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It’s been a mostly miserable year for Ryan Howard, but he got one last night. Down 2-1 with two outs in the ninth, Howard connected for a two-run homer off of lefty Josh Edgin and the Phils topped the Mets 3-2.

The Phillies had just three hits in the game, one of which was a bloop into shallow right-center. Jimmy Rollins was the first batter of the game and lined a homer to right off of Met starter Matt Harvey. The Phils didn’t have another hit in the game until Mayberry blooped his way aboard in the eighth. Hamels pitched very well, allowing a run on a single, a stolen base and a bloop single in the third and another on a solo home run in the sixth. The Phils were down 2-1 with two outs and nobody on in the ninth when Utley drew a walk off of Edgin and Howard followed Utley with a two-run homer.

The home run upped Howard’s line against lefties for the year to 173/218/346.

The Phillies are 75-74 on the year after beating the New York Mets 3-2 last night. The Phils are in third place in the NL East, 15 1/2 games behind the first-place Nats. Baseball Prospectus’s Playoff Odds Report has them at 0.4%.

Hamels got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, a double and a home run. He struck out ten.

He has a 2.50 ERA and a 1.04 ratio over his last eight starts and has struck out 55 in 57 2/3 innings. The Phillies are 7-1 in those games.

He started the bottom of the first up 1-0. Ruben Tejada led off with a single, but Hamels set the Mets down in order behind him.

He struck out Ike Davis and Lucas Duda in a 1-2-3 second.

He struck out Andres Torres and pitcher Matt Harvey to start the third before Tejada singled to left. Tejada stole second before Daniel Murphy blooped a ball into left that fell in front of Pierre. Pierre charged and threw home as Tejada tried to score — his throw was on line but weak. Ruiz took it in front of the plate and threw to second to try to get Murphy, but Murphy was safe there too and the game was tied at 1-1. Hamels struck David Wright out looking 0-2 to end the inning.

Really not a good throw from Pierre, who is not a good thrower.

Scott Hairston doubled to center to start the fourth. Davis was next and lined a ball off of Hamels’s glove for a single with Hairston holding second. Hamels struck Kelly Shoppach out for the first out and Duda for the second. Torres flew to center to leave the runners stranded.

You wind up scoring a lot when you leadoff with a double and the next batter singles, but Hamels keeps the Mets off the board in the frame with two big strikeouts for the first two outs.

Hamels struck out Harvey and Murphy in a 1-2-3 fifth.

Wright led off the sixth and hit a 1-0 pitch out to right-center, putting the Mets up 2-1. Hairston was next and Hamels drilled him in the back, up near the shoulders. Davis flew to center for the first out before Hairston stole second. Hamels struck Shoppach out again for the second out before Duda walked 3-2. Torres lined to second to leave the runners stranded.

Hairston gets drilled right after the Wright homer. Hamels got ahead of the lefty Duda 0-2 but wound up walking him.

Bastardo started the seventh. Righty Ronny Cedeno hit for the pitcher Harvey and Bastardo struck him out swinging for the first out. Tejada struck out swinging for the second out before Murphy drew a walk. De Fratus came in to pitch to the righty Wright and struck him out swinging 1-2 to end the inning with Murphy at first.

Bastardo faces three hitters, strikes the first two out and walks the other. He has 25 strikeouts in his last 11 2/3 innings over 15 appearances. He’s allowed one earned run in 9 1/3 innings over is last 12 outings (0.96 ERA, 0.75 ratio and 20 strikeouts).

De Fratus faces just one hitter, getting a big strikeout of Wright to end the inning a man on base. He’s allowed just two hit and three walks over six innings in his first seven appearances. The one run he’s allowed is unearned. Righties are 0-for-14 against him so far.

Aumont started the eighth. Hairston and Davis led off with back-to-back singles, putting runners on the corner for Shoppach. Aumont struck him out swinging 1-2, Shoppach’s third strikeout of the game. Horst came in to pitch to the lefty Duda and righty Justin Turner hit for Duda. Horst walked Turner on five pitches, loading the bases for Torres. Torres grounded a ball to Utley and the Phils turned two to set the Mets down.

No run for New York after putting runners on first and third with nobody out. Huge strikeout for Aumont to get Shoppach for the first out.

Aumont continues to be a cause for worry. He faces three hitters, allowing back-to-back singles before getting a huge strikeout of Shoppach. Over his last five appearances, he’s allowed four runs on five hits and five walks over three innings.

Horst faces two batters, walking the righty Turner before getting the switchy Torres to ground into a double-play. After walking seven in 19 2/3 over his first 20 appearances for the season, Horst has walked five in 5 4/3 innings over his last five.

Papelbon started the ninth with the Phils up 3-2. Lefty Jordany Valdespin hit for the pitcher Jon Rauch and Papelbon struck him out looking 1-2 for the first out. Valdespin didn’t care for the call and was ejected. Tejada was next and singled to center. It brought Murphy to the plate and Murphy lined a ball towards the corner in left, but a diving Brown took it in at the edge of the warning track for the second out. Wright grounded to Utley to end the game.

Strike three to Valdespin looked outside to me. Nice catch by Brown at a big time.

Papelbon faces four hitters, allowing one single and getting the other three. Wright hit his ball to Utley pretty well. Papelbon hasn’t allowed a run in his last seven appearances, allowing two hits and three walks while striking out ten over seven innings.

Overall the pen goes two scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks. Tuesday’s rainout means that nobody has thrown more than one day in a row. Bastardo threw 18 pitches last night, everyone else was at 11 or fewer.

The Phillies lineup against righty Matt Harvey went (1) Rollins (2) Pierre (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Ruiz (6) Brown (7) Mayberry (8) Frandsen. Pierre in left against the righty with Brown in right. The hottish Brown hits ahead of Mayberry.

Rollins was the first batter of the game and lined a 3-1 pitch out to right, putting the Phillies up 1-0. The Phils went in order behind him.

Ruiz walked to start the second. Brown struck out looking for the first out and Mayberry grounded into a double-play to set the Phillies down.

The Phillies went in order in the third.

The game was tied 1-1 when they went in order in the fourth.

They went in order again in the fifth. Brown struck out for the second time in the game for the second out.

Frandsen walked to start the sixth. Hamels tried to bunt him to second, but struck out for the first out. Rollins was next and walked, putting runners on first and second for Pierre. Pierre grounded into a double-play to end the frame.

Frandsen does his best to get things started with a walk, which is not really his thing. He has eight walks in 162 plate appearances for the year, which is 4.9%, which is very low. The team is walking in about 7.9% of their plate appearances for the season.

Hamels can’t get the bunt down, striking out for the first out.

The Phillies were down 2-1 when they went in order in the seventh. Howard and Ruiz both struck out.

Righty Bobby Parnell started the eighth. He struck Brown out looking for the first out (Brown’s third strikeout of the game). Mayberry followed with a single, but was forced out at second for the second out when Frandsen grounded to short. Nix hit for De Fratus and struck out swinging to leave Frandsen at first.

Lefty Josh Edgin started the ninth for New York. Rollins struck out swinging for the first out. Wigginton hit for Pierre and struck out swinging for the second. Utley had an eight-pitch at-bat that ended with a walk, putting a runner on for Howard. Howard hit an 0-1 pitch out to right for his eleventh homer of the year, which put the Phillies on top 3-2. Jon Rauch took over for Edgin and struck Ruiz out to set the Phillies down.

With two outs and nobody on, Utley draws a walk off of a lefty and then Howard hits one out against a lefty to put the Phillies on top.

Rollins was 1-for-3 with a walk and a home run in the game. He has hit 20 home runs in his last 411 plate appearances, posting a 257/326/500 line. That’s an isolated power of .243.

Pierre was 0-for-3. He’s hitting .412 so far in September. He grounded into a double-play last night, just his third for the year in 408 plate appearances.

