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Some fans have surely been hoping that the additions of Carlos Ruiz and Delmon Young to the lineup may be enough to save the Phillies. It still might, but it wasn’t last night. The Phillies played their first game with both Young and Ruiz in the lineup and got pounded 14-2 by the Indians.

Roy Halladay was terrible in the game and so was the bullpen. Halladay allowed eight runs in 3 2/3 innings and the pen gave up six more over 4 1/3 after he left. Again, a big part of the problem is Halladay, but another big part of the problem is that the Phillies bolstered their pen this off-season by fixing the back of it. It’s the middle that’s awful. Horst, Valdes and Durbin all have an ERA of 5.91 or worse for the year and have combined to throw to a 7.08 ERA in their 26 appearances.

The Indians hit more home runs before the end of the fifth inning last night than the Phillies had hits in the game. They hit six in the first five innings and the Phils had five hits for the game.

The Phillies are 12-15 on the year after losing 14-2 to the Cleveland Indians last night. The loss snaps a three-game winning streak for the Phils.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went 3 2/3 innings, allowing eight runs on nine hits and two walks. Three of the hits went for extra-bases, all home runs. He struck out three.

The Phillies are 2-4 in the games Halladay has started. In three of his six starts he’s gone four innings or less. Opponents are hitting just .240 against him, but he’s allowed eight home runs and 13 walks over 32 innings. In 2011, Halladay pitched 233 2/3 innings for the Phils and allowed ten home runs and 35 walks for the season.

Jason Kipnis singled with one out in the first and stole second before moving up to third on a ground out by Asdrubal Cabrera. It put a man on third with two outs for Carlos Santana and Santana hit a 2-1 pitch out to right, putting the Indians up 2-0. Jason Giambi followed with a walk before Mark Reynolds homered to right-center, extending the lead to 4-0. Lonnie Chisenhall went down on a ground out to Utley to set Cleveland down.

Two home runs off of Halladay in the inning. Cleveland scores four after having two outs and a man on third with no runs in.

It was 4-1 when Halladay set the Indians down in order in the second.

Kipnis singled to start the third, but was caught stealing for the second out after Cabrera popped out for the first. Santana drew a two-out walk, but was left at first when Halladay struck Giambi out swinging 2-2.

Reynolds singled to right to start the fourth and scored when Chisenhall followed with a home run to right. 6-1. Ryan Raburn and Drew Stubbs followed with back-to-back singles, putting runners on first and second. Raburn moved up to first when Michael Brantley flew to center for the first out. Stubbs stole second before Kipnis grounded to first for the second out with the runners holding second and third. Cabrera was next, though, and he delivered a two-run single into right. 8-1. Durbin took over for Halladay and struck Santana out looking to end the inning.

Durbin pitched the fifth, allowing four more runs on four hits, a single, a double and two home runs. 12-1. Both of the home runs were two-run shots, one by the righty Raburn and the other by the lefty Brantley.

Durbin went 1 1/3 innings in the game, allowing four runs on four hits, two of which were home runs. He came into the game having not been charged with a run over his last six appearances, but his ERA for the year is up to 7.00 with the outing. Walks didn’t hurt him last night, but he has a 2.00 ratio for the year, in large part due to the seven walks he’s allowed in nine innings.

Coming into last night’s game, Durbin had not allowed a home run since August 13, 2012, when Chase Headley hit one off of him while he was pitching for Atlanta. He had faced 105 batters since that game. Last night in the sixth he allowed two home runs in a three-batter span.

Valdes pitched the sixth with the lead cut to 12-2. He walked Santana with one out, but got Giambi to hit into a double-play behind him.

Valdes struck out the first two men he faced in the seventh before Raburn and Stubbs, both righties, homered back-to-back. 14-2. Brantly struck out swinging for the third out.

Valdes strikes out four in two innings, but allows two runs on two hits and a walk as both of the hits are solo homers. He has 18 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings, but a 7.98 ERA and a 1.57 ratio. Opponents are hitting .310 against him.

The only other time in his career in which Valdes has allowed two home runs in a game was June 30, 2010. He was pitching for the Mets and Miguel Montero and Kelly Johnson got him in a four-batter span in the sixth.

Aumont pitched the ninth and allowed two singles and a walk, but managed to keep the Indians off the board when Yan Gomes hit into a double-play with the bases loaded to end the inning.

Aumont has a 3.52 ERA for the year thanks to a whole lot of good fortune. Opponents are hitting .281 against him and he’s walked seven in 7 2/3 innings. Righties have hit just .176 against him, but lefties are hitting .400. He hasn’t allowed a home run, which is the way to go if you’re going to walk more than eight runners per nine innings and have a 3.52 ERA. In 27 appearances with the Phillies over two years, Aumont has walked 16 in 22 1/3 innings. There’s close to no chance he can be successful over a large number of innings if he walks batters at that rate.

Overall the pen went 4 1/3 innings in the game, allowing six runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out five. They gave up four home runs.

Valdes threw 38 pitches in the game and Durbin 26. Aumont 17. Nobody has thrown more than one day in a row thanks to the off-day Monday, but Valdes seems unlikely to be available tonight and probably Durbin as well.

The Phillie lineup against righty Zach McAllister went (1) Rollins (2) Michael Young (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Delmon Young (6) Brown (7) Ruiz (8) Mayberry (9) Revere. Delmon Young debuts with the Phils at DH. Mayberry in right against the righty.

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

They were down 4-0 when they hit in the second. Howard struck out swinging for the first out before Delmon Young hit a 1-1 pitch out to right-center. 1-1. Brown and Ruiz went down behind Young.

Nice first at-bat of the year for Young.

The Phillies went in order in the third and again in the fourth.

Delmon Young led off the fifth and was drilled in the back by a 1-2 pitch. Brown followed with a walk and the runners moved up to second and third on a ground out by Ruiz. Mayberry was next and grounded back to the mound with the runners holding. Revere grounded to short to leave them stranded.

