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The Phillies didn’t pitch, hit, field or avoid being ejected for arguing balls and strikes while in the outfield well this weekend and the Fish swept them in a three-game set. The Phils are 2-6 in August and have won three of their last 11 games.

They are 61-48 on the season after losing three in a row to the Florida Marlins in Philadelphia. The Phils are in first place in the NL East and the second-place Marlins by four games. The Braves are in third and trail the Phils by 4 1/2 games.

The Marlins won game one 3-2. The Fish got a home run from form Nick Johnson and a pair of doubles in the first off of Blanton to put them up 2-0. Cody Ross hit a solo shot in the second to make it 3-0, which was how it stayed until the Phillies hit in the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh Francisco got the Phils on the board and within a run with a two-run homer. The Phils had a chance in the eighth when they put two men on with one out, but Howard struck out and Ibanez grounded to second. They went in order in the ninth.

Hamels had another uninspiring start in the second game and the Phillies lost 6-4. The Phillies got a pair of runs in the bottom of the second to go up 2-1, but the Marlins loaded the bases in the top of the third on a single and two walks and then tied the game at 2-2 with an RBI ground out from Hanley Ramirez. Two errors from the Fish in the bottom of the third helped put the Phils up 3-2, which was how the score stayed until Cody Ross hit a two-run homer off of Hamels in the sixth to put Florida up 4-3. Florida extended the lead to 6-3 with two runs charged to Park in the eighth. A leadoff triple from Victorino in the bottom of the ninth helped the Phils score another run, but it wasn’t enough — Werth and Ibanez both came to the plate as the tying run and both flew out.

The Marlins completed the sweep yesterday with a 12-3 win. Moyer got the start and didn’t pitch that terribly, allowing three runs over five innings. Lopez and Lidge did, though. Lopez was charged with six runs in the seventh and only managed to get two outs. Lidge allowed three runs in the ninth. Shane Victorino was ejected in the seventh inning for arguing balls and strikes, which is notable mostly because he was in center field at the time. Werth replaced him in center and made a big error, one of three on the day for the Phils. It didn’t cost them nine runs, though.

The Phillies got terrible pitching in the series. Overall the pitchers threw to a 6.67 ERA and a 1.85 ratio. In 27 innings they allowed five home runs, 39 hits and 11 walks.

The starting pitching was bad, but not quite as bad as the bullpen. Blanton has the best start of the trio that included himself, Hamels and Moyer. As a group the three threw to a 4.76 ERA with a 1.76 ratio. In 17 innings they allowed four home runs, two off of Blanton and two off of Hamels, 24 hits and six walks. Moyer allowed 11 hits in the five innings he pitched.

Blanton gave up three early runs in game one but pitched pretty well. He allowed three runs on eight hits and a walk over 6 2/3 innings. Blanton allowed two home runs in the game. He allowed more than one home run in a game in five of his first 13 starts on the season but hadn’t for seven straight outings. He still hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a start in his last eight times out.

Hamels went 5 1/3 innings in game two, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks. He’s allowed 11 runs in 10 1/3 innings in his last two starts. He walked six in those two outings combined — he hasn’t walked more than six hitters in any month this season.

Moyer allowed 11 hits and a walk over five innings in game three, but was charged with just three runs. Only two of the runs were earned. Two bad starts in a row for Moyer, he’s allowed nine runs on 17 hits and five walks over ten innings in his last two starts.

The relievers were okay in the first two games. Park gave up two runs in two innings in the second game. They got blasted yesterday, though, as Lidge and Lopez were charged with nine runs in three frames. As a group the pen threw to a 9.90 ERA with a 2.00 ratio over ten innings in the three games. They gave up just one home run, which Wes Helms hit off of Lidge yesterday, but gave up 15 hits and five walks over ten innings.

Eyre came into game one in the ninth inning with one out, the bases empty and the Phils down 3-2. He gave up a double to the first man he faced but got the next two hitters.

He also pitched the eighth inning yesterday. He pitched the eighth with the Phillies down 9-3 and allowed a two-out single but kept Florida off the board.

Eyre has been charged with two runs in over 20 1/3 innings in his 26 appearances since the end of April.

Park relieved Blanton in game one in the top of the seventh with two outs, men on first and second and the Phils down 3-2. He gave up a single to right by Hanley Ramirez, but Ben Francisco threw Chris Coghlan out at the plate to end the inning.

He also pitched in game two, entering in the seventh inning with the Phillies down 4-3. He hit a batter with one out, which was followed by a single. He got Jorge Cantu to hit into a double-play to end the inning. He came back for the eighth inning and got the first two hitters before Florida put together four singles in a row, plating two runs to make it 6-3. Again he got an out on the bases, ending the frame when Werth threw Jeremy Hermida out at third.

After allowing two runs in two innings in game two, Park has been charged with four runs in 17 2/3 innings since the end of June.

Lopez started the seventh yesterday with the Phils down 3-1. He had a miserable outing that allowed the Marlins to blow the game open. He faced eight hitters and was charged with six runs on three walks, two doubles and a single.

Kendrick started the ninth inning of game two with the Phillies down 6-3. He gave up a leadoff walk, but got the next hitter to hit into a double-play and Cantu to fly to left for the third out.

He also pitched in yesterday’s game, entering with two outs in the seventh, a man on second and the Phils down 8-1. He allowed an RBI-single to Cantu before getting Wes Helms on a popup to end the frame.

Walker entered game two in the top of the sixth with a man on first, one out and the Phillies down 4-3. He got the only two men he faced to end the frame and leave the runner stranded.