Utley 0-for-3 with a huge walk against the lefty ahead of Howard’s homer in the ninth. He has 13 walks and an on-base percentage of .500 over his last 56 plate appearances (333/500/385). Four of the 13 walks have been intentional. We’ll see if Howard hitting the ball out to win the game against the lefty changes anything.

Howard 1-for-2 with two strikeouts and a huge two-run homer off of a lefty. 173/218/346 against lefties for the year with 38 strikeouts in 87 plate appearances.

Ruiz 0-for-3 with a walk and struck out twice. He’s 1-for-his-last-16.

Brown 0-for-3 with three strikeouts. Five strikeouts in his last seven at-bats. For the year he has struck out in 28 of 165 plate appearances — that’s about 17.0%, less than the team average of 17.9% and less than the NL average of 20.2%.

Mayberry 1-for-3. 3-for-his-last-14 with three singles.

Frandsen 0-for-2 with a walk. 9-for-36 with a double so far in September.

Cloyd (1-1, 4.95) faces righty Jeremy Hefner (2-6, 4.99) tonight. Cloyd has struggled in two straight starts, allowing seven runs on 12 hits over seven innings. Lefties are hitting 379/455/621 against him. Hefner has been in and out of the pen for the Mets this year. He has a 5.24 ERA in his ten starts and has allowed 70 hits in 55 innings.

The Phillies didn’t win pretty last night, but they did win, topping the Marlins 9-7 for their sixth straight victory. With the win the Phils are at .500 for the year for the first time since they were 28-28 after losing to the Dodgers 4-3 on June 4.

The game wound up having a little more drama than you would hope given that Roy Halladay started to top of the seventh with an 8-3 lead.

Four hits and a walk off of Fish starter Nathan Eovaldi put the Phils up 3-0 in the bottom of the first. Halladay allowed a pair of runs in the top of the third to cut the lead to 3-2, but Pierre led off the bottom of the inning with a double and scored on an Utley single to extend the lead to 4-2. The Phils loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth, but managed just one run in the frame as Brown bounced into a big double-play to end the inning. Stanton homered off of Halladay in the sixth to cut the lead to 5-3. Martinez doubled with one out in the seventh and scored on a single by Halladay. Later in the same inning, Rollins hit a two-run homer one pitch after Miami catcher Rob Brantly dropped the foul ball that should have ended Rollins’s at-bat. Halladay started the seventh up 8-3, but allowed hits to two of the first three men he faced and was pulled. The Phils would use three relievers and have to work around an Utley error in the frame, getting out of the inning still up 8-7. A leadoff double by Mayberry led to an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh. Aumont pitched himself out of a huge jam in the eighth and Papelbon set the Fish down in order in the ninth to earn his 33rd save.

The Phillies are 71-71 on the year after beating the Miami Marlins 9-7 last night. They have won six games in a row and are in third place in the NL East, 17 games behind the first-place Nats. 14-4 over their last 18 games has them four games out for the Wild Card.

The team’s playoff odds as calculated by Baseball Prospectus’s Playoff Odds Report have jumped from 0.6% yesterday to 1.0% today.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went 6 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and three walks. Three of the hits went for extra-bases, two doubles and a home run. He struck out six.

Opponents have hit .320 against Halladay over his last five starts and he’s thrown to 4.73 ERA with a 1.52 ratio. His walk rate for the season is up to 1.8 per nine innings, which is the highest it has been since 2007.

He struck out Bryan Petersen and Justin Ruggiano in a 1-2-3 first.

He started the top of the second up 3-0. Giancarlo Stanton led off with a walk, but Halladay got Carlos Lee to hit into a double-play behind him. Greg Dobbs lined to Martinez at third to end the frame.

Donovan Solano and Rob Brantly singled back-to-back to start the third, putting runners on the corners for the pitcher Nathan Eovaldi. Eovaldi bunted Brantly to second with the first out and Halladay walked Petersen behind him, loading the bases. Ruggiano was next and reached on an infield single. Everyone moved up a base with Solano scoring to cut the lead to 3-1 with the bases still loaded for Jose Reyes. Reyes flew to left for the second out. Brantly tagged from third and scored. 3-2. Halladay struck Stanton out swinging to leave the runners on first and second.

It was 4-2 when Halladay pitched the fourth. Dobbs doubled to right with one out, but Halladay got the next two hitters to leave him at second.

Ruggiano walked with two outs in the fifth and stole second. Reyes flew to center to leave him there.

Three walks in five innings for Halladay.

It was 5-2 when Stanton hit Halladay’s first pitch of the sixth out to left. 5-3. Halladay got the next three.

If Stanton was going to homer he picked a nice time to do it. He’s 1-for-8 with a home run and six strikeouts so far in the series.

Halladay started the seventh up 8-3. Brantly led off and reached on an infield single. Righty Gorkys Hernandez hit for the pitcher and flew to right for the first out, but Petersen followed with a double to center that scored Brantly and cut the lead to 8-4. Lindblom came in to pitch to the righty Ruggiano and Ruggiano singled to center, scoring Petersen. 8-5. Reyes was next and reached on an error by Utley, putting runners on the corners for Stanton. Lindblom got Stanton swinging for the second out, but Lee followed with a single to left that scored Ruggiano (8-6) and moved Reyes to second. Horst came in to pitch to the lefty Dobbs and Dobbs singled to center. Reyes scored (8-7) and Lee moved up to second. Rosenberg got the righty Solano to ground to Martinez to finally set the Marlins down.

Ugly inning for everyone, but again the Phillies strike Stanton out at a big time.

Lindblom entered the game with one out and a man on second. He faced four batters — single, error on Utley, big strikeout of Stanton and single. He was charged with two runs, both of which were unearned. He hasn’t been charged with an earned run over five innings in his last seven appearances. In his last two outings he has allowed two hits and two walks in one inning.

Horst faced one batter and allowed an RBI-single to the lefty Dobbs. In his first ten appearances of the year through the end of July, Horst walked three in ten innings. Since the start of August, he has appeared 13 times, walking eight in 12 2/3 innings. He’s allowed three hits and four walks over his last three innings. The Phillies seem to think he could use some rest and I think they’re right — he was pitching for the first time since September 2.

Rosenberg entered with two outs and runners on first and second, faced one right-handed hitter and got Solano on a much-needed ground out to finally end the frame. He’s allowed one walk in two scoreless innings over his last three appearances.

Aumont stared the eighth with the Phils up 9-7. Brantly led off and walked on four pitches as Aumont couldn’t find the tiny strike zone. Two of the four pitches looked really good to me. Donnie Murphy was next and singled to right, putting runners on first and second. Petersen was next and bunted the runners up to second and third with the first out. Aumont wiggled out of it, though, striking Ruggiano out swinging 3-2 for the second out and Reyes swinging 1-2 to leave both men stranded.

Wow. Huge moment in the game and Aumont strikes out two in a row with runners on second and third.

He allowed a hit and a walk in his frame, but struck out two and dropped his ERA on the year to 1.23 after eight appearances. He’s allowed four hits and three walks in 7 1/3 innings (0.95 ratio). Manuel has yet to put him into a game before the eighth inning and the Phils are 7-1 so far in the games he’s appeared. Six of the eight games he’s appeared in were eventually decided by one run or two runs.

Papelbon struck out Stanton and Dobbs in a 1-2-3 ninth.

He’s struck out five in four scoreless innings over his last four appearances.

Overall the pen goes three innings, allowing two unearned runs on four hits and a walk while striking out five. Aumont threw 18 pitches in the game and Lindblom 13. Everyone else was ten or less. Nobody has pitched more than one day in a row.

The bullpen came into the game having thrown 11 2/3 scoreless innings over the past four games. They didn’t pitch as well last night, but Aumont looked fantastic working out of his own jam in the eighth and Papelbon set the Marlins down without a peep in the ninth.