No run for the Phils after putting runners on first and second with nobody out. No RBI for Mayberry with one out and runners on second and third.

Delmon Young gets drilled after homering in his first at-bat.

The Phillies trailed 12-1 when they hit in the sixth. Utley hit a 3-1 pitch out to right-center with two outs to make it 12-2. Howard followed with a double and Delmon Young moved him up to third with a single, but both runners were left stranded when Brown flew to center.

Mayberry singled with one out in the seventh, but Revere grounded into a double-play behind him.

They were down 14-2 when lefty Nick Hagadone started the eighth for Cleveland. Galvis and Michael Young walked back-to-back to start the frame, but the Phillies were turned away when Frandsen grounded into a double-play and Howard grounded to short.

Righty Matt Albers set Delmon Young, Brown and Ruiz down in the ninth.

Rollins was 0-for-3 in the game. He’s hitting 240/305/373 against right-handed pitching for the year.

Michael Young 0-for-3 with a walk to drop his line on the year to 341/412/418. He came into the game 7-for-his-last-11. He’s 19-for-his-last-59 (.322) with 19 singles.

Utley 1-for-3 with his fifth home run. 27 games divides nicely in 162 — multiply everything by six to get his on-pace numbers. He’s on pace to hit 30 home runs with 114 RBI.

Howard 1-for-4 with a double. He came into the game 5-for-his-last-14 with nine RBI. He’s walked three times this season and is on pace to walk 18 times in 606 plate appearances for the season with 18 home runs and 96 RBI. It didn’t matter last night, but he’s hitting 160/192/360 against left-handed pitching. Given the addition of two right-handed bats in Delmon Young and Ruiz, it will be interesting to see how long Howard plays first base against left-handed pitching. Pretty sure the answer is a long, long time. Think 2016.

Delmon Young 2-for-3 with a home run and a hit-by-pitch. Didn’t cost the Phils a thing defensively, but he can’t DH forever.

Brown 0-for-3 with a walk. He came into the game hitting 286/364/464 over his last eight games. 224/316/343 against right-handed pitching for the season. That there’s a problem if you want to be a bad defensive corner outfielder who’s primary contribution is being able to hit right-handed pitching.

Ruiz 0-for-4 with a strikeout. 1-for-8 with a double since his return.

Mayberry 1-for-3. He was hitting 316/409/553 for the year before going 4-for-his-last-28. Now he’s hitting 242/324/470. He’s actually been good against righties, 255/340/447, but has gone just 4-for-19 (211/286/526) against lefties. Will be interesting what the Phillies do in both left and right against lefties with Delmon Young back. I think what they will do is play Delmon Young in right and Brown in left. Offensively at least, I think you could argue that it leaves their best hitting option against left-handed pitching on the bench in Mayberry. Also, Brown and Young are bad defensive players. Young is definitely terrible and Brown is at least bad and maybe terrible.

Revere 0-for-3 and hit into a double-play, dropping his average on the year to .200. He’s 6-for-his-last-40 (.150) with a triple and no walks (.150 on-base percentage). Among 218 players across both leagues with 70 plate appearances for the season, his wOBA of .206 is 214th. The Phillies really have no other choices in center. Mayberry can’t handle it defensively, despite starting three straight games there against the Mets. It’s not a good option, but I think the Phillies might start to play Mayberry in center against lefties regularly with Revere struggling so badly, assuming Young is going to play nearly every day.

Lee (2-1, 3.03) faces righty Trevor Bauer (0-1, 5.40) tonight in game two of the set. Lee has allowed 17 hits in 12 innings over his last two starts and the Phils have dropped each of his last three outings. The 22-year-old Bauer was the third pick of the 2011 draft. He’s made one start this season, walking seven Rays in five innings while being charged with three runs. He has a 2.50 ERA and a 1.17 ratio in three starts at Triple-A in the International League with 24 strikeouts over 18 innings.

A lot went well for the Phillies last night, Halladay was outstanding for the third time in a row and Utley and Howard both homered against a lefty, but the bullpen faltered and the Phils fell 5-3 to the Pirates.

The Phillies started the seventh with a 3-1 lead. Bastardo allowed a solo homer in the seventh that cut the lead to one. Adams started the eighth and allowed all four of the men he faced to reach base, which led to two more Pirate runs. Horst allowed a run in the ninth as Pittsburgh got some help from a slightly flukey two-out triple.

Pittsburgh starter lefty Wandy Rodriguez came into the game with an 0.56 ERA, having not allowed a home run in his three starts this season. Utley and Howard have both been struggling terribly against lefties, but both hit solo home runs off of Rodriguez to help the Phils to their early lead. It wasn’t enough, though, as the Phils scored three runs or less for the eleventh time in 13 games.

The Phillies are 9-13 on the year after losing 5-3 to the Pittsburgh Pirates last night. The Pirates lead the series two games to one with game four this afternoon.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing a run on one hit and two walks. The hit was a single and he struck out eight.

He has a 1.71 ERA and an 0.62 ratio over his last three starts. Thanks to two terrible starts to start the year, he has a 5.08 ERA for the season.

Starling Marte was the first batter of the game in the top of the first and walked. He stole second before Travis Snider struck out looking for the first out. Andrew McCutchen struck out looking for the second. Marte stole third with Garrett Jones at the plate, but Halladay got Jones looking to leave Marte stranded.

Up 1-0, Halladay set the Pirates down in order in the second.

He struck out two in a 1-2-3 third.

Jones walked with two outs in the fourth and Halladay hit the next batter Walker. Alvarez was next and singled softly into center, scoring Jones to tie the game at 1-1. Halladay struck Martin out looking to leave the runners at first and second.