He took over for Moyer in the sixth inning yesterday with nobody out, men on first and second and the Phillies down 3-1. He set down the three hitters he faced to leave the runners stranded.

He has a 2.50 ERA and a 1.06 ratio in 16 games on the year. He hasn’t allowed a hit or a walk over three innings in four August appearances.

Madson pitched the eighth inning of game one with the Phils down 3-2. He set the Marlins down in order. He came back to get the first out of the ninth before Eyre came in to pitch to lefty John Baker.

Lidge pitched the ninth inning yesterday, starting the frame with the Phils down 9-3. He allowed three runs on a leadoff double, a one-out RBI-single and a two-run homer by Helms with two outs. He got Ross to pop to short for the third out.

His ERA for the year is up to 7.24.

The Phillies scored nine runs in the three-game set.

Rollins was 3-for-13 in the series. He’s hitting 244/292/405 for the year.

Victorino was 2-for-8 with a triple and a walk in the series. 312/377/467 for the year. 5-for-his-last-25. He was ejected in game three and didn’t start game one. Werth played center in game one with Francisco in right.

Utley was 1-for-10 with three walks and five strikeouts. 294/415/529. 5-for-his-last-30 with a double. 148/273/185 in August.

Howard was 5-for-11 with a walk and three doubles. 263/344/522. He’s walked once in August.

Ibanez was 3-for-12 with three singles and a walk. 302/367/612. He’s driven in one run in his last 39 at-bats.

Werth didn’t start yesterday’s game with Dobbs in right. 0-for-9 with a walk and four strikeouts. 262/370/490. 185/241/296 in August.

Feliz was on the bench in game one with Dobbs at third. 2-for-8 with a double and a home run in the series. 286/332/405 on the year. Hasn’t drawn a walk in August.

Ruiz started the first two games of the series and went 1-for-6 with a single and a walk. 230/327/374 on the year.

Bako started yesterday’s game and went 0-for-2 in the series. 189/246/283 on the season.

Bruntlett was 0-for-1 in the set to drop his line on the year to 131/200/202. There are 412 players in the NL and AL combined who have gotten at least 75 plate appearances this season — Bruntlett’s .402 OPS is 412th. He’s 412th in average, 411th in on-base percentage and 410th in slugging.

Francisco started game one in right and hit a two-run homer and threw a runner out at the plate. 1-for-6 with a home run in the series. 278/333/556 in 18 at-bats with the Phillies.

Dobbs started both of the game in which the Fish threw a righty. He started at third in game one and in right in game three. I think that’s a pretty good idea. Dobbs was 2-for-7 in the series and is hitting 256/306/414 for the year.

Stairs was 0-for-2 in the series and is at 221/368/403 on the season. Since April 24 he’s hit 209/369/328 in 67 at-bats.

Romero will have an MRI today. Sounds like we shouldn’t expect him for a while.

The Phillies didn’t get Roy Halladay, but the contributions they are getting from the guy they didn’t trade for him and the guy they traded for instead sure make it look like they made the right decision. Superb starts from JA Happ and Cliff Lee led the way in Philadelphia as the Phils took two of three from the Rockies. In the last two games of the set Lee and Happ combined to throw 16 innings in which they allowed one run and struck out 19.

Joining Lee and Happ in leading the Phillies is the suddenly surging Jimmy Rollins. Rollins has sprung to life after a miserable start to the season. He is hitting 336/392/619 in 148 plate appearances since July 2 and led the offense against Colorado.

The Phils are 61-45 on the year after taking two of three from the Colorado Rockies in Philadelphia. They are in first place in the NL East and lead the second-place Marlins by seven games and the third-place Braves by 7 1/2. They have the second-best winning percentage in the NL behind the Dodgers. LA is 67-42 with a .615 winning percentage, which is better than the Phillies’ .575. In the American League the Yankees, Red Sox and Angels have played to a better winning percentage than the Phillies.

The Phillies lost the first game of the series 8-3. Garrett Atkins put the Rocks up 2-0 with a two-run homer off of Moyer in the second. Colorado added another pair of runs in the fourth before a two-run shot from Rollins in the bottom of the fifth got the Phils on the board at 4-2. Things blew up in the sixth, though, as Moyer and Lopez, a new addition to the pen with the arrival of Cliff Lee, were touched up for four runs that extended the Rockies lead to 8-2.

JA Happ was brilliant in game two and the Phillies rode his complete-game shutout to a 7-0 win. Feliz, Rollins and Werth all homered before the end of the fifth inning and the blasts drove in six of the Phillies runs. Happ was in control the whole game, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out a career-high ten.

It was Cliff Lee being brilliant yesterday for the Phils. Lee struck out nine while holding the Rockies to a single run over seven innings and the Phillies won 3-1. Dexter Fowler led off the game with a double in and came around to score to give Colorado an early 1-0, but Colorado wouldn’t get any more. Rollins went 3-for-4 with a double and a triple and scored two runs to lead the Phillies offense. Bako hit his first home run of the year, a solo shot off of Aaron Cook in the bottom of the fifth.

The Phillies got outstanding pitching in the series. They allowed nine runs over three games, six of which were charged to Moyer in game one. Overall they threw to a 3.00 ERA with a 1.11 ratio. They allowed just one home run, which Atkins hit off of Moyer. They allowed just 23 hits in 27 innings while striking out 27.

They got two fantastic starts in the set from Happ and Lee. Moyer struggled in his outing. As a group the starters went 21 innings with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.10 ratio.