The Phillies lineup against righty Nathan Eovaldi went (1) Rollins (2) Pierre (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Ruiz (6) Brown (7) Mayberry (8) Martinez. Ruiz returns to the starting lineup for the first time since August 2. Pierre in left against the righty and hitting second. Mayberry dropped to seventh against the righty with Ruiz in the lineup. Martinez plays third with Polanco on the DL and Frandsen sidelined with a stress fracture.

Singles by Rollins and Pierre and a walk to Utley loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the first. Howard grounded into a double-play and Rollins scored, leaving the Phils up 1-0 with two down and Pierre on third. Ruiz doubled into the right field corner to score Utley and put the Phillies ahead 2-0, then scored on a single to center by Brown. 3-0. Mayberry struck out to leave Brown at first.

The Phillies went in order in the second.

It was 3-2 when the Phillies hit in the third. Pierre led off with a double to left and scored when Utley followed with a single. 4-2. Howard hit into another double-play and Ruiz grounded out to end the inning.

Two at-bats, two double-plays for Howard.

Brown started the fourth with a single to right, but the Phillies went in order behind him.

Rollins walked to start the fifth, stole second, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Pierre, putting the Phils up 5-2. Lefty Dan Jennings came in to face Utley and Utley singled to right, moving Pierre up to second. Howard flew to center for the second out with the runners moving up to second and third. Jennings walked the righty Ruiz to load the bases and got Brown to ground into a double-play to keep the Phillies from getting more.

It was 5-3 when the Phillies hit in the sixth. Martinez doubled to right off of righty Chris Hatcher with one out. Halladay followed that with a single into center, scoring Martinez to make it 6-3. Rollins was next and popped a 1-1 pitch up near the plate in foul territory, but Brantly just dropped it. Rollins hit the next pitch out to right for a two-run homer. 8-3. Pierre flew to left for the second out before Utley singled. Howard moved Utley to third with a single and Ruiz was hit by a pitch, loading the bases again for Brown. Brown struck out swinging 2-2 to leave them loaded.

Mayberry doubled to right off of righty Chad Gaudin to start the seventh and Martinez bunted him to third with the first out. Nix hit for Rosenberg and lefty Mike Dunn came in to pitch to Nix. Wigginton hit for Nix and drew a walk, putting runners on first and third. Rollins was next and flew to right for the second out. The ball wasn’t hit that deep, but Mayberry tagged and tried to score anyway. He probably would have been out with a good throw from Stanton, but Stanton’s throw was awful, way up the third base line. Mayberry scored and the run extended the lead to 9-7. Wigginton moved up to second when the throw came home. Frandsen hit for Pierre and was walked intentionally. Utley hit for himself and was walked unintentionally, which loaded the bases for Howard. Howard flew to center to end the inning.

Righty Heath Bell set Ruiz, Brown and Mayberry down in order in the eighth.

Rollins was 2-for-3 with a walk, a home run, a stolen base and three RBI. He came into the game 4-for-his-last-22. Rollins had two home runs in his first 242 plate appearances for the year. At the end of the day on June 5 he was hitting 247/296/332 for the season. Since June 6 he’s hitting 248/312/472 with 16 home runs in 378 plate appearances. It was really nice of Brantly to drop the popup one pitch before his bomb last night.

Pierre was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. He’s 6-for-his-last-9.

Utley 3-for-3 with two walks and an error. 7-for-his-last-12 with two walks. He has walked in about 11.3% of his plate appearances, which is better than 8.6% for 2011 and better than his career mark of 9.8%. He topped out in ’09 and ’10, walking in 12.8% of his plate appearances in 2009 and 12.3% in 2010.

Howard 1-for-5, grounded into two double-plays and left eight men on base. Grounded into a double-play in the bottom of the first with nobody out and the bases loaded. Grounded into another in the third with nobody out and Utley on first. Flew to center with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh. 171/216/229 over his last 37 plate appearances.

Ruiz 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. 3-for-5 with a walk and a double since returning from the DL.

Brown 2-for-5 with an RBI, two strikeouts and six men left on base. Hit into a double-play with the bases loaded to end the fifth. Struck out swinging 2-2 with the bases loaded to end the sixth. He’s 6-for-his-last-15 with a walk.

Mayberry 1-for-5 with a double and a strikeout. 289/400/474 so far in September in 45 plate appearances after hitting 290/343/495 in August.

Martinez 1-for-3 with a double. Bunted Mayberry to third with the first out in the bottom of the seventh, which allowed Mayberry to score on the sac fly by Rollins. He’s 6-for-his-last-15 with two doubles.

Lee (4-7, 3.50) faces righty Josh Johnson (8-11, 3.81) this afternoon. Lee hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any of his last five outings and he’s thrown to a 2.08 ERA in those starts. The Phillies have won three games he’s started in a row. They were 4-12 in his first 16 starts on the year. Johnson has had one bad start in his last nine outings, throwing to a 2.76 ERA in those appearances. He has a 5.22 ERA in his 12 starts away from home and a 2.87 ERA in his 16 starts at home for the year.

Worley is kind of a disaster, too, but at least that one is a little slower moving and we’ve had some time to get used to it.

The Phillies fell to the Mets 9-5 in ten innings last night. Worley gave them another miserable start and was gone after just 4 1/3 innings. Solid work from the bullpen kept the Phils in the game for a while, but BJ Rosenberg got hammered in the top of the tenth, allowing four runs in the frame as the Mets blew the game open.

Howard and Utley paced the offense for the Phils. Howard hit a grand slam in the bottom of the first and Utley added a solo homer in the fifth.

Worley has been terrible since the end of June, making 11 starts in which he has thrown to a 5.80 ERA with a 1.83 ratio. In 59 innings he has allowed 86 hits. He suggests the bone chip in his right elbow is not a factor in recent results.

Domonic Brown also did some freaky stuff in left field you would really hope he could avoid. He sort of tippy-toed up to a single to left in the top of the first before unleashing a fantastic throw that arrived not quite in time, perhaps thanks in part to the tippy-toeing. In the eighth inning, playing towards left center, Brown took forever to get to a ball hit near the line, allowing a runner to score from first. He was removed for a defensive replacement in the top of the tenth and looks like he might get some additional time to rest his sore knee.

The Phillies are 61-68 after losing 9-5 to the New York Mets in ten innings last night. The loss snaps a four-game winning streak for the Phils. They remain in third place in the NL East, 16 1/2 games out of first.

Worley got the start for the Phillies and went 4 1/3 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, a double and a two-run homer. He struck out four.

Ruben Tejada and Daniel Murphy were the first two batters that Worley faced in the top of the first and they reached on a pair of singles that put runners on first and second. David Wright was next and singled to left. Tejada tried to score and slid in safe ahead of Brown’s throw — he was originally ruled out, but the home plate ump got some help from the other umps who saw Kratz had dropped the ball and the runner was clearly safe. 1-0 with men on first and second for Ike Davis. Davis flew to left for the first out. Lucas Duda was next and he lined to short with Rollins throwing to second to double off Murphy and end the inning.

Brown’s throw to the plate was great. Very strong and on target. The problem was he took a long time to get to the ball. It looks like he needs to take way too many little steps to get his body into the position he wants to be in to throw. When he does throw, the throw is often fantastic. Takes too long, though.

The Phillies led 4-1 when Kelly Shoppach started the second with a single. Shoppach took second on a passed ball, but Worley struck Mike Baxter out for the first out, Andres Torres out for the second and got the pitcher Chris Young on a fly ball to right to leave Shoppach there.

Murphy singled to center with one out in the third and took second on another passed ball by Kratz. Wright flew to center for the second out. Davis was next and hit a ball into shallow left field that Rollins took near the line after a long run to leave Murphy stranded.

Two passed balls in two innings for Kratz.

