Nine and a half back - and out

Nine and half games out.

On July 1.

That's where the Phillies stand this morning as they limp back across the country after a disastrous weekend in Los Angeles.

The Phils exploded for 16 runs on Friday night. Unfortunately, that was their sole win of the weekend, dropping the other three games. Yesterday, in another listless effort, they got hammered, 6-1. You can read the game story here.

Ryan Howard was 0-for-4 with his strikeouts after getting a few days off to clear his head. So much for that option. He has now gone without a hit in his last 20 at-bats, and struck out 11 times in the process.

The Phillies are five games  under .500. They make a pit stop in Pittsburgh on the way home to play three games against the Bucs starting Tuesday night, then finally make it back home for 10 games before the All-Star break. They kick off that series at Citizens Bank Park with four games against the first-place Braves.

If they're not dead yet, that could bury them. They're not giving many signs of life.

Yesterday they had a little injury heaped on to the insults, when starter Kyle Kendrick got plunked in the helmet. He may have suffered a concusssion.

Not much has gone right for the Phils this year.

Don't look for that to change simply because they're back on the East Coast.

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