Moyer was hit hard in game one. He went five innings, allowing six runs on six hits and four walks. He has had a miserable season and it’s hurting the Phillies. He didn’t get much help from Lopez in this game — Moyer walked the only two men he faced in the sixth before leaving the game and both of them would come around to score. He’s coming off of his best month of the year, a July in which he went 4-1 with a 3.80 ERA and a 1.27 ratio. His first start of August was an ugly one, though, and he’s now thrown to a 5.55 ERA for the season with a 1.47 ratio. He’s also not going deep into games. Despite the fact that he’s coming off of his best month of the year he still hasn’t gotten an out in the sixth inning in four of his last seven starts.

Happ was awesome in game two. He threw a complete game shutout, allowing two singles, two doubles and a pair of walks. He struck out ten, but also threw a career-high 127 pitches in the game. He has a 2.80 ERA and a 1.14 ratio in 14 starts with the Phillies this year.

Lee was almost as good in game two. He allowed one run over seven innings on five singles, a double and a walk. He struck out nine. Each of his first two starts have been fantastic. He’s 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA and an 0.81 ratio in two outings with the Phillies. He got seven wins in 22 starts with the Indians this season, but it hasn’t been the Phillies offense powering him to victories. The Phillies have scored eight runs in his two starts.

The bullpen threw just six innings in the three-game set. Lopez had a weak outing in relief of Moyer in game two and was charged with the only two runs that they allowed. As a group they threw to a 3.00 ERA with a 1.17 ratio in the three games. They didn’t walk a batter in the series. Besides Lopez, the only three relievers to pitch were Walker, Madson and Lidge and all three fared well.

Eyre did not pitch in the series.

Lopez entered game one in the sixth inning, making his first relief appearance of the year. He came in with nobody out and men on first and second, the Phillies down 4-2. He got a ground out for the first out of the inning before Atkins cleared the bases with a two-run double that made it 6-2. Chris Ianetta followed with an RBI-single. 7-2. The pitcher Jason Hammel followed with a single of his own before Dexter Fowler delivered an RBI-double that made it 8-2. Lopez got a fly ball to end the inning. He came back to pitch the seventh and allowed a one-out single but got the next two.

Lopez has been effective pitching in relief over his career. In 27 relief appearances he has a 3.14 ERA and a 1.24 ratio over 63 innings (4.88 ERA with a 1.42 ratio in 166 career starts). Not a ton of appearances, but I don’t think the idea of pitching him out of the pen is ridiculous. Having all three of him, Kendrick and Park in the pen at the same time is getting a little close to ridiculous, though.

Kendrick did not pitch in the series.

Park did not pitch in the series.

Walker pitched the eighth inning of game one with the Phillies down 8-3. He set Colorado down in order.

Madson pitched the eighth inning of game three yesterday with the Phillies up 3-1. He gave up a leadoff single but struck the next batter out and then got a double-play.

Again, it’s great to see Madson pitching less regularly recently. The Phillies are obviously going to need him before it’s over, but they don’t need him pitching every day now. He’s made two appearances this week after making one last week.

Lidge pitched the ninth inning of game one with the Phillies losing 8-3. He got two ground outs and a popup in a perfect frame.

He also pitched yesterday in game three, entering in the ninth to protect a 3-1 lead. He gave up a two-out single to Brad Hawpe, which brought pinch-hitter Ian Stewart to the plate as they tying run. Lidge struck Stewart out on three pitches to end the game and earn his 21st save on the year.

Encouraging developments from Lidge. He has been charged with one or more runs in just one of his last five appearances. In the outing that he did give up runs he was pitching for the third straight day. 3.60 ERA with an 0.80 ratio over five innings in his last five appearances.

Seven guys in the bullpen for the Phils. Three of them, Kendrick, Park and Lopez, can start and two of them are pitchers who have primarily been starters over their career.

Nobody in the pen has appeared more than one day in a row and neither Madson or Lidge threw more than 20 pitches yesterday.

The Phillies scored 13 runs in the three-game series.

Rollins was 6-for-14 with a double, a triple and two home runs in the series to raise his line on the year to 245/294/410. After going 1-for-5 with a home run in game two he was slugging .400 — it was the first time on the year that his slugging had been at .400 or better. He had 24 total bases in all of April and 28 in all of June. So far in August he has 21.

Victorino was 3-for-12 with a double in the series. He’s hitting 313/378/467 on the season.

Utley was 2-for-9 with a double in the series. 299/418/541 on the year. He’s 4-for-his-last-20 with a double.

Howard was 1-for-12 in the set. 2-for-20 with two singles in August. 258/341/516 on the year.

Ibanez was 4-for-10 with two doubles and a walk in the series. 304/369/626 for the year. Since May 30 he has hit just 257/321/534, but most of that is due to struggles June. He went on the DL in the middle of June, but before he did he had hit 254/299/571 for the month. He came back and appeared in his first game back on July 11. From July 11 to now he has hit 276/360/526.

Werth was 2-for-11 with a home run. Not a great series for Werth, but the home run was a big one. The three-run blast in game two opened up a big lead for the Phils. 268/376/501 on the year. He’s off walks apparently. He has walked once in his last 37 plate appearances. In his 132 plate appearances prior he had walked 32 times.

Feliz was 2-for-10 with a home run. 287/333/397 for the season. He’s 5-for-his-last-30.

Ruiz started the first two games of the series and went 3-for-7 with two doubles. 231/328/380 on the year.

Bako started yesterday and went 2-for-3 with a home run. His line is at 196/255/294 for the year. Bako hit six home runs in 299 at-bats for the Reds last year. Six is his career-high.