Duda singled to start the fourth. Shoppach was next and Worley struck him out swinging for the first out, but Baxter was next and lined the first pitch from Worley out to right for his first home run of the year. 4-3. Torres flew to center for the second out and the pitcher Young struck out for the third.

Worley joins Edinson Volquez on the list of people who have ever allowed a home run to Mike Baxter in a Major League game. In their collective defense, Baxter did hit 18 home runs in the PCL one year.

Tejada led off the fifth and doubled down the left field line on a ball interfered with by a fan. Muprhy moved him up to third with another single, putting runners on the corners for Wright. Wright hit a fly ball to center for the first out, deep enough for Tejada to tag and score, tying the game at 4-4. Valdes took over for Worley and got the next two to leave Murphy at first.

The Phils were back up 5-4 when Valdes set the Mets down in order in the sixth.

Valdes has been fantastic for the Phillies this season. He drops his ERA for the year to 2.93 with the outing. Among the 225 pitchers who have thrown at least 20 innings in the NL this year, his 0.75 ratio is fourth-best. He has an 0.96 ERA with an 0.43 ratio in 9 1/3 innings in his ten appearances in August.

Lindblom started the seventh and walked Scott Hairston to get things started. Tejada flew to left behind Hairston for the first out. Hariston was caught trying to steal second as Murphy struck out swinging to end the frame.

Lindblom was back to walk Wright to start the eighth. Bastardo came in to pitch to Davis and got him on a fly ball to right for the first out. Duda was next and Bastardo struck him out for the second. Shoppach was next and he dumped a ball down the left field line. Brown was playing towards left center and it took him a whole lot of time to get to the ball. Wright scored to tie the game at 5-5 with Shoppach at second. Baxter flew to left to leave Shoppach at second.

Second time in the game that Brown did something weird in left field. In the first, he seemed to take a whole lot of steps to get ready to make his strong throw to the plate. This time he was just super slow running to get the ball, presumably (we hope) cause he is still having problems with his knees.

Lindblom has walked way too many hitters and his walk to the leadoff man hurts the Phils as Wright comes around to score. He has now walked ten in 10 2/3 innings since joining the Phils while throwing to a 6.75 ERA.

Bastardo goes an inning, allowing a double and a run that is charged to Lindblom. He has a 7.01 ERA since the end of May.

Papelbon threw a 1-2-3 ninth with the score tied at 5-5.

Papelbon again not terrible in a tie game as he set New York down in order. He’s been charged with one earned run in 15 1/3 innings over his last 15 appearances.

Rosenberg started the tenth. Wright singled with one out. Davis followed and blasted a ball into the gap in left center, scoring Wright to make it 6-5. Duda followed that with a single into center. Davis scored (7-5) and Duda took second as the throw came home. Shoppach was next and he hit the first pitch he saw from Rosenberg out to left. 9-5. Rosenberg hit Baxter with a pitch and pitcher Bobby Parnell bunted Baxter to second with the second out. Hairston flew to center to set the Mets down.

Helpful guideline for deciding whether to use Horst or Rosenberg in the tenth inning of a tied game: Horst good, Rosenberg, not so much yet. Rosenberg was coming off four outings in a row without being charged with a run, but his ERA for the year is up to 12.66 after allowing four runs in an inning. He has a 4.29 ratio against left-handed hitter for the year — in 2 1/3 innings he has allowed three hits and walked seven.

The pen goes 5 2/3 innings in the game, allowing five runs on five hits and two walks. They did a nice job after Worley left after 4 1/3 until the tenth inning rolled around. Valdes and Papelbon were great. Lindblom and Bastardo combined to allow a run in two innings.

Valdes threw 26 pitches. Lindblom and Rosenberg each threw 18. Bastardo 15 and Papelbon 11.

The Phillies lineup against righty Chris Young went (1) Rollins (2) Frandsen (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Mayberry (6) Brown (7) Nix (8) Kratz. Brown returns to the lineup after getting two days off to rest his knee. He plays left with Nix in right — Brown’s UZR/150 numbers suggest he’s been a lot better defensively in left than in right in limited innings in 2012. Mayberry in center, where the same numbers suggest he’s awful (-38.3 UZR/150 in center coming into the game, which is 47th of the 47 players across both leagues with at least 200 innings in center this year). Kratz should be catching a lot with Schneider and Ruiz both on the DL, backed up by Steven Lerud, up from Double-A.

The Phillies were down 1-0 when they hit in the bottom of the first. The loaded the bases with nobody out on walks by Rollins and Utley and a hit by pitch to Frandsen. It brought Howard to the plate and he hit a 1-2 pitch into the Phillie bullpen for a grand slam that put the Phils on top 4-1. The Phillies went in order behind him.

Young didn’t look like he had a whole lot. The scoreboard was showing his fastball in the mid-80s.

Kratz singled to start the bottom of the second, but the Phils went in order behind him.

Mayberry walked with two outs in the third, but Brown popped to Wright to leave him at first.

It was 4-3 when Nix started the fourth with a single. Kratz was next and hit a ball handled by Young. Young threw to second to force Nix for the first out. Worley bunted Kratz to second with the second out, but Rollins flew to left to leave him there.

It was 4-4 when the Phils hit in the fifth. Frandsen flew to right for the first out before Utley hit a 2-1 pitch out to right, putting the Phils up 5-4. Lefty Robert Carson took over for Young and struck Howard out for the second out. Carson hit Mayberry with a pitch, but Brown grounded to short with Mayberry forced at second to end the inning.

Hit by pitch is kinda like a walk against a lefty for Mayberry, but not a walk. Mayberry is the only righty in the lineup from three (Utley) to seven (Nix). He can’t break up four lefties as the righty in the five-hole if he’s never going to get on base against lefties. He came into the game hitting .271 against lefties, but on-basing .273 against them with no walks in 132 plate appearances. The guy on-basing .273 isn’t going to strike a lot of terror into a team who thinks they’re going to bring in a lefty to go through two through seven in the lineup with a single reliever. More on that later.

Carson got Nix to fly to left for the first out in the sixth. Righty Ramon Ramirez got Kratz to pop to third for the second out. Polanco hit for Worley and grounded to short to end the inning.

Ramirez walked Rollins to start the seventh and struck Frandsen out behind him. Lefty Josh Edgin came in to pitch to Utley and got Utley to hit into a double-play to end the inning.

It was 5-5 when the Phillies hit in the eighth. Mayberry singled off of the lefty Edgin with one out. Brown was next and lined to right for the second. Nix stayed in and hit for himself against the lefty, drawing a walk on a 3-2 pitch to put runners on first and second. Righty Jon Rauch came in to pitch to Kratz and got Kratz on a fly ball to right to leave both runners stranded.

Another nice plate appearance for Nix against a lefty as he draws a walk off of Edgin. He’s now 2-for-6 with a walk, a double and a home run against lefties for the year.

Righty Bobby Parnell set the Phillies down in order in the ninth. Wigginton hit for Papelbon and grounded to second for the first out.

Wigginton doesn’t hit for Nix against the lefty in the eighth, then does hit against a righty in the ninth. The lefty Lerud and the switch-hitter Martinez were on the bench for the Phils and unused in the game.

The Phillies were down 9-5 when Utley singled off of Parnell to start the tenth. Parnell struck out Howard and Mayberry for the first two outs and got Pierre to ground to third to end the game.

Rollins was 0-for-3 in the game and walked twice. He came into the game 5-for-his-last-10.

Frandsen was 0-for-4. He’s 3-for-his-last-14.

Utley 2-for-4 with a walk and a home run. First home run since August 10.

Howard 1-for-5 with a grand slam and three strikeouts. 1-for-his-last-12.

Mayberry 1-for-3 with a walk. 7-for-his-last-17.

Brown 0-for-4 with some trouble in left. Pierre took over for him defensively in the top of the tenth inning. Let’s hope his knee is bothering him. A lot. He says that he does not feel bad at all.