Up 2-1, Halladay set the Pirates down in order in the fifth and again in the sixth.

Bastardo started the seventh with a 3-1 lead and Alvarez homered to right with one out. 3-2. Martin went down on a ground out for the second out before righty Gaby Sanchez hit for the shortstop John McDonald. Sanchez grounded to Howard to end the frame.

Alvarez came in to the series hitting 125/222/232 for the year. He’s 4-for-8 with two home runs in the set so far.

First home run, or earned run of any kind, that Bastardo has allowed this season in 8 1/3 innings over nine appearances.

Adams started the eighth. Jose Tabata hit for the pitcher Vin Mazzaro and drew a walk to start the inning. Marte moved him up to second with a single. Snider was next and he showed bunt, then swung away and singled to right, scoring Tabata to tie the game at 3-3 with men on first and third. McCutchen walked to load the bases and Horst came in to pitch to the lefty Jones. Righty Brandon Inge hit for Jones and singled to left. Everyone moved up a base and Marte scored to make it 4-3. Walker was next with the bases still loaded and nobody out. He hit a ball to first. Howard came home and Quintero went to first in time to complete the double-play. Alvarez grounded to Utley to leave runners at second and third.

Adams faced four hitters in the game without getting an out. Two singles and two walks. 4.00 ERA and a 1.44 ratio over nine innings in 11 appearances.

Horst returned for the ninth. Barmes singled to left with one and moved up to second on a ground out by Tabata. Marte was next and blooped a ball down the first base line, which went off of Utley’s glove in right for a triple. Barmes scored and it was 5-3. Righty Michael McKenry hit for the pitcher Mark Melancon and flew to left to leave Marte at third.

It would have been a nice play, but Utley usually catches the ball hit by Marte that went for a triple. He had made a long run, but was in position to make an over-the-shoulder basket catch and didn’t come up with the ball. Cost the Phillies a run.

Horst allows a single to the first man he faces in the eighth with the run charged to Adams, but then does a great job to get out of that frame without further damage before allowing a run in the ninth with the help of Marte’s unlikely triple.

He drops his ERA to 6.52 by allowing a run over two innings. Opponents are hitting .342 against him in the early going.

Overall the pen goes three innings, allowing four earned runs on six hits and two walks. Horst threw 27 pitches in the game, Adams 21 and Bastardo 16.

The Phillie lineup against lefty Wandy Rodriguez went (1) Rollins (2) Utley (3) Young (4) Howard (5) Mayberry (6) Brown (7) Revere (8) Quintero. Utley moves up to second in the order with Young third against the lefty. Quintero catches Halladay again.

Rollins started the bottom of the first with a single, but was thrown out by McCutchen as he went for two. It cost the Phils a run, cause Utley was next and he hit a 1-0 pitch out to right, putting the Phils on top 1-0. Young and Howard went down behind Utley.

Brown singled to center with one out in the second. Revere was next and grounded to short with Brown moving up to second and two down. Quintero grounded to first to leave Brown stranded.

Halladay and Rollins both struck out as the Phils went in order in the third.

It was 1-1 when the Phillies hit in the fourth. Young struck out swinging for the first out, but Howard was next and he pounded a hanging 0-2 breaking ball way out to right for a home run, putting the Phils back up at 2-1. Mayberry followed with a walk and moved up to second when Brown hit a routine grounder to Walker at second that was booted for an error. Revere popped to short for the second out and Quintero was walked intentionally to pitch to Halladay with the bases loaded. Halladay struck out swinging to leave them loaded.

I wouldn’t walk Quintero intentionally very often. Howard hit the ball really far. Great to see him homer off the lefty, but that was a really bad pitch.

Rollins doubled down the third base line to start the fifth and Utley followed with a bunt single that put runners on first and third. Young was next and grounded to third. Alvarez fielded and went to second for the first out of the inning. When the throw went to second, Rollins broke for home. Walker took the throw at second and threw home. The ball beat Rollins by a wide margin and he was tagged out for the second out of the frame. Howard lined to first to leave Young at first.

Miserable base-running by Rollins as the Phils fail to score after putting runners on first and third with nobody out.

Revere singled with two outs in the sixth and moved up to third when Quintero followed with a single. With the lefty Rodriguez still on the mound for Pittsburgh, Frandsen hit for Halladay and singled to center, scoring Revere to put the Phils up 3-1 with men on first and second. Righty Vin Mazzaro took over for Rodriguez and got Rollins to ground to second to leave the runners stranded.

Halladay had thrown 95 pitches in the game.

The lead was cut to 3-2 when Mazzaro set the Phillies down in order in the seventh.

Righty Mark Melancon started the eighth with the Pirates leading 4-3. Brown singled with one out, but Revere hit into a double-play behind him.

Righty Jason Grilli started the ninth with Pittsburgh up 5-3. Nix hit for Quintero and flew to right for the first out. Carrera hit for Horst and was hit by a pitch, but Rollins fouled out behind him and Utley struck out swinging to end the game.

Carrera is 1-for-8 with the Phils, but with a .364 on-base percentage thanks to a walk and two hit by pitches.

Rollins was 2-for-5 with a double. He’s 7-for-his-last-17. He hasn’t drawn a walk in his last 42 plate appearances.

Utley 2-for-5 with a long home run off of a lefty. 211/286/464 against lefties for the season.

Young 0-for-4. He actually hit into yet another double-play, although it doesn’t count as an official GDP due to the unusual nature of the play and Rollins’s base-running decision. 4-for-his-last-l7 with four singles.

Howard 1-for-4 with a long home run against a lefty on an 0-2 pitch. 142/182/381 against lefties.

Mayberry 0-for-3 with a walk. 235/297/382 over his last 37 plate appearances.

Brown 2-for-4 with a pair of singles. He came into the game 2-for-his-last-21.