Francisco walked in both of his plate appearances in the series. He’s 4-for-12 with two walks since joining the Phillies.

Bruntlett didn’t play in the series. 133/202/205 for the year.

Dobbs was 0-for-1 in the series to drop his line on the year to 254/297/421. I think the Phillies should be looking for chances to play Dobbs more regularly — it looks to me like the way to do that would be at third against some right-handed pitchers. Ibanez didn’t get an at-bat for the Phils between June 18 and July 10. During that time period Dobbs got 51 plate appearances in which he hit 396/412/667 with three home runs. He hit 172/246/310 in 65 plate appearances before June 18 and has hit 150/182/150 in 22 plate appearances since July 11.

Stairs was 0-for-1 in the series to drop his line on the year to 227/376/413. He’s appeared in 13 games defensively for the Phils and been on the roster all season. That’s a big investment in Stairs, presumably for a small number of critical at-bats down the stretch and in the playoffs.

This suggests that Happ will not lose his spot in the rotation to Pedro Martinez. It also considers the possibility that the Phillies could go with a six-man rotation. I would be surprised if that happened and even more surprised if it happened with Kendrick, Lopez and Park still on the roster. Maybe the Phils could go with nine starters in a 12-man pitching staff. Perhaps Hamels or Moyer will develop a blister.

Encouraging news about Durbin, Myers and Romero in this article. Durbin appears to be the player of the group whose return will come first with Romero not too far behind.

The Phillies have gone 59-45 in their first 104 games of the season. As you could no doubt guess, their starting pitchers have pitched much better in the games that they’ve won than in the games that they’ve lost. Here are the ERA, ratio and average Game Score for the Phillies starting pitchers for this year in games they won and in games they’ve lost (nothing in this post includes results from last night’s games):

So in the 59 games that the Phillies have won their starting pitchers have thrown to a 3.78 ERA with a 1.22 ratio and an average Game Score of 53.4.

For each of the ten Phillies pitchers who have made at least one start this season, here’s how many starts they have made and how many of those starts they have thrown to an ERA of 3.78 or better, a ratio of 1.22 or better or a Game Score of 53.4 or better:

Even before Happ made his best start of the season last night, he and Blanton had accounted for a large number of the team’s starts when the pitcher threw to all three of an ERA of 3.78 or better, a ratio of 1.22 or better and a Game Score of 53.4 or better. Happ and Blanton had combined to do it 16 times in 33 starts, which is about 48.5% of the time. The other starters on the team combined to make 71 starts and do it 18 times (25.3% of the time).

Finally, it’s a good a time as any to remind that the starting pitching was absolutely atrocious early in the season. As you can see in the table above the Phillies have had a starting pitcher throw to an ERA of 3.78 or better in 46 of their 104 starts and that’s 44.2% of the games. They did it twice in their first 22 games on the year (9.1% of the time). They didn’t have a single start on the year in which the starting pitcher both threw to an ERA that was better than 3.78 and a ratio that was 1.22 or better until the 23rd game of the season. On that day Blanton wasn’t fantastic, but he allowed a run on four hits and a walk over six innings as the Phils beat the Cardinals 6-1. After that day, May 4, they did it four times in the next seven games.

Pedro Martinez struck out 11 in six innings in a start from Double-A Reading yesterday.

Durbin pitched well for Clearwater last night. Romero and Durbin are both expected to make rehab appearances tomorrow.

The Phillies fantastic run was sure to come to an end sooner or later. And now it has. The Phils looked tired this weekend and yesterday they played for the fifteenth straight day. The Giants beat them three times in four games and the Phils have now lost four of five.

Despite the number of days in a row the Phillies have had to play without a break, it hasn’t been the pen that’s let them down in their recent funk. The bullpen wasn’t charged with a single run in San Francisco. The Phils got to start their three best starters in the four games against the Giants and still managed just one win. Two of them, Lee and Blanton, pitched great. But Blanton simply outgreatended by Tim Lincecum and Hamels got hit hard yesterday. Instead of the pen it has been the offense and fielding that both look tired. The Phils have scored just 14 runs over their last six games. They made three errors in the first game against the Giants, which makes it hard to win. Ryan Howard added a key miscue on a flip to Hamels in yesterday’s game.

The Phillies are 59-44 on the season after losing three of four to the Giants in San Francisco. They are in first place in the NL East, five games ahead of the second-place Marlins and seven ahead of the third-place Braves.

The Phillies lost the first game 7-2. Lopez didn’t pitch well and three errors from the Phillies didn’t help at all. Howard put the Phillies up 1-0 with an RBI-double in the first, but the Giants jumped on top 2-1 in the bottom of the inning. Pablo Sandoval made it 3-1 with a homer off of Lopez in the third. San Francisco blew it open with four more in the fourth, an inning that featured a two-run double from Sandoval. Kendrick and Walker both pitched well in relief for the Phils, combing to go four scoreless innings. Utley hit a solo homer in the sixth to get the Phils to within 7-2, but the Phillies couldn’t get any closer.

Cliff Lee made a brilliant debut as a Phillie in game two. He allowed a run on four hits while throwing a complete game. The Phillies won 5-1. Werth put the Phils up 1-0 with a solo homer in the second, which was how it stayed still the top of the seventh. The Phils scored three in the seventh on three walks, a hit batter and a single by Werth to pull ahead 4-0. Lee himself led off the eighth with a double and came in to score on a sac fly from Francisco to make it 5-0. Aaron Rowand led off the bottom of the eighth with a double that led to the Giants only run of the game.

