There was something oddly missing from last night's Phillies game.
No, not their offense, which once again for the most part took the night off.
Not the fact that they fell behind early again. And not the fact that after a shaky first inning, they got another decent outing from rookie Jonathon Pettibone.
Not the fact that by losing they once again failed to scratch back to the .500 mark. Instead, they again fell back down the hill, dropping two games under .500.
There was something else missing last night.
You might call it the missing "Piece."
That's right. Ryan Howard got the night off. The Big Piece was not in the starting lineup. Instead, Kevin Frandsen manned first base. This on a night when they were trying to stack their lineup with right-handed hitters to face southpaw Franklin Morales.
Dennis Deitch has the details on the game.
Still, isn't this a game you need to have Howard as the anchor in your lineup?
Maybe Howard's knee, which caused him to get a cortisone shot earlier this week, is bothering him more than originally thought.
I have to think that's the reason. Either that or the Phils thought they had a better shot of getting to the .500 mark without Howard in the lineup.
And that tells you a lot about this team and why it continues to tread water, bobbing around the .500 mark, or rather just under it.
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