Nix 1-for-3 with a walk. 4-for-his-last-11 with two walks.

Kratz 1-for-4 with two passed balls. Dropped the throw from Brown in the top of the first on a close play at the plate. 2-for-his-last-14 with two singles.

Hamels (14-6, 2.99) faces righty Matt Harvey (2-3, 2.75) tonight. Hamels has a 1.86 ERA with a 1.01 ratio in his five starts in August. The Phils will get their first look at the 23-year-old rookie Harvey. Harvey has made six starts on the season and only one of them has been bad — he allowed five runs in five innings against the Padres on August 5. He has a 1.74 ERA his other five starts with 38 strikeouts in 31 innings. Opponents are hitting just .186 against him for the year, but he’s walked 15 in 36 innings for the year.

Okay. John Mayberry and no walks against left-handed pitchers. Coming into last night’s game, Mayberry had 132 plate appearances against lefties in which he had walked zero times. Question of the day is when is the last time that a player for either league ended the season with 132 or more plate appearances against lefties in which they walked zero times (which, of course, Mayberry hasn’t done yet)? Answer for the day is that I hope you know, cause I don’t. Ivan Rodriguez came close in 2007, walking zero times in 126 plate appearances against lefties. In 1986, Angel Salazar walked zero times in 111. Rob Picciolo none in 115 in 1980. Good chance I missed someone, but my inefficient system of looking it up didn’t find anyone since 1980. Hopefully he’ll just get a walk against a lefty soon and we can all just forget about it.

Update: Hamels is ill, so Tyler Cloyd will start tonight. The righty Cloyd turned 25 in May and will be making his Major League debut. He was fantastic at Triple-A this year, throwing to a 2.35 ERA with a 1.01 ratio in 22 starts while allowing just 105 hits in 142 innings. Cloyd doesn’t throw real hard and doesn’t strike people out — he has 93 strikeouts in 142 innings at AAA this year.

He’s drawn light blue in the Start Log — hopefully a slightly different shade than Oswalt, Blanton, Freddy Garcia, Corey Lidle or Randy Wolf.

Please note that the Start Log helpfully points out the Phils merely need to play to a 1.030 winning percentage in their 33 remaining games to reach 95 wins for the season.

Update 2: This says Worley is out for the rest of the season.

Roy Halladay didn’t have it yet again last night, but the Phils didn’t need it as they pounded away at Cincinnati pitching for a 12-5 win.

The Phillies have won three in a row and scored 20 runs in their last two games. Prior to scoring 20 runs in their last two games, the Phillies had scored 52 runs in 17 games in August, which is about 3.06 runs per game. They are 13th in the NL in runs scored for the month.

Halladay allowed hits to the first four Cincy batters of the game as the Reds scored twice in the top of the first. Pierre doubled and stole a base in the bottom of the first, helping the Phils score a run to cut the lead to 2-1. Howard tied things at 2-2 with a solo shot in the third and Kratz put the Phils up 3-2 with another in the fourth. Halladay yielded three more runs in the fifth on four more hits, putting the Phils down 5-3 before they scored four times in the bottom of the inning with help from big blows by Utley, Mayberry and Brown. Mayberry hit a two-run homer in the seventh as the Phils scored three more to extend the lead to 10-5. Pierre and Kratz knocked in another pair of runs late as the Phils built their lead up to 12-5.

Halladay was far from sharp despite getting the win. Two bad innings for him in the game as he allowed five runs in the first and fifth combined on eight hits, including three doubles. Over his last two starts he has allowed eight runs in 14 innings.

The Phillies are 57-65 on the year after beating the Cincinnati Reds 12-5 last night. The Phils have won three in a row and are tied with the Mets for third place in the NL East. They are 19 games behind the first-place Nats and ten games out for a Wild Card spot. They have 40 games left to play.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went seven innings, allowing five runs on ten hits and a walk. Three of the hits went for extra-bases, all doubles. He struck out three.

Ten is the most hits that Halladay had allowed in a start since allowing 12 against the Braves on May 2. The Phillies scored 13 runs that night and lost. Last night they scored 12 and won.

Coming into the game, starters for the Phillies had thrown to a 3.38 ERA with a 1.08 ratio over the last 11 games. In those same 11 games, the bullpen had a 7.33 ERA with a 1.59 ratio.

Zack Cozart was the first hitter of the game and singled to center. Chris Heisey was next and moved Cozart up to second with a single to left. Brandon Phillips was next and loaded the bases with a single to right. It brought Jay Bruce to the plate and he crushed a ball off the wall in right. Cozart scored to make it 1-0, but Heisey stopped between third and home, then went home and was thrown out by a lot for the first out. With one down and men on second and third, Scott Rolen grounded to third. Polanco went to first for the second out, Phillips scored (2-0) and Bruce held second. Halladay struck out Xavier Paul to leave Bruce stranded.

Not a good start for Halladay. Three singles and a double to the first four batters. Heisey gives him the first out of the inning at the plate cause he and Phillips can’t both be on third at the same time.

It was 2-1 when Halladay started the second. He set the Reds down in order, striking Miguel Cairo out for the first out, getting Devin Mesoraco on a ground ball to third for the second and pitcher Mike Leake on another grounder to third for the third.

Halladay set the Reds down in order again in the third.

It was 2-2 when Halladay walked Bruce to start the fourth. He got the next three to turn Cincinnati away.

The Phils led 3-2 when Mesoraco started the fifth with a double to left. Leake bunted him to third with the first out and Halladay struck Cozart out swinging for the second. Looked liked Halladay was going to get out of it, but Heisey doubled down the third base line and Mesoraco scored. 3-3. Phillips was next and moved Heisey up to third with an infield single. Bruce followed that with as single to right, scoring Heisey (4-3) and sending Phillips to third. With Rolen at the plate, Kratz threw to first and the Phils had Bruce caught up between first and second. Howard threw to second and his throw was terrible. Utley had to made a nice diving effort to keep the ball from going into left. He got to his feet as Phillips stormed home. He looked at the plate, but there was no chance to get Phillips, who scored to make it 5-3. Bruce was eventually tagged out in the rundown to end the inning.

Miserable throw by Howard gets the Reds another run, but Halladay also gives up four more hits, including two doubles, in the frame. After the Cozart strikeout, Cincy had no runs, a man on third and two outs and looked like they were going to be kept off the board. Instead Halladay gives up three hits to the next three men he faces and allows three runs.

The Phillies led 7-5 when Rolen started the sixth with a single. Paul grounded to second with Rolen forced at second for the first out and Kratz threw him out trying to steal second for the second. Halladay got Cairo on a fly ball to center for the third.

It was 10-5 when Halladay started the seventh. Todd Frazier singled with one out, but Halladay got Cozart to ground into a double-play behind him.

BJ Rosenberg started the eighth. Heisey led off and singled to right. Phillips followed and hit a ground ball to third. Polanco went to second for the first out, but Utley’s relay wasn’t close to getting Phillips to complete the double-play. Bastardo came in to pitch to the lefty Bruce. Bruce smashed a ball to first that Howard couldn’t handle. Bruce had a single and Phillips moved up to second. Bastardo stayed in to pitch to the righty Rolen and struck him out looking 1-2 for the second out. Bastardo struck Paul out looking 0-2 to leave the runners at first and second.

Howard was holding Phillips on when Bruce hammered the ball at him, but it would have been a nice one to have.

Rosenberg drops his ERA on the year to 12.38 by facing two hitters and allowing a single. He had allowed five runs in 1 1/3 innings over his two previous outings combined, so I guess that’s progress.

Bastardo was pitching for the first time since August 8 and allowed a single before striking out the next two hitters he faced. He has a 7.66 ERA in his 26 appearances since the end of May. In those 26 appearances he’s allowed six homers and 13 walks in 22 1/3 innings. Opponents have hit just .244 against him and he’s struck out 34.