Blanton was great in game three, but not quite as great as Tim Lincecum. Lincecum held the Phillies down over eight shutout innings and the Giants won 2-0 thanks to two sac flies from Juan Uribe.

Hamels took a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the fifth yesterday, but the Giants scored three in the fifth and three more in the sixth on their way to a 7-3 win. An RBI-triple by Aaron Rowand put San Francisco up 1-0 in the bottom of the second. The Phils jumped on top 2-1 in the fourth and extended the lead to 3-1 with another run in the top of the fifth. Hamels got the first two outs in the fifth without a problem before it all fell apart for him. Pitcher Barry Zito started a two-out rally for the Giants that went single-single-double-single and had the Giants pulling ahead 4-3. Hamels came back to start the bottom of the sixth and faced four more batters, all who reached base. Park did a pretty nice job coming into the inning with the bases loaded and nobody out, but did allow a single which plated two more runs charged to Hamels and made it 7-3.

The Phillies pitched pretty well in the series overall. In 33 innings they threw to a 3.27 ERA with a 1.30 ratio. They allowed 17 runs in 33 innings — all 17 were charged to a starting pitcher and five of the 17 were unearned. They allowed just one home run in four games.

The starters weren’t as good as the pen. Lee and Blanton were fantastic in the middle two games while Lopez and Hamels struggled in games one and four. Overall the starters tossed 25 innings with a 4.32 ERA and a 1.40 ratio. They allowed five unearned runs — if those runs had been earned their ERA would have been 6.12 instead of 4.32. Sandoval homered off of Lopez in game one, which was the only home run they allowed.

Lopez struggled in game one. He went just four innings and allowed seven runs on eight hits and two walks. Only four of the runs were earned. He has a 3.62 ERA on his five starts for the season but with an ugly 1.54 ratio. He has allowed 34 hits in 27 1/3 innings.

Lee was awesome in game two. He threw a complete game, allowing a run on four hits and a walk while striking out two. It made a nice break for the bullpen, too, as the Phillies were playing for the thirteenth straight day and were scheduled to play two more days in a row before getting a day off.

Blanton went seven innings in game three, allowing two runs on six singles and a double. He lowered his ERA on the year to 4.02.

Hamels was great for 5 2/3 innings yesterday, but then eight of the last nine men he faced reached base and it helped the Giants scored six runs. He allowed seven runs on ten hits and two walks in the game. Only six of the runs were earned. It was one of four starts for Hamels on the year in which he had allowed more than five earned runs.

The bullpen went eight innings in the series. They weren’t charged with a run, pitching to a 0.00 ERA with a 1.00 ratio. They struck out six in eight innings.

Eyre pitched the eighth inning of game four with the Phillies down 7-3. He allowed an infield single to start the inning but got the next hitter and then got a double-play.

Park pitched the eighth inning of game three with the Phillies down 2-0. He allowed a hit and a walk but kept the Giants off the board.

He also pitched yesterday in game four. He entered in the sixth inning with nobody out, the bases loaded and the Phillies down 5-3. He got a fly ball to left with the runners holding for the first out, but Eugenio Velez followed with a two-run single into right that made it 7-3 with the two runs charged to Hamels. Park got the next two to leave the runners stranded at first and third.

It was just the second time that Park had pitched on back-to-back days on the season (June 20 and June was the other).

Since the end of June Park has an 0.59 ERA with an 0.78 ratio. He has struck out 18 in 15 1/3 innings.

Kendrick pitched in game one of the series, entering to start the fifth inning of game one with the Phillies down 7-1. He allowed a two-out single in the fifth but got the next hitter. In the sixth he allowed a one out walk but got the next batter on a double-play.

Walker pitched the seventh and eighth innings of game one. He started the seventh with the Phillies down 7-2. He got the first two in the seventh before hitting a batter. Fred Lewis was next and he reached on an error by Utley, but Walker got Edgar Renteria on a fly ball to right to end the inning. He allowed a one-out walk in the eighth before striking out the next two hitters. The second, Eugenio Velez, struck out on a wild pitch and took first. Sandoval lined to short for the third out.

Madson pitched the seventh inning yesterday with the Phillies down 7-3. He allowed a two-out walk but got the next batter.

Great to see Madson get some rest lately. He has thrown just two innings since July 24.

Lidge did not pitch in the series.

With the off-day today, everyone in the pen should be ready for the Rockies.

The Phillies scored just ten runs in the four-game series.

Rollins was 5-for-16 with a double and a home run in the series. He also stole four bases. He’s hitting 239/290/389 on the season.

Victorino was mostly on the bench for the series with a bruised knee. He went 0-for-2 to drop his line on the year to 315/382/470.

Utley hit a home run in game one after Jonathan Sanchez threw a ball near his head early in the at-bat. He was 3-for-14 with a homer in the series. 301/420/546 on the year.

Howard made an error that cost the Phillies a run in yesterday’s game when he made a toss to Hamels covering first that went over the pitcher’s head. He was 2-for-15 with a double in the set. 263/347/529.

Ibanez got yesterday off with Bruntlett starting in left field. He was 1-for-10 with three walks in the series. 301/366/627 for the year. In honor of passing the 100-game mark I will no longer be mentioning that he is on-pace for a career high in slugging. He is, though. Before this season his high was .537.

Werth was in center for the last two games of the series after playing right with Francisco in center for the first two. 6-for-16 with a home run in the set. 270/381/503 for the year.

Feliz was 3-for-16 with a walk in the series. He’s hitting 289/337/395 for the year.