Revere 1-for-4 to up his average to .207. He has one extra-base hit in 93 plate appearances and has walked in about 4.3% of his plate appearances.

Quintero 1-for-2 with a walk. 3-for-his-last-5 with a double and a walk has his line for the year up to 313/353/438.

Lee (2-1, 2.83) faces righty James McDonald (2-2, 4.12) this afternoon. Lee has had one bad start in four tries this year, which came in his most recent outing as he allowed five runs in five frames against the Cards. He’s allowed just 22 hits and four walks over 28 2/3 innings while striking out 23. McDonald has walked 12 over 19 2/3 innings in his four starts. Opponents are hitting just .216 against him, but on-basing .341. Cause he walks everyone, you see.

The Philies got a fantastic start from Roy Halladay and a ninth inning home run from Laynce Nix yesterday as they topped the Marlins 2-1.

With the win the Phils take the series two games to one. Each of the three games were tied at 1-1 after eight innings. The Phils won the opener with the help of a two-run tenth inning that featured an RBI-triple from Utley. They lost the middle game after Phillippe Aumont walked the leadoff hitter for the Marlins in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game. Yesterday they won behind Halladay’s excellent start and the late pinch-hit blast from Nix.

After two atrocious starts to begin the season, Halladay allowed a run over eight innings yesterday. He came into the game having thrown to a 5.83 ERA over his last 22 starts. He faced a Miami lineup that featured Placido Polanco hitting third and Greg Dobbs batting cleanup.

The Phillies have offensive problems of their own as they take the series despite scoring just six runs in three games. They have been notably miserable against left-handed pitching, posting a 141/193/205 against lefties for the season. Howard and Utley have led the way in that department by going a combined 2-for-26. Revere has contributed an 0-for-8 against lefties to start the year. Rollins and Young are a combined 4-for-22 (both 2-for-11).

The Phillies are 6-6 on the year after beating the Miami Marlins 2-1 yesterday afternoon. The Phils take the series two games to one and have won four of their last five.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went eight innings, allowing a run on five hits and one walk. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a double. He struck out two. The win was the 200th for his career.

That’s probably the best start for Halladay since August 10, 2012, when he held the Cardinals to a run on two hits over eight innings. 7.63 ERA and a 1.57 ratio for the year.

Halladay set the Marlins down in order in the bottom of the first.

Greg Dobbs doubled to right to start the second. Justin Ruggiano bunted him to third with the first out, but Halladay got Rob Brantly to pop to Galvis at short for the second out and Chris Valaika on a fly ball to center to leave Dobbs at third.

No run for Miami after putting a runner on third with one out.

Adeiny Hechavarria started the third with a single to right and the pitcher Kevin Slowey bunted him to second with the first out. Juan Pierre went down on a foul ball handled by Quintero for the second out. Chris Coghlan hit a ball in the hole between first and second, but Utley made a nice sliding play to field the ball and throw to first in time to end the inning.

One of two nice defensive plays by Utley in the game. He made a similar play to end the eighth.

Placido Polanco started the fourth with a single, but Halladay got the next three Fish in order to keep them off the board.

He set the bottom of the order down 1-2-3 in the fifth.

Up 1-0, he set the Marlins down in order in the sixth.

Ruggiano singled with one out in the seventh and Brantly walked behind him. Valaika was next and singled to left with Ruggiano scoring just ahead of the throw from Brown to tie the game at 1-1 with men on first and second for Hechavarria. Hechavarria flew to center and Revere doubled Brantly off of second to end the inning.

Brantly’s walk was the only one issued by Halladay in the game.

Halladay set the Marlins down in order in the eighth. Utley made a nice sliding play on a ball hit by Coghlan for the third out.

Papelbon started the ninth with a 2-1 lead. Polanco led off and Papelbon walked him on four pitches. Dobbs lined to center on a nice running catch by Revere for the first out. Ruggiano flew to right for the second. Righty Donovan Solano hit for the pitcher Jon Rauch and fouled out to Kratz to end the game.

Nice running catch by Revere after the leadoff walk to Polanco changes the inning.

Fifth appearance of the year for Papelbon. He allowed two runs in an inning in his first outing of the season. Since then he’s allowed one hit and one walk over four scoreless innings in four appearances. He threw 22 pitches in the game.

The Phillie lineup against righty Kevin Slowey went (1) Revere (2) Galvis (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Young (6) Brown (7) Mayberry (8) Quintero. Galvis starts at short with Rollins on the bench. Quintero again catches Halladay, but this time it’s a day game after a night game. Galvis can’t hit second. Revere and Galvis at the top of the order isn’t the way to go.

Galvis singled to left with one out in the top of the first and moved up to third on a two-out single by Howard. Young flew to right to leave both runners stranded.

Mayberry singled with one out in the second, but was caught stealing as Quintero struck out to set the Phillies down.

Revere and Galvis singled back-to-back with one out in the third. It put runners on the corners for Utley, but Utley grounded into a double-play to turn the Phils away.

The Phillies went in order in the fourth.

Quintero doubled to center with one out in the fifth. Halladay struck out behind him for the second out before Revere reached on an infield single that moved Quintero up to third. Revere stole second before Galvis walked, loading the bases for Utley. Utley grounded to second to leave them loaded.

Utley grounds into a double-play with runners on the corners to end the third, then grounds out to second with the bases loaded to end the fifth.

Howard doubled to left to start the sixth. Young was next and hit a ball back up the middle, off the glove of Hechavarria and into center for a single. Howard scored and the Phils led 1-0 with Young taking second as the throw came home. Brown lined softly to second for the first out before Mayberry walked. Righty Chad Qualls came in to pitch to Quintero and Quintero grounded into a double-play to end the inning.

Halladay, Revere and Galvis went in order in the seventh.

