Lee and Revere down in order in the eighth. Lee hit for himself having thrown 96 pitches in the game.

Revere was 1-for-5 in the game. He’s hitting .229 without an extra-base hit.

Rollins 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI. He made a throwing error in front of the Buck home run that cost the Phils a run. 8-for-25 with two walks and four extra-base hits against righties (320/370/560).

Utley 0-for-2 with two walks and two stolen bases.

Howard 1-for-4 with a strikeout and his first home run. 161/206/258 on the year in 34 plate appearances.

Young 3-for-4 with a triple and a home run. 7-for-his-last-13 with three extra-base hits.

Brown 1-for-4 with a bloop single and a strikeout. 2-for-his-last-15 with two singles and no walks.

Mayberry gets the start against the righty Gee and delivers two extra-base hits off of him, going 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBI in the game.

Kratz 1-for-4 with a strikeout and a passed ball. He’s on-basing .192 with eight strikeouts in 26 plate appearances.

Kendrick (0-1, 7.94) faces righty Jeremy Hefner (0-1, 1.50) tonight. Kendrick pitched better than his line against the Royals in his first start, throwing four scoreless innings to start the game before allowing a two-run single in the fifth. With two outs in the fifth and two men on he was asked to walk Billy Butler intentionally and was then pulled from the game. Horst took over and allowed a three-run triple to Alex Gordon with all three runs charged to Kendrick. Hefner allowed a run to the Marlins over six innings in his first outing of the year.

Former Phil Shane Victorino delivered the big blow last night, a three-run triple off of Michael Stutes in the bottom of the seventh, as Boston topped the Phils 6-1.

Stutes was charged with five runs in 2/3 of an inning in the game, upping his spring ERA to 9.35. He has allowed seven walks in 8 2/3 innings. It all makes it pretty tough for me to see the Phils giving him a spot in the pen to start the year, but I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

With Revere and Rollins both in the starting lineup for the Phils, Revere led off with Rollins hitting third. The one run the Phillies scored in the game came in the top of the first. Pete Orr singled with one out, stole second, moved to third on popup that went for an unfielded double by Rollins and scored on a Michale Young ground out.

Rollins was 1-for-3 with an unlikely double. He’s 4-for-15 (.267) with two doubles.

Revere 0-for-3 to drop his line to 313/343/391.

Ruf 1-for-2 with a double in what I assume is a too-little-too-late effort. 226/305/396 with hide-your-eyes ugly defense in left. Ruf and Mayberry have both been terrible this spring.

Mayberry started at first and went 0-for-4 to drop his line to 218/283/309. If Mayberry could have played himself out of his roster spot this spring I think he did. I don’t think it’s likely he could have, though, given the combination of how thin the Phillies are in the outfield and the degree to which Ruf has looked unusable out there.

Galvis started at second and went 2-for-3 with a triple. 288/311/559. He has a team-high ten extra-base hits — six doubles, two triples and two home runs, in 62 official plate appearances. Not quite as much power as Brown and Howard have shown this spring, but a whole lot closer than most would have guessed. Brown’s isolated power this spring is .317, Howard’s .316 and Galvis’s .271. Galvis’s isolated power in 2,179 plate appearances in the minor leagues is .075.

Nix 1-for-2 with a double to up his line to 250/283/364. He’s had a better spring than that, but some of his success has come in games that don’t count as official spring action.

Young 0-for-3 with an RBI to drop his line to 262/292/361. He started real slow, got real hot and now has cooled again.

Mitchell and Iciarte both went 0-for-1 in the game. Incirate’s line is at 238/360/286 in 21 at-bats. Mitchell is hitting 318/375/682 in 22 at-bats.

Carlos Ruiz left the game in the ninth inning with a bruised hand after being hit by a pitch.

Hamels started the game for the Phillies and allowed a run on four hits and two walks over six innings. The run came in the bottom of the second when a leadoff double by Will Middlebrooks was followed by a single that moved Middlebrooks up to third. He scored on a sac fly.

In the sixth inning, Hamels struck Victorino out looking at a beautiful 0-2 curve ball. Still think Victorino takes the day overall, though, what with winning the game for the Red Sox and whatnot.

Hamels has a 1.13 ERA and an 0.81 ratio in official spring action. Opponents are hitting .182 against him and he hasn’t allowed a home run in 16 innings. He got hammered in a start against the Dominican Republic WBC team in an unofficial game.

Stutes started the seventh, got hit real hard, and didn’t finish the frame. He was charged with five runs over 2/3 of an inning on one hit and three walks. He got the first two batters he faced in the inning, then walked three of the next four before Victorino hit a three-run triple. Stutes was replaced by righty Mike Nesseth, who threw to a 2.95 ERA in 76 1/3 innings between Lakewood and Clearwater last year, with two outs and a man on third. Nesseth allowed a double to Dustin Pedroia, scoring Victorino with the run charged to Stutes.

Stutes’s ERA is up to 9.35 after being charged with five runs in 2/3 of an inning.

Horst pitched the eighth. He allowed a one-out single, which was followed by an inning-ending double-play.

Horst drops his ERA to 6.35 and his ratio to 1.32. He’s pitched well after a very ugly start and seems to me to be a lock for the pen.

Adam Morgan is expected to pitch this afternoon when the Phils face the Braves.

Halladay will start in a minor league game tomorrow. The linked article also says that Delmon Young worked out in the outfield and is still likely to miss at least the first month of the season.