Ruiz started the first and last games of the series. He went 1-for-7 with a single. He’s hitting .177 (23-for-130) since the end of May.

Francisco started three games of the series with Victorino out with a bruised knee. He started games one and two in center and game four in right. 4-for-12 with two doubles.

Bruntlett started yesterday’s game in left field. He went 1-for-3 with a double in the series. 133/202/205 on the series. At least his slugging is back higher than his on-base percentage now, though.

Bako started games two and three of the series. He went 0-for-7 with three strikeouts to drop his line on the year to 167/231/208. I guess everyone can’t have a slugging percentage that’s higher than their on-base percentage.

Dobbs was 0-for-3 in the series to drop his line on the year to 256/299/424. He’s walked three times in his last 88 at-bats.

Stairs started in right in game three. 0-for-4 in the set to drop his line on the year to 230/380/419.

Even Matt Holliday wasn’t enough to slow down the Phils. The Phillies continued their marvelous July run by taking two of three against the St Louis Cardinals this weekend. With the wins the Phils are 17-5 in July.

The Cards added Holliday to their roster in time for the series in a move that may be enough to push St Louis into the group with the Phils and Dodgers of the front-runners to win the National League. The Redbirds hit JA Happ and the Phils hard in the first game as they cruised to a win, but the Phillies bats exploded in games two and three as they outscored St Louis 23-8.

The Phillies are 56-40 on the season after taking two of three from the St Louis Cardinals. They are in first place in the NL East and 16 games above .500 for the first time this season. The Braves and Marlins are tied for second, both teams are 6 1/2 games back. The Mets are in fourth place and trail the Phils by 10 1/2 games.

The Phillies lost game one 8-1. Happ took his first loss of the year, allowing five runs over six innings. He held the Cards to a run over the first five innings before allowing four runs in the sixth. St Louis scored a pair off of Walker in the seventh and another run was charged to Carpenter in the eighth.

Rollins and Victorino went a combined 6-for-9 with eight RBI in game two as the Phils rolled to a 14-6 win. The Phils jumped out with three runs in the bottom of the first, but the Cards pecked away at Lopez and led 4-3 when the Phils hit in the bottom of the sixth. Rollins delivered a two-out grand slam in the sixth and the Phillies scored five times in the inning. The Phils added six more in the bottom of the seventh to run away with it.

The Phillies got four two-run homers and a great start from Blanton in game three. The Phils won 9-2. Utley, Rollins, Ibanez and Howard all homered for the Phils. Blanton allowed two runs over eight strong innings.

The Phils didn’t pitch well in the series. Overall they threw to a 4.67 ERA with a 1.59 ratio. They gave up 38 hits in 27 innings.

Happ had a weak start in game one of the series. Blanton was fantastic in game three and Lopez good enough in game two. As a group they threw to a 4.50 ERA with a 1.45 ratio in 20 innings. All three of them went at least six innings and they walked just two in 20 frames but allowed 27 hits and three home runs.

Happ allowed five runs in six innings on ten hits in game one. After throwing two innings the game was delayed 48 minutes in the bottom of the second and Happ came back to pitch the top of the third. Put an asterisk next to the game in your mind — hope I’m wrong but I worry it may be the start of tough times for Happ.

Lopez improved to 3-0 with a win in game two. Worst start of his four on the year for Lopez. He allowed four runs on ten hits and a walk over six innings. Only three of the runs were earned — it was just the fourth time on the season that a Phillies starter was charged with a run that was not earned. He allowed two home runs in the game after not allowing any in his first three starts. He has a 3.09 ERA on the year and has made a big contribution to the rotation in July.

Blanton went eight in game two, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk. He started June with a 6.14 ERA. He threw to a 3.62 ERA with a 1.31 ratio in June. In four starts so far in July he’s 3-0 with a 1.21 ERA and an 0.84 ratio. He’s gone at least seven innings in five of his last six starts.

The pen didn’t have a good series. They went just seven innings and pitched to a 5.14 ERA with a 2.00 ratio. They also allowed an unearned run that didn’t hurt their ERA. Walker and Carpenter were both charged with runs in game one. Register allowed a run over two innings in game two.

Eyre did not pitch in the series.

Walker started the seventh inning of game one with the Phillies down 5-0. He went one inning and allowed two runs on a triple, a double, a single and two walks.

Carpenter was active for the first game of the series before Kendrick took his spot on the roster. He pitched the eighth inning of game one with the Phillies down 7-1. He faced four batters, got three outs and gave up home run to Julio Lugo. Three appearances for Carpenter on the year so far, a start and two games in relief. All three have been bad.

Kendrick did not pitch in the series.

Park pitched the seventh inning of game two with the Phillies up 8-4. He allowed a run that was unearned due to a Howard error on two hits.

26-year-old righty Steven Register was called up for the second game of the series. He made his first appearance with the Phillies in the eighth inning of game two, entering to start the inning with the Phils up 14-5. He allowed a leadoff double to start the eighth, but kept St Louis off the board. He came back to pitch the ninth and allowed a run on a triple, a single and a walk.

Madson pitched the ninth inning of game one with the Phillies down 8-1. He allowed a leadoff single but got the next hitter and then got Yadier Molina to hit into a double-play.

Lidge threw the ninth inning yesterday in game three. He entered with a 9-2 lead and allowed a one-out double but kept St Louis off the board.

The Phillies scored 24 runs in the three-game series.

Rollins went 3-for-15 with a double, two home runs and seven RBI in the series. He had a grand slam in game two. 237/290/385 on the year.