It was 1-1 when Utley and Howard singled back-to-back to start the eighth. It put runners on first and second with nobody out for Young and Young grounded into a double-play that left Utley at third with two down. The righty Qualls walked Brown intentionally, putting runners on the corners for Mayberry. Rollins hit for Mayberry and righty Jon Rauch came in to pitch to him. Rollins flew to left to set the Phillies down.

Kratz hit for Quintero to start the ninth and Rauch got him on a fly ball to center for the first out. Nix hit for Halladay and blasted a 1-1 pitch way out to right, putting the Phils up 2-1. Revere grounded to short for the second out. Galvis was next and Rauch threw a 1-2 pitch at his head. Galvis managed to get out of the way, but the ball hit him in his right hand up near his head. Galvis stayed in the game and Utley fouled out to third to set the Phillies down.

Rollins was already out of the game, having pinch-hit for Mayberry in the eighth, so it would have been a big problem if Galvis had been unable to play defense in the bottom of the ninth.

Revere was 2-for-5 with a stolen base in the game. 4-for-12 with a walk and a steal in the series. 240/296/240 on the season. The Phillies’s team OPS of .536 out of the #1 spot in the order is 28th of the 30 MLB teams.

Galvis 2-for-3 with a walk in the game and 3-for-6 with two walks in the series. He started at third in game two of the series and at short in game three. 3-for-9 with two walks so far. Rollins was 0-for-1 yesterday and 0-for-8 with two walks in the series. He’s hitting 261/320/435 for the season.

Utley 1-for-5 yesterday and left seven men on base. Made two nice defensive plays at second to end the inning, once in the third and again in the eighth. 2-for-14 with a triple and an RBI in the series — the triple in the top of the tenth in game one put the Phils on top to stay. 277/327/532 for the year. 1-for-12 against lefties.

Howard 3-for-4 with a double. 6-for-12 with a walk and four doubles in the set. 277/314/426 for the season. 1-for-14 against lefties.

Young 1-for-4 with an RBI in the game and 3-for-10 with two RBI in the series. He didn’t start on game two due to illness. 419/486/645 against right-handed pitching in 35 plate appearances.

Brown 0-for-3 with a walk, which was intentional. 3-for-12 with a walk and a double in the series. 244/292/400 for the year. 6-for-his-last-30. He has three walks on the season, two of which have been intentional.

Mayberry 1-for-2 with a walk in the game and in the series. 286/423/571 for the year.

Quintero 1-for-3 with a double in the game and in the series. He’s 2-for-9 with a double on the season. Kratz is hitting 184/179/316 for the year after going 1-for-9 in the set.

Cliff Lee (2-0, 1.86) faces righty Bronson Arroyo (1-1, 5.25) tonight in Cincinnati. Lee has gone at least eight innings in each of his fantastic starts. Opponents are hitting .167 against him for the year and he hasn’t walked a batter in 16 2/3 innings. Arroyo has gone six innings in both of his starts. Lefties are 10-for-25 (.400) against him in the early going.

I’m not sure what’s wrong with Roy Halladay. I am sure the Phillies have worked hard to try to figure it out, but whatever’s going on behind the scenes, what’s happening on the field isn’t working. What’s happening on the field is that Halladay keeps pitching and keeps getting hammered. Last night they changed up his catcher and Halladay allowed seven runs over four miserable innings, upping his ERA for the year to 14.73 for the year after two starts, as the Mets pounded the Phils 7-2.

The Phillies are 0-4 in games started by Hamels or Halladay and 2-1 in games started by anyone else. That duo has combined to throw to a 12.50 ERA in their four starts and gone an average of about four and a half innings per start.

The Phils have two quality starts in the seven games they’ve played, one by Lee and one by Lannan, and they’ve won both of those games. 0-5 in the games where they didn’t get a quality start and their starters have gone an average of about 4.7 innings in those games and thrown to an 11.57 ERA.

The bullpen, very strong at the back end, lacked a middle man when the season started. The Phillies have tried to use Durbin, Horst and Valdes in the middle innings, but they’ve had to use them a lot and none of the three has pitched well. Horst leads that group with a 6.75 ERA and the trio has combined to throw to an 8.16 ERA. Durbin and Horst are both on pace to make about 93 appearances for the season. Horst is on pace to throw about 123 innings in relief, which would be more than his career high of 31 1/3. Valdes is on pace to throw about 131 innings — he’s 35 and has thrown 107 1/3 innings for his career.

The Phillies are 2-5 on the year after losing 7-2 to the New York Mets last night in game one of a three-game set.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went four innings, allowing seven runs on six hits and three walks. Three of the hits went for extra-bases, two doubles and a three-run homer by John Buck. He struck out three.

After two starts, Halladay has a 14.73 ERA and a 2.45 ratio. Opponents have hit .353 against him. In 7 1/3 innings he’s walked six and allowed three home runs.

He struck out David Wright in a 1-2-3 first.

Marlon Byrd doubled to center with one out in the second. Lucas Duda was next and Halladay hit him 2-2, putting men on first and second for John Buck. Buck got ahead in the count and hit a 2-0 pitch out to right. 3-0 Mets. Ruben Tejada was next and he drew a walk. Pitcher Matt Harvey tried to bunt Tejada to second, but struck out for the second out. Kirk Nieuwenhuis grounded to Halladay to end the frame.

Daniel Murphy walked to start the third and moved up to second on a ground out by Wright. Ike Davis fouled out to Howard for the second out before Byrd walked on a 3-2 pitch Halladay thought caught the outside part of the plate. Duda singled into center, scoring Murphy to make it 4-0. Buck grounded to Young to finally set the Mets down.

Revere really can’t throw. Not that it needs to go near the top of the list of Phillie problems or that someone who could would have gunned down Murphy. It’s just a thing.

Halladay had thrown 78 pitches through three innings.

He struck out Nieuwenhuis in a 1-2-3 fourth.