Lindblom started the ninth with the Phils up 12-5. Righty Wilson Valdez hit for the pitcher Logan Ondrusek and struck out for the first out, dropping his average on the year to .203. Mesoraco fouled out to Rollins for the second out. Lindblom walked Frazier and Frazier took second without a throw. Cozart flew to right to end the game.

Eighth appearance of the year for Lindblom with the Phillies. 9.00 ERA and a 2.00 ratio in those outings, three of which have been bad. Opponents have hit just .217 against him since he joined the Phils, but with a .400 on-base percentage thanks largely to the seven walks he’s allowed in six innings. He’s also given up two home runs in six frames.

Two scoreless innings for the pen in which they allow two singles and a walk while striking out three. Lindblom threw 30 pitches in the game, Bastardo ten and Rosenberg two.

The Phillies lineup against righty Mike Leake went (1) Rollins (2) Pierre (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Mayberry (6) Brown (7) Polanco (8) Kratz. Polanco is activated from the DL and returns to the starting lineup with Frandsen on the bench and Luna back in Triple-A. Kratz catches. Rollins comes into the game on-basing .314 against righties for the year. Mayberry hits fifth against the righty, breaking up lefties 2-4 and six.

Pierre doubled to left with one out in the bottom of the first and the Phils down 2-0. He stole third before Utley lined to second for the second out. Howard was next and he singled to center, scoring Pierre to make it 2-1. Mayberry grounded to third to end the inning.

Big two out hit for Howard after Utley lines out for the second out with a man on third.

Pierre and Utley went down to start the third before Howard hit a 2-2 pitch out to right, tying the game at 2-2. Mayberry flew to right for the third out.

Utley hit the ball hard, but Cairo handled it and tossed to Leake covering first for the second out. Eighth homer of the year for Howard.

With two outs in the fourth, Kratz hit a 2-0 pitch out to left center, putting the Phils up 3-2. Halladay struck out swinging behind him.

Seven home runs for Kratz in 72 plate appearances. Second start in a row in which he has homered.

The Phillies were down 5-3 when they hit in the fifth. Pierre singled to center with one out and scored when Utley followed with a double to left. 5-4. The righty Leake walked Howard intentionally to pitch to the righty Mayberry. Mayberry singled to left. Utley scored (5-5) and Howard went to third. Brown was next and cleared the bases with a double to right, putting the Phils up 7-5. Righty Sam LeCure came in to pitch to Polanco and got him on a pop to first for the second out. Kratz was walked intentionally, putting men on first and second for Halladay. Halladay grounded to third to end the inning.

Third time in the game that Utley hit the ball well and his first hit.

This lineup for the Phillies is terrible. Two is too many intentional walks in the same inning. Mayberry hitting behind Howard probably doesn’t look real scary to a team with a righty on the mound. Mayberry came up big in the game, though, singling in the fifth after the intentional walk to Howard and adding two more hits, including a homer.

Rollins started the sixth with a double. Pierre was next and bunted. The Reds didn’t get an out anywhere and the Phils had runners on the corners. Righty Jose Arredondo took over for LeCure and Utley flew to left for the first out, deep enough for Rollins to score from third. 8-5. Pierre stole second as Howard struck out swinging for the second out. It brought Mayberry to the plate and he lined a 2-0 pitch down the left field line and out. 10-5. Brown struck out swinging to end the inning.

Second big hit for Mayberry against a righty in two innings. Didn’t matter in the inning, but Pierre has now stolen 31 bases and been caught just five times.

Righty Logan Ondrusek walked Polanco to start the seventh and hit Kratz behind him. Nix hit for Halladay and struck out looking for the first out. Rollins was next and grounded to third with Kratz forced at second for the second out. With two outs and men on the corners, Pierre reached on an infield single, scoring Polanco (11-5) and moving Rollins up to second. Utley flew to center to leave the runners on first and second.

Big two-out hit for Pierre gets the Phils another run. Nix strikes out against the righty for the first out of the inning after the Phils put their first two men on. He’s hitting 211/297/316 with 22 strikeouts in his last 64 plate appearances.

Mayberry singled off of Ondrusek with one out in the eighth and Brown walked behind him. Polanco followed with a single into center that loaded the bases for Kratz. Kratz flew to center for the second out with Mayberry scoring to make it 12-5. With men on first and third, Nix grounded to second to end the inning.

Rollins was 1-for-5 with a double in the game. He’s hitting 169/244/380 in August. 2-for-his-last-24 with no walks.

Pierre was 3-for-4 with a double and two stolen bases. 9-for-his-last-24 (.375). His isolated power for the year is .068 — he’s only had one year since 2006 when it’s been better (.084 in ’09 with LA). One walk in his last 54 plate appearances.

Utley 1-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Twice hit the ball hard into outs. 4-for-his-last-10 with three walks and two doubles. Hitting just .218 against lefties for the year, but with a 263/383/505 line against righties. He also has a weird power split on home and away — his isolated power at home for the year is .342 and away it is .115.

Howard 2-for-4 with a walk and a home run. 323/354/581 over his last 65 plate appearances.

Mayberry 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI. Victorino and Pence played their last games with the Phillies on July 29. Since then, Mayberry has hit 274/328/484 in 67 plate appearances.

Brown 1-for-4 with a walk and a double. He has five extra-base hits in 81 plate appearances, all of which are doubles. About as much power for the year as Pierre. Pierre’s isolated power for the season in .068. Brown is hitting .268 with a slugging percentage of .338, giving him an isolated power of .070.

Polanco 2-for-4 with a walk in his first action since July 22.

Kratz 2-for-2 with a walk and a home run. Seven home runs in 72 plate appearances would give him about 58 over 600 plate appearances.

Lee (2-7, 3.83) faces righty Homer Bailey (10-8, 4.16) tonight. Lee has thrown to a 4.37 ERA in his three starts in August, but hasn’t walked a batter in 22 2/3 innings. Opponents have hit .385 against Bailey over his last four starts and he’s thrown to an 8.24 ERA.

The bullpen collapsed again last night, allowing six runs after the sixth inning as the Braves hammered the Phils 12-6.

The worse news is that Josh Lindblom, who many hope will play a big role in turning things around in a miserable bullpen, was at the center of the collapse.

Jimmy Rollins hit Tim Hudson’s first pitch of the bottom of the first out to right for his fourth home run in the last nine games, giving the Phils an early 1-0 lead. Kendrick had a miserable outing, though, allowing six runs and not making it out of the fourth inning. The Phils went into the bottom of the fifth down 6-1, but mounted a rally that included back-to-back doubles from Rollins and Brown and a three-run homer from Howard to tie the game at 6-6. Bastardo and Lindblom were terrible in the seventh, allowing four runs as the Phils fell behind to stay. Lindblom came back to face three batters to start the eighth and all three of them reached base — two would come around to score as LA tacked another pair of runs onto their lead.

It looked like the Phils were going to get out of the seventh with the game still tied at 6-6. Bastardo got the first two men he faced before Atlanta loaded the bases on a double and two walks (one of which was intentional). Lindblom came in to face righty Dan Uggla with two outs, the bases loaded and the game still tied. Uggla won that battle in a big way, clearing the bases with a three-run double down the left field line.

Bastardo has had a miserable season. Lindblom hasn’t had much success in his initial outings with the Phillies, either. His 10.32 ERA after four appearances won’t go very far towards easing the nervousness some fans had about his 5.32 ERA away from Dodger Stadium when he joined the Phils.

Oh, and the Phillies just can’t beat the Braves. At all. The Phils are 13-11 since the All-Star break — 1-5 against the Braves and 12-6 against everyone else. They were also swept by Atlanta in a three-game series in Atlanta in their final set before the break. So they’re 1-8 over the last nine against the Braves and the one took an outstanding pitching performance by Hamels.

The Phillies are 50-61 on the year after losing to the Atlanta Braves 12-6 last night. The Braves take the series two games to one. The Phils are all alone in last place in the NL East again, 18 games out of first.

Kendrick got the start for the Phillies and went 3 1/3 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits and three walks. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, a double and a home run. He struck out one.

He has a 5.01 ERA in his 15 starts for the year.

Michael Bourn was the first hitter of the game and singled to center, but Kendrick got Martin Prado to bounce into a double-play behind him. Jason Heyward grounded to second behind Prado.

Kendrick started the second up 1-0. Freddie Freeman walked with one out and moved to second on a single by Dan Uggla. A wild pitch moved the runners up to second and third before David Ross grounded to short for the second out with Freeman scoring (1-1) and Uggla moving up to third. Kendrick walked Paul Janish, putting two men on for the pitcher Tim Hudson and Hudson cleared the bases with a double to center. 3-1. Kendrick walked Bourn to put two men on before Prado singled to right. Hudson scored to make it 4-1 and Bourn moved up to third. Heyward popped to Rollins for the third out.

Ugly inning for Kendrick. He still had allowed just one run and had a runner on third with two outs and the eight-hitter coming to the plate. He walked Janish, though, and the pitcher hit a two-run double.

Three walks in the frame for Kendrick. That’s too many.

Uggla singled with two outs in the third. Kendrick got Ross on a grounder to short for the third out.

Janish led off the fourth with a single to left on a ball deflected by Frandsen. Hudson tried to bunt Janish to second, but struck out for the first out. Bourn was next and hit a 1-2 pitch out to right center, putting the Braves up 6-1. Valdes took over for Kendrick and got Prado and Heyward to end the frame.

Ninth homer of the year for Bourn.

Valdes was back for the fifth and set Atlanta down in order.

Another solid outing for Valdes. He’s appeared twice for the Phillies this month and been good both times, throwing three shutout innings without allowing a hit or a walk while striking out five.

Schwimer pitched the sixth with the game tied at 6-6 and threw a 1-2-3 frame. Lefty Eric Hinske hit for the pitcher Cory Gearrin and struck out swinging for the third out.

Schwimer has a 2.01 ERA over 22 1/3 innings in his last 22 appearances.

Bastardo started the seventh and got the first two before Heyward doubled to center. Chipper Jones was walked intentionally to get to the lefty Freeman behind him. Bastardo didn’t get a call a 1-2 pitch that was close on the outside of the plate and went on to walk Freeman. Lindblom came on to pitch to the righty Uggla. Uggla hit an 0-1 pitch down the line and into the left field corner, clearing the bases and putting Atlanta on top 9-6. Ross was next and hit a ball to third that should have ended the frame, but Frandsen’s throw to first was in the dirt. Howard tried to scoop it but didn’t. Frandsen was charged with an error that kept the inning alive, Uggla scored and it was 10-6. Ross stole second before Janish grounded to third to end the frame.

Awful. Two outs, nobody on and five straight Braves reach base on two doubles, two walks and an error. Bastardo walks the switch-hitter Jones to get to the lefty behind him and then walks the lefty. Lindblom comes in to the game and immediately crumples, giving up the three-run double to Uggla.

Howard should have handled the throw by Frandsen.

Bastardo’s ERA for the year is up to 5.45 with the outing. He has a 7.61 ERA over his last 27 outings. Opponents have hit just .253 against him in those appearances, but he has walked 14 and allowed six home runs in 23 2/3 innings.

Lindblom walked Tyler Pastornicky to start the eighth and Pastornicky came around to score when Bourn followed with a double. 11-6. Lindblom walked Prado, putting two men on for the lefty Heyward and Horst came in to face Heyward. Heyward flew to center for the first out with the runners moving up to second and third. The Phillies again walked Chipper intentionally, loading the bases for Freeman. Freeman went down on a ball handled by Horst for the second out with Bourn scoring from third. 12-6. Horst walked Uggla to load the bases again, but struck Ross out to leave them loaded.

Twice in two innings is too many times to walk Chipper Jones intentionally.

Miserable outing for Lindblom. He came into the game with two outs and the bases loaded and allowed a three-run double. In the eighth he faced three hitters and allowed two walks and a double. He has a 10.13 ERA and a 2.63 ratio in his four appearances with the Phillies so far.

Horst set the Braves down in order in the ninth.

Horst goes two innings in the game, allowing no hits but two walks. He has a 1.29 ERA with a 1.14 ratio in 14 innings with the Phillies. A lot of walks (six in 14 innings), but opponents are hitting just .204 against him and he has not allowed a home run. With two Triple-A teams from 2011 to 2012, he allowed just five home runs in 89 2/3 innings.

Overall the pen goes 5 2/3 innings in the game, allowing six runs on three hits and six walks. Only five of the runs were earned due to the Frandsen throwing error. Six is too many to walk in 5 2/3 innings. Two of the three hits the bullpen allowed went for extra-bases, both doubles.

Second time in the three-game set the bullpen has to throw more than five innings in the game. Worley exited early in game one and the pen allowed two runs over 5 1/3.

The Hamels complete game and the off-day today will help get the pen some rest. Horst threw 32 pitches in the game. Lindblom 22 and Bastardo 20.

The Phillies lineup against righty Tim Hudson went (1) Rollins (2) Brown (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Mayberry (6) Schierholtz (7) Kratz (8) Frandsen. Kratz catches against the righty with Schneider on the DL. Frandsen keeps on playing third. Lefty veterans Nix and Pierre keep watching while Brown, Mayberry and Schierholtz man the outfield.

Rollins hit Hudson’s first pitch of the bottom of the first out to right, putting the Phils up 1-0. Howard singled with two outs, but Mayberry grounded to third to end the inning.

Down 4-1, the Phillies went in order in the second.

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

It was 6-1 when the Phillies hit in the fourth. Mayberry and Schierholtz walked back-to-back with two outs, but Kratz struck out to leave them both stranded.

Any inning in which Mayberry and Schierholtz both walk should count as a run for the Phillies.

Frandsen singled to right to start the fifth. Pierre hit for Valdes and flew to right for the first out. Rollins was next and he doubled to right with Frandsen scoring to make it 6-2. Brown was next and lined a ball into center. Rollins scored from second (6-3) and Brown went for two, sliding in just safe. Utley was hit by a pitch, putting two men on for Howard. Howard hit a 2-2 pitch out to left-center, tying the game at 6-6. Mayberry was next and drew a walk. Lefty Luis Avilan took over for Hudson and Schierholtz flew to center for the second out. Mayberry went to second on a passed ball with Kratz at the plate before Kratz drove one to deep center. A jumping Bourn tracked it down at the wall to end the inning.

Schierholtz hit his ball to center well also. Second walk in three innings for Mayberry.

Righty Chad Durbin, set the Phillies down in order in the sixth, dropping his ERA on the year to 3.07. Martinez hit for Schwimer with one out and tried to bunt for a hit. Durbin fielded and applied a not particularly gentle tag in front of first base to record the out.

Lefty Jonny Venters set Brown, Utley and Howard down in order in the seventh with Atlanta up 10-6.

Lefties 2-3-4 in the order for the Phils allow a single left-handed reliever to go through all three. Brown struck out for the first out of the frame. He has struck out just twice in 32 plate appearances so far.

Lefty Eric O’Flaherty pitched the eighth. Kratz walked with two outs and moved to second when Frandsen followed with a single. Nix struck out swinging to leave both runners stranded.

Nix against a lefty isn’t really what you’re looking for there. The Phils are pretty low on right-handed hitters on their bench these days.

Down 12-6, the Phils went 1-2-3 in the ninth. Wigginton hit for Horst and struck out swinging for the second out.