Victorino went 4-for-4 in game two and was 8-for-13 in the series with a double, a home run and three RBI. He’s at 320/388/471 for the season. 402/476/565 in July. Rollins is on-basing .411 in July, so the Phils are getting a lot of base-runners at the top of the order.

Utley was 4-for-11 with a double and a home run. 305/420/557 for the season. He has walked less regularly in July. He’s drawn at least 13 walks in every month this season except for this one — he has drawn just nine walks this month.

Howard made two errors in game one. He was 6-for-12 with two doubles and a home run in the series. 266/351/541 on the year. He didn’t walk in the series, but has been walking a lot in July. He’s walked 17 times already this month — his high for the first three months of the season was 11 walks in May.

Ibanez was 3-for-12 with a home run and three RBI in the series. He’s at 305/365/651 for the season. If he slugs .651 all season long it will be a career high.

Werth didn’t start yesterday with Stairs starting in right. He went 2-for-7 with three walks in the series and is hitting 271/384/510 for the year. 286/458/600 in July.

Feliz was 5-for-12 with five singles in the series. 298/345/410. If he ended the season with a .755 OPS it would be his highest mark since 2004.

Ruiz started the first two games of the series and went 3-for-8 to improve his line on the year to 235/333/388.

Bako started yesterday. He was 1-for-4 with a double in the series. He’s at 211/268/263 for the season.

Bruntlett didn’t bat in the series and has a 128/202/192 line for the season.

Mayberry was 0-for-1 in the series and is hitting 189/232/453 on the year.

Dobbs was 0-for-1 in the series and is at 271/315/449 for the year.

Stairs started in right yesterday. He was 0-for-5 with a walk in the series. 246/402/449 on the year after going 1-for-15 in July.

This says that the Phillies have turned down Toronto’s request of Happ, Drabek and Dominic Brown for Halladay and that Toronto has likewise turned down the Phillies offer of Happ, Carrasco, Taylor and Donald.

This suggests that the Phillies may be interested in acquiring Cliff Lee from the Indians.

A 22-year-old man was killed in a fight near Citizens Bank Park during Saturday’s game.

The Phils were 39-37 after losing on July 2, which was three weeks ago today. At the end of the day they were tied with the Florida Marlins for first place in the NL East, a game ahead of the Mets and two games ahead of the Braves, who had just swept them in Atlanta.

That feels like it shouldn’t be possible. But it is. The Phillies have played 16 games since then. A 14-2 run has them in commanding position in the division with the second place Braves 5 1/2 games out.

Most recently they took two out of three against the Cubs at home. The Phillies rolled to a blowout win in game one, won a dramatic game two with a walkoff homer before dropping an ugly game three yesterday.

The Phillies are have had a fantastic month. Yesterday was a bit worrisome, though, a virtual who’s-who of things to worry about on a pitching staff that has been awesome of late. Moyer, Durbin and Lidge all struggled, which was especially frustrating to see with Moyer and Durbin each coming off of outstanding performances.

Still, the Phils have enough things going right to overcome the struggles of Moyer and Lidge and, to a lesser degree, Durbin. Joe Blanton has a 2.32 ERA and a 1.11 ratio in his last ten starts. Rodrigo Lopez has made three good starts in three chances to help fortify the back of the rotation. Rollins and Victorino are both hitting at least .350 for the month at the top of the order. Chan Ho Park has just been awesome out of the pen. In his last 16 appearances he’s gone 24 2/3 innings with a 1.82 ERA and an 0.89 ratio while striking out 28. Eyre hasn’t been charged with an earned run in his last 22 appearances.

The Phillies are 53-39 on the season after taking two of three from the Cubs. After winning game two they were 15 games over .500 on the year, which was their best mark of the season. The are in first place in the NL East, 5 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Braves. The Marlins are six back and the Mets ten games out.

The Phils blew the Cubs out in game one, winning 10-1. Ibanez, Ruiz and Howard all hit home runs, which accounted for five of the ten runs. Lopez made another good start. He allowed a run over six innings. Durbin followed him and closed the game out with three scoreless innings to earn a save.

The Phillies won the second game 4-1 on a three-run homer from Werth in the bottom of the thirteenth. Rollins put the Phillies up 1-0 with a home run in the third. Blanton gave up a leadoff single to Ryan Theriot to start the fourth and Theriot came around to score on a two-out double by Kosuke Fukudome to tie the game at 1-1. Blanton departed after seven and the bullpen was brilliant after he left. They went six innings without allowing a hit or a walk. Lidge hit a batter in the ninth, but the runner was quickly erased by a double-play. Park was especially fantastic, striking out five in three perfect innings. In the bottom of the thirteenth the first two Phils went in order before Howard and Ibanez drew back-to-back walks. It put men on first and second for Werth and Werth hit a 1-1 pitch out to left.

The Cubs won 10-5 yesterday. Moyer gave up four in the fourth and another run in the top of the fifth. The Phils had gotten it to 5-3 by the time the seventh started, but Durbin had a miserable outing. He allowed two hits and walked three without getting an out, leading to three more runs that put Chicago up 8-3. The Phils scored two more in the bottom of the seventh to make it 8-5. They loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth, but Howard grounded out to leave the runners stranded. Lidge had another weak outing in the ninth and the Cubs tacked on two more runs — Lidge couldn’t make it out of the frame and Madson had to come in and get the last out.

The Phillies pitchers went 31 innings in the series, throwing to a 3.19 ERA and a 1.16 ratio. They allowed two runs in 22 innings in the first two games and then allowed ten runs yesterday. They didn’t allow a home run in the three games.

They got two great starts, one from Lopez and one from Blanton, and a weak outing from Moyer. The starters combined to go 18 innings with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.33 ratio. They allowed seven runs over three games, five of which were allowed by Moyer.

Lopez went six innings in game one, allowing a run on five hits and three walks. He has a 2.60 ERA and a 1.21 ratio in three starts for the Phillies.

Blanton was also great in game two. He went seven innings and allowed a run on five hits and didn’t walk a batter. He started June with a 6.86 ERA. It’s now down to 4.24. He’s allowed two runs in 21 2/3 innings over his last three starts and given up just 13 hits.

Moyer made a weak start yesterday. He allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks. Only four of the runs were earned. Two of his last three starts have been real bad with a brilliant start against the Marlins in the middle.

Like the starters, the pen was great in the first two games and not in the third. Overall they threw 13 innings with a 3.46 ERA and an 0.92 ratio. They allowed five runs that were charged to Lidge and Durbin in game three. As a group they gave up just six hits in 13 innings but walked six.

Romero did not pitch in the series. He’s gotten one out since July 16.

Eyre entered game three with the bases loaded, nobody out and the Phils down 7-3. He got Jake Fox to hit a sac fly for the first out, then got Koylie Hill on a line drive to third and struck out the pitcher Carlos Zambrano to end the frame. He came back to pitch the eighth and allowed a single and a walk but kept the Cubs off the board.

Eyre still has allowed runs in just two of 30 appearances on the season. He’s given up one run in 22 appearances since the end of April.

Durbin went three innings in game one and was fantastic. He allowed one single and didn’t walk a batter.

After throwing 33 pitches in game one, Durbin came back in game three and was not fantastic. He started the seventh with the Phillies down 5-3. He faced five batters: walk, walk, double, walk, single. He left with the bases loaded, nobody out and the Phils down 7-3. Thanks to a nice job by Eyre Durbin was only charged with three runs in the inning.

Park pitched a 1-2-3 tenth in game two with the score tied at 1-1. Ibanez made a great diving catch for the third out to take a double away from Koylie Hill. He came back to pitch the eleventh and struck out two as he set the Cubs down in order. He struck out two more in the twelfth.

Just an outstanding outing for Park. He went three innings and struck out five without allowing a hit or a walk. Over his last eight appearances he’s allowed two runs in 13 1/3 innings (1.35 ERA and a an 0.75 ratio).

Condrey got the win in game two. He threw three ground balls in a 1-2-3 thirteenth before Werth’s homer won it in the bottom of the inning.

He also pitched the sixth inning yesterday in game three. He entered with the Phils down 5-1 and set the Cubs down in order.

He’s allowed one hit and no walks in three scoreless innings this month.

Madson pitched the eighth inning of game two with the score tied at 1-1 and set Chicago down in order.

He also got the final out in the top of the ninth yesterday. He took over for Lidge with two outs, the bases loaded and the Phils down 10-5 and got Aramis Ramirez on a popup.

He hasn’t been charged with a run in nine of his last ten appearances.

Lidge started the ninth inning in game two with the score knotted at 1-1. He hit Aramis Ramirez with one out. Fukudome was next and he hit a ball hard back through the middle, but it hit Lidge’s foot and went right to Rollins who was covering second with Ramirez running. Rollins turned the double-play to end the frame.

Lidge started the ninth with the Phillies down 8-5. With one out the Cubs loaded the bases on a hit batter, a walk and a single before a single by Reed Johnson moved everyone up a base and made it 9-5. Lidge got a strikeout for the second out before walking Derrek Lee to force in another run. Madson took over with two down and the bases loaded.

July has been the best month of the year for Lidge by ERA this season. He has a 5.87 ERA in nine July appearances.

The Phillies scored 19 runs in the three-game set.

Rollins was 3-for-13 with a home run in the series. He’s hitting 235/290/370 on the year. 351/437/568 in July.

Victorino went 5-for-14 with a double to improve his line to 307/375/455. He’s hitting .360 this month.

Utley was 1-for-13 with a walk. 302/417/554.

Howard went 2-for-12 with seven strikeouts, a home run and three walks. 259/347/531.

Ibanez made a great diving catch with two outs in the top of the tenth in game two, taking a double away from Koylie Hill. Dobbs started in left yesterday in game three. Ibanez was 1-for-9 with a home run and two walks in the set. 309/372/662. If he slugs .662 all season long it will be a career high.

Werth won game two with a three-run homer in the bottom of the thirteenth. 4-for-10 with a home run and five walks. 266/378/508. He’s hitting just .266 this month, but with a .444 on-base percentage and a .603 slugging percentage.

Feliz was 4-for-12 with a walk and two RBI. 289/337/407.

Ruiz caught the first two games of the series and was 2-for-7 with a double and a home run. 228/330/375 on the year.

Bako started yesterday. He was 1-for-6 in the series and is hitting just 206/270/235 for the year. One extra-base hit, a double, in 34 at-bats.

Bruntlett was 0-for-2 in the series to drop his line on the year to 128/202/192.

Mayberry was 1-for-1 with a single. 192/236/462 on the year. He’s one of three players on the Phillies bench with an on-base percentage for the year of .270 or worse. I’m just saying.

Dobbs started in left yesterday in game three. 2-for-7 with two RBI in the series. 274/313/453 on the year. He’s hitting .341 in July after hitting .342 in June. One of four players on the Phillies bench with and on-base percentage of .313 or worse.

Stairs was 0-for-2 in the series. 270/425/492. 1-for-9 with five strikeouts and four walks in July.