The New York lead was cut to 4-1 when Murphy doubled to right-center to start the fifth. He moved up to third on a wild pitch. With the infield in, Wright singled to left, scoring Murphy. 5-1. Davis moved Wright up to third with a single and that was it for Halladay. Durbin came in to pitch to the righty Byrd and struck him out swinging for the first out. Duda was next and Durbin walked him, loading the bases for Buck. Buck popped to Utley for the second out, but Tejada lined a single into center, scoring two runners and sending Duda to third with the Mets up 7-1. Harvey went down on a ball handled by Quintero to end the frame.

Durbin faces five hitters in the frame, allowing a walk and a two-run single with both runs charged to Halladay. Looks like a scoreless inning for Durbin in the box score. Not so much.

Fourth appearance of the year for Durbin. He has an 8.10 ERA and a 2.70 ratio through 3 1/3 innings. He’s pitched two days in a row.

Horst started the sixth. Righty Collin Cowgill hit for the lefty Nieuwenhuis and Horst struck him out swinging for the first out. Muprhy flew to left for the second before Wright doubled to center. Horst struck Davis out to leave Wright at second.

Horst came back and struck Duda out in a 1-2-3 seventh.

Fourth appearance for Horst as well. Two scoreless innings in two of them. In one he allowed a run in an inning and in the other he was charged with three runs in a third of a frame. He faced seven batters over two innings last night, getting six outs and allowing Wright’s double. Like Durbin, he has thrown two days in a row.

Valdes threw a 1-2-3 eighth. Righty Justin Turner hit for the pitcher Harvey and struck out for the second out.

Valdes was back to pitch the ninth with the New York lead cut to 7-2. Murphy led off with a double to right and Valdes walked Wright behind Murphy. Valdes got the next three, though, getting Davis to foul out to Young for the first out, striking Byrd out for the second and getting Duda to ground to second for the third.

Eight batters for Valdes in the game. Six outs, a double and a walk. Three appearances for the year — last night was the first that wasn’t awful. He has a 9.53 ERA and a 2.12 ratio for the season. Opponents have hit .360 against him.

Unlike Durbin and Horst, Valdes hasn’t thrown two days in a row, but he did throw 26 pitches last night. Horst and Durbin both threw 20. The Phillies really need Cliff Lee to go deep into games these days — it’s not reasonable to expect him to go eight innings every start.

Overall the pen threw five shutout innings, in the game, allowing three hits and two walks. They weren’t quite that good, though, cause Durbin allowed a hit in the walk in relief of Halladay in the fifth with the runs charged to the starter.

Phillie relievers have walked 13 in 22 1/3 innings for the season, which is too many.

The Phillie lineup against righty Matt Harvey went (1) Revere (2) Rollins (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Young (6) Brown (7) Nix (8) Quintero. Quintero gets the start behind the plate after Halladay remarked about not being on the same page with Kratz in his first start of the season.

Revere led off the bottom of the first with a walk. He stole second and moved up to third on a ground out by Rollins. Utley was next and the Mets bizarrely brought the infield in. Utley popped to third for the second out. Howard struck out swinging 0-2 to leave Revere at third.

Great job by Revere to get things going with the walk and the steal. Less great job by Utley and Howard as the old guard of the Phils gets set down by Harvey. Utley can’t bring the runner home from third with one out.

Down 3-0, the Phillies went in order in the second.

Quintero led off the third with the Phils down 4-0 and blooped a single into center. Halladay tried to bunt and couldn’t, then struck out looking for the first out. Revere hit into a double-play to set the Phillies down.

Halladay can’t get the bunt down. You probably won’t see Revere ground into a ton of double-plays. He was just nipped at first this time.

Rollins doubled to center to start the fourth and moved up to third on a single by Utley. Howard was next and flew to right for the first out. Rollins tagged and scored to get the Phils on the board at 4-1. Young struck out and Brown flew to center to leave Utley stranded.

Good no strikeout by Howard gets the Phils on the board. Four extra-base hits for Rollins in the early going. Three doubles and a homer in 32 plate appearances with an isolated power of .200.

The Phillies were down 7-1 when they hit in the fifth. Nix led off with a walk. Quintero struck out for the first out. Carrera hit for Durbin and struck out swinging for the second. Revere struck out swinging for the third.

Utley reached on an error by Ike Davis with one out in the sixth. Howard and Young went down behind him.

Harvey set the Phils down in order in the seventh.

Lefty Josh Edgin started the eighth. Kratz, who had entered defensively in the top of the inning, led off with a double down the third base line. Kratz went to third on a ground out by Revere and scored on another by Rollins. 7-2. Utley flew to left for the third out.

Edgin was back for the ninth and got Howard, Young and Brown in order.

Revere 0-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base. Did his best to get the Phillies started in the bottom of the first, but they didn’t score with the help of Utley’s popup to third with one out. Revere is 7-for-30 (.233) with seven singles so far.

Rollins 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Utley 1-for-4. No RBI in the first with Revere on third and one out. 3-for-his-last-12 with three singles.

Howard 0-for-3 with an RBI and two strikeouts. 0-for-9 with five strikeouts against lefties for the year. 4-for-27 with four singles overall.

Young was 0-for-4 in the game. He and Mayberry are the unlikely team leaders in walks. They each have four.

Brown 0-for-4 with a strikeout. He is 3-for-his-last-19 after going 3-for-7 to start the season. 4-for-21 (.190) against right-handed pitching.

Nix 0-for-2 with a walk. 3-for-14 with three singles on the year.

Quintero 1-for-3. Failed to spark a return to excellence for Halladay. 1-for-6 on the season.

Cliff Lee (1-0, 0.00) faces righty Dillon Gee (0-1, 1.42) tonight in game two of the set. Lee allowed two singles and struck out eight over eight shutout innings in his first start on the year. Gee was also good in his lone start, allowing a run over 6 1/3 innings against the Padres.

