Phillies Stave Off Cubs For The Win

GAME RECAP: Phillies Control Cubs 3-2

The Phillies needed brilliant efforts from Jerad Eickