You can’t blame this on on Brad Lidge. Or even Matt Stairs for that matter.
Stairs broke an 0-for-30 skid in the ninth inning with a pinch-hit grand slam, but it was not enough as the Phils rally fell short.
They scratched back after being down 8-2, but still lost 8-7 after Ryan Howard bounced into a double-play with runners on first and second.
The bullpen didn’t let the Phils down last night. The fingerprints on this one belong to starter Joe Blanton.
Blanton has been the Phils’ most consistent pitcher over the course of the season, but he got roughed up by the lowly Nats.
Among those who noticed was Charlie Manuel, who was not even a little bit happy after the Phils failed to sweep in D.C.
Manuel didn’t exactly mince words.
“We’ve been getting outplayed by second division teams,” the steamed skipper said. “We don’t put nobody away.”
That would include the Marlins. Don’t look now, but that blip in the rear-view mirror is Florida, who won again last night and now trail the Phils by just five games.
The Phils return home to a soggy Citizens Bank Park tonight to kick off a series against the Mets.
They will send Cole Hamels to the mound. They need their ace to pitch like one.
Now is the time for Hamels to reclaim his spot atop the Phils’ rotation.
A complete game - alleviating at least for one night the closer question
- would go a long way toward that goal.
Stairs broke an 0-for-30 skid in the ninth inning with a pinch-hit grand slam, but it was not enough as the Phils rally fell short.
They scratched back after being down 8-2, but still lost 8-7 after Ryan Howard bounced into a double-play with runners on first and second.
The bullpen didn’t let the Phils down last night. The fingerprints on this one belong to starter Joe Blanton.
Blanton has been the Phils’ most consistent pitcher over the course of the season, but he got roughed up by the lowly Nats.
Among those who noticed was Charlie Manuel, who was not even a little bit happy after the Phils failed to sweep in D.C.
Manuel didn’t exactly mince words.
“We’ve been getting outplayed by second division teams,” the steamed skipper said. “We don’t put nobody away.”
That would include the Marlins. Don’t look now, but that blip in the rear-view mirror is Florida, who won again last night and now trail the Phils by just five games.
The Phils return home to a soggy Citizens Bank Park tonight to kick off a series against the Mets.
They will send Cole Hamels to the mound. They need their ace to pitch like one.
Now is the time for Hamels to reclaim his spot atop the Phils’ rotation.
A complete game - alleviating at least for one night the closer question
- would go a long way toward that goal.
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