The 2012 season didn’t start badly for Roy Halladay. Just the opposite, actually. He threw eight shutout innings on opening day and ended April with a 1.95 ERA over five starts. Things didn’t start to take their dramatic turn in the wrong direction until May.

At least we now know that 2013 won’t go the same way as 2012 for Halladay. Cause last nice he made his first appearance of the year and was horrid, needing 40 pitches to get through the first on his way to allowing five runs in 3 1/3 innings as the Braves pounded the Phils.

Halladay has a 5.50 ERA over his 21 starts since the beginning of May, 2012. In those starts he’s allowed 136 hits, including 20 home runs, in 122 2/3 innings. Twenty is too many home runs to give up in 122 2/3 innings even if you’re not Roy Halladay.

The Phillies are 0-2 on the year after losing to the Atlanta Braves 9-2 last night.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went 3 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on six hits and three walks. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, both home runs. He struck out nine. Striking out nine in 3 1/3 innings is usually the sign of a good outing. This wasn’t one of those times.

Andrelton Simmons was the first hitter of the game for Atlanta and Halladay struck him out swinging for the first out in the bottom of the first. Jason Heyward was next, though, and Heyward singled to right. Justin Upton followed and hit a 1-2 pitch out the opposite way to right-center for his second home run of one game and one at-bat, putting Atlanta up 2-0. Freddie Freeman followed with a walk before Halladay struck BJ Upton out swinging for the second out. Dan Uggla was the next hitter and Halladay walked him, putting runners on first and second for lefty Juan Francisco. Francisco singled to right, scoring Freeman to make it 3-0 as Uggla moved up to third. Halladay struck Evan Gattis out swinging 1-2 to end the inning.

Three runs in the frame for the Braves on three hits, two singles and a home run, and two walks. Halladay threw 40 pitches in the inning, which is more than what would be ideal.

He struck out the side in the second, getting pitcher Paul Maholm looking and Simmons and Heyward both swinging.

Freeman blooped a single the opposite way to left field with one out in the third. He went to second on a wild pitch before BJ Upton struck out for the second out. Halladay walked Uggla, but got Francisco on a ground ball to first to end the inning.

Gattis led off the fourth and hit a 1-1 pitch just out to left. 4-0. Halladay struck out Maholm for the first out before Simmons singled into center. Valdes came in to pitch to the lefty Heyward and walked him 3-2, then walked the righty Justin Upton 3-2 as well, which loaded the bases for Freeman. Freeman lined a ball into left-center that split the gap and rolled to the wall, clearing the bases and putting Atlanta up 7-0. Valdes struck out BJ Upton and Uggla back-to-back to set Atlanta down.

Gattis’s homer just barely made it out, eluding Brown as he jumped for it at the wall. Valdes gives up back-to-back walks and both of the runners score on the Freeman double. He walked one of the last 36 batters he faced in 2012. Halladay leaves the game with one out and a runner on first and Simmons scores on the Freeman double.

Gattis flipped his bat and his ball just barely cleared the fence. Not saying the Phils don’t have bigger fish to fry. I’m just saying.

Valdes came back and set the Braves down in order in the fifth.

He goes 1 2/3 innings in the game, allowing two runs on one hit, the Freeman double, and two walks.

Bastardo pitched the sixth. He walked Justin Upton with two outs, but got Freeman looking to leave Upton stranded.

Adams struck out BJ Upton and Juan Francisco in a 1-2-3 seventh.

First appearance as a Phillie for Adams. Is it too much to ask him to go nine? Every day?

Papelbon made his ’13 debut in the eighth. He got the first two before Simmons singled. Heyward was next and hit a 3-1 pitch out to right, making it 9-2.

The pen goes 4 2/3 innings in the game, allowing four runs on three hits and three walks. Valdes threw 40 pitches in the game and surely can’t pitch tonight. Papelbon 22, Bastardo 18 and Adams eight.

Last night was the first of eight games in eight days for the Phils, so they have seven more before an off-day. Hopefully they won’t have to wait too long for one of the starters to get an out in the sixth inning, or the bullpen numbers are going to get even uglier. The bullpen has a 7.04 ERA through two games. They’re obviously way better than that, but they are lacking a long man, which is something you don’t want to be lacking if your starters are going to average about four innings a game and you have to play the next seven days in a row.

Kendrick and Lannan aren’t real good candidates to go deep into games, either. The Phillies have three candidates to pitch deep into games and two of them just pitched badly. So let’s hope we see Cliff Lee pitching well for a long time tonight.

The Phillie lineup against lefty Paul Maholm went (1) Revere (2) Rollins (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Young (6) Brown (7) Mayberry (8) Kratz. Revere again leads off, this time against a lefty, with Rollins still hitting second. The lefty Brown stays in the lineup and plays left. Mayberry in right, which makes a lot more sense against a lefty than it did a righty on Opening Day. I think it’s unlikely that Revere will lead off against lefties very often this season.

Rollins doubled to left with one out in the top of the first. Utley followed him and struck out swinging for the second out, but Howard was next and drew a walk as Rollins stole third, putting runners on the corners for Young. Young grounded to short to leave the runners stranded.

Brown and Mayberry singled back-to-back to start the second with the Phillies down 3-0. It put men on first and second for Kratz and Kratz grounded into a double-play. Halladay struck out swinging to leave Brown at third.

Brown starts the inning with a hit off of the lefty, which is nice to see even if nothing comes of it.

Rollins singled to left with one out in the third. Utley flew to center for the second out and Howard struck out looking to leave Rollins at first.

Rollins 2-for-2 with a single, a double and a stolen base through two and a half innings.

Brown lined a single to left with one out in the fourth. Mayberry was next and hit a ball that Francisco didn’t handle for an error, which again put two men on for Kratz. Kratz struck out for the second out. Halladay hit for himself and struck out to leave both runners stranded.