Rollins was 2-for-5 with a double, a home run and three strikeouts in the game. 4-for-12 in the series with a walk, two doubles and a home run. 248/306/414 for the season. Over his first 234 plate appearances of the year, Rollins hit .237 and slugged .312. That’s an isolated power of .075. Over his last 251 plate appearances, he has hit .258 and slugged .511. That’s an isolated power of .253. There are seven players in the NL this season who have at least 300 plate appearances and an isolated power better than .253 for the year.

Brown 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI. 3-for-10 with a walk and two doubles in the set. 286/375/393 after 32 plate appearances for the year.

Utley 0-for-4 last night and 1-for-12 with a double and a hit by pitch in the series. 246/348/375 on the year. 264/409/566 over his last 66 plate appearances.

Howard 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, his second big home run in the series. 3-for-12 with two home runs and five RBI in the set. 213/300/438 for the season in 100 plate appearances. He’s hitting .176 against lefties and has struck out in about 47.4% of his plate appearances against them.

Mayberry 0-for-2 and walked twice. 1-for-10 with two walks and a home run in the series. He’s started nine games in a row and posted a 250/333/438 line over 36 plate appearances. 232/277/391 for the year.

Schierholtz 0-for-3 with a walk. 3-for-10 with a walk and a double in the series. 280/321/440 in 29 plate appearances with the Phils.

Kratz 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. 2-for-6 with a walk and a double in the series. 371/436/857 in 39 plate appearances for the year.

Frandsen 2-for-4 with a throwing error. 4-for-10 with a walk in the series. He’s started the last ten games in a row at third base for the Phillies. 306/342/389 for the year. Not sure what the long term plan is here, cause he’s 30 and has hit more than six home runs in a season once (he hit 13 in 2009 with an assist to the PCL).

The Phillies are off today and start a series with the Cardinals tomorrow.

The next update to Philliesflow will be around August 21.

The Phillies looked as good in game two of their set with the Braves as they had looked bad in game one. Hamels was fantastic, throwing a complete-game shutout as the Phils topped Atlanta 3-0.

The Phillies had scored all the runs they would get in the game by the time they sent their fourth hitter to the plate in the bottom of the first. Rollins and Brown doubled back-to-back for the first run and Howard plated Brown with a two-run homer.

By Game Score, it was the best start for Hamels since July 22, 2010 and the best start for the Phillies since Blanton’s outing against the Braves on May 3.

The Phillies are 50-60 on the year after beating the Atlanta Braves 3-0 last night. The teams have split the first two games of the series. The Phils have won three of their last four games. They’re 5-3 over their last eight games despite scoring an average of just 3.13 runs per game over those eight.

Hamels got the start for the Phillies and threw a complete game shutout, allowing five singles and no walks while striking out six.

The start came at a good time for the Phils, a day after the pen had to throw 5 1/3 innings in relief of Worley.

Hamels set the Braves down in order in the top of the first.

Hamels started the second with a 3-0 lead. Chipper Jones led off with a single to center, but Hamels struck out Freddie Freeman for the first out. Brian McCann was next and hit a double-play ball to second. Utley gloved it, but had trouble getting it out of his glove and then bounced the toss to Rollins at second. Rollins made a great play, picking the ball on the bounce and throwing to first to complete the double-play.

Hamels set the Braves down in order in the third and again in the fourth.

With two outs in the fifth, McCann hit a ball into the corner in left. Brown got to it quickly and made a good throw to second where McCann was just out to end the frame.

Nice throw by Brown. Second outfield assist.

Hamels got ‘em 1-2-3 again in the sixth.

Bourn bunted for a single to start the seventh. Martin Prado fouled out to Howard for the first out. Heyward struck out swinging for the second. Chipper flew to Mayberry for the third.

Freeman singled to center to start the eighth. McCann popped to Utley for the first out and Reed Johnson grounded into a double-play behind him.

Hamels started the ninth having thrown 93 pitches. He allowed a one-out single to righty Tyler Pastornicky, who was pinch-hitting for the pitcher Cory Gearrin, but struck Bourn out for the second out and Prado on a ground ball to Rollins to end the game.

The Phillies lineup against lefty Mike Minor went (1) Rollins (2) Brown (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Mayberry (6) Kratz (7) Schierholtz (8) Frandsen. Moral victory alert — no sign of Martinez. Lefties Schierholtz, Brown, Utley and Howard all stay in the lineup against the lefty. Righties Frandsen and Kratz at third and catcher. Brown hits second.

Rollins doubled to left to start the bottom of the first. Brown was next and lined a ball into center for a hit. Rollins scored to put the Phils up 1-0. Brown went for two and slid in just safe when Prado dropped the ball as he tried to apply the tag. Utley flew to center for the first out, but Howard followed and hit a 1-2 pitch out to center, putting the Phils up 3-0. Mayberry struck out and Kratz grounded to first to set the Phillies down.

Rollins gets it started with a double and then the lefties Brown and Howard come through against the lefty.

Brown made a mistake going for two and would have been out if Prado handled the throw cleanly. He also probably should have tagged up and gone to third on Utley’s ball to center.

Schierholtz lined a single to left to start the second. Frandsen popped to second for the first out before Hamels bunted Schierholtz to second with the second. Rollins flew to right to leave the runner stranded.

Brown walked to start the third, but the Phillies went in order behind him.

Kratz doubled to left to start the fourth, but again the Phillies went in order after the leadoff man reached base. Schierholtz struck out swinging for the first out. Frandsen was next and hit a ball well to center, but Bourn made a nice running play at the wall for the second out. Kratz tagged and moved up to third. Hamels struck out swinging to leave him there.

Rollins walked to start the fifth. The Phillies went in order behind him. Janish made a nice play for the first out on a ball hit up the middle by Brown. The ball was not hit very hard and Janish took it on the second base side of second base and tagged the bag to force Rollins.

It was the fourth straight inning in which the Phillies had put their leadoff runner on base without scoring a run.

Kratz and Schierholtz singled back-to-back with one out in the sixth. Frandsen grounded into a double-play with men on first and second to end the inning.

The Phils went in order in the seventh.

Lefty Luis Avilan started the eighth and got Utley and Howard for the first two outs. Righty Cory Gearrin came in to pitch to Mayberry. Mayberry hammered a ball to left, but Johnson made a nice play, catching the ball as he ran into the wall in left for the third out.

Rollins was 1-for-3 with a walk and a double. He came into the series 3-for-his-last-29, but is 2-for-7 with a double and a walk so far.

Brown 1-for-3 with a walk and a double. Made a nice throw to get McCann in the fifth. Stretched his single to a double in the first, but would have been out by a lot if Prado had handled the ball cleanly. Hits the ball back up the middle a whole lot and continues to be non-terrible or better defensively.

Utley was 0-for-4. First game without a hit in August.

Howard 1-for-4 with three strikeouts and a two-run homer. He’s hitting .196 in his last 56 at-bats with 26 strikeouts.

Mayberry 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Hit the ball well to the wall in left in the eighth. He’s started eight straight games, hitting 267/313/467 in 32 plate appearances.

Kratz 2-for-3 with a double. 13-for-his-last-29 with three walks, five doubles and four home runs.

Schierholtz 2-for-3. He’s 3-for-7 with a double so far in the series and 7-for-22 with a walk, a double and a homer since joining the Phillies (318/333/500).

Frandsen was 0-for-3 and left four men on base. Hit a ball well to center with two outs and two men on in the fourth, but Bourn tracked it down at the wall.

Kendrick (4-9, 4.45) faces righty Tim Hudson (11-4, 3.45) tonight. Kendrick has a 4.54 ERA in his 14 starts this year. He’s dropped his ERA overall for the season from 5.35 to 4.45 by allowing two earned runs over his last 19 innings pitched. Hudson has a 2.58 ERA over his last six outings. The Braves are 8-1 over his last nine starts.