Again Kratz goes down after Brown and Mayberry get on board. Halladay had thrown 79 pitches in the game. He would face three batters in the bottom of the fourth, getting one out and allowing a single and a homer. You can’t really hit for Roy Halladay in the fourth, but if you’re playing on paper and you know he’s going to face three hitters in the bottom of the inning and get one out, you might want to consider it.

Down 7-0, the Phillies went in order in the fifth.

Young singled to center with one out in the sixth. Brown was next and grounded to first for the second out with Young moving up to second. Righty Cory Gearrin came in to pitch to Mayberry and walked him, putting men on first and second for Kratz. Kratz went down swinging to leave the runners stranded.

Again Kratz with Brown on second and Mayberry on first. In the second he hit into a double-play to end the inning. In the fourth he struck out with one out and men on first and second. Sixth he struck out to end the inning with two men on. Six men left on base through six innings.

Kudos to Mayberry for drawing the walk against the righty.

Righty Christhian Martinez started the seventh for Atlanta. Nix hit for Bastardo and singled to right. Revere was next and moved Nix up to second with a single. Rollins flew to right for the first out before Utley doubled into the right field corner, clearing the bases and getting the Phils on the board at 7-2. Luis Avilan came in to pitch to Howard and struck him out for the second out. It brought Young to the plate and he hit a dribbler on the first base side of the mound. Avilan popped off the mound, sliding to get the ball and threw to first. The ball hit Young and Young was called out for running out of the base line.

Really weird call you don’t see very often. Young was just about on the line when the ball hit him. Utley would have scored from second when the ball got away from Young, so it cost the Phillies a run. Avilan made a fantastic sliding play to make it close at first. Tired of him.

Righty Anthony Varvaro got Brown, Mayberry and Kratz in order in the eighth.

The Phils were down 9-2 when Vavaro set them down in order in the ninth. Galvis hit for Papelbon and struck out swinging for the first out.

Revere was 1-for-5 in the game. He’s 2-for-9 with a walk and a stolen base so far.

Rollins 2-for-5 with a double. 3-for-10 with a stolen base after two games.

Utley 1-for-4 with a double, two RBI and two strikeouts. 4-for-9 with three extra-base hits and five of the team’s seven RBI.

Howard 0-for-3 with a walk and struck out twice. 0-for-8.

Young 1-for-4. 1-for-6 with two walks.

Brown 2-for-4. 3-for-7 with three singles and a walk. 2-for-4 against lefties in the very early going.

Mayberry 1-for-3 with a walk. 2-for-7 with a double and a walk after two games. Walked against a righty last night after doubling off of righty Jordan Walden in game one of the set.

Kratz was awful at the plate, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts and leaving six men on base in the first six innings. 1-for-8 with three strikeouts so far.

Cliff Lee faces righty Kris Medlen tonight in game three of the set. Lee threw to a 4.79 ERA in his six spring starts. He made two starts against Atlanta in 2012 and both of them were very good as he allowed one earned run in 15 innings between the two outings. Medlen was outstanding in 2012, throwing to a 1.57 ERA with an 0.91 ratio over 138 innings in 50 appearances, 12 of which were starts. He had an 0.97 ERA in his 12 starts. Opponents hit .191 against him and he walked ten in 83 2/3 innings while striking out 84.

Roy Halladay makes his first start of the year tonight as the Phils face lefty Paul Maholm and the Braves in game two of the season.

Halladay had a miserable spring, throwing to a 6.06 ERA overall in his six starts. He pitched to a 2.16 ERA and an 0.96 ratio in his first three spring starts, but threw eight innings with a 10.12 ERA and 2.87 ratio over his last three.

None of that would matter at all, of course, had it not been for a lackluster 2012 for Halladay. Coming off two years in which he had been just about the best pitcher on the planet, Halladay threw to a 5.28 ERA over his last 20 starts in ’12. Opponents hit .282 against him in those starts and he allowed 18 home runs in 119 1/3 innings.

There’s a pretty long list of Braves with good career numbers against Halladay. We’ve seen enough of Freddie Freeman to last the year after one day of the season, but Freeman has nine career RBI against Halladay in just 15 at-bats. 7-for-15 with three home runs. BJ Upton has 42 at-bats against Halladay for his career and a 357/417/524 line. Uggla 11-for-34 (.324) with three home runs. McCann, who’s on the DL, has a 360/407/560 line against Halladay in 25 at-bats. Heyward just 3-for-17 (.176) and Justin Upton 2-for-6 with two singles.

Maholm made 32 appearances (31 starts) between the Cubs and Braves in 2012, throwing to a 3.67 ERA with a 1.22 ratio. Righties have hit him pretty well over his career, posting a 290/351/444 compared to 224/290/321 for righties.

He’s fared pretty well against the Phillies. Rollins is 5-for-22 (.227) with a double against him. Howard 5-for-21 (.238) with a double. Utley has fared a little better, going 6-for-18 with three doubles and a home run.

The Phillies put Edgar Inciarte on waivers and claimed 25-year-old left-handed outfielder Ezequiel Carrera off of waivers from Cleveland. The speedy Carrera has a career 255/306/347 line in 384 major league plate appearances and a .299 on-base percentage against right-handed pitching. If there’s data that suggest he’s an unusually good defensive player, I’m not sure where it is.

Counting the 2011 playoffs, the Phillies are 87-93 over their last 180 games. Ezequiel Carrera is an upgrade over Ender Inciarte, so that’s a good thing. The problem is that the Phillies don’t need a tiny upgrade over a player that never should have been on their roster in the first place. They need better players. They need the argument about who the third-best outfielder on their team is not to include John Mayberry and Laynce Nix. They need a major upgrade and it’s going to surprise me if it comes from picking up guys waived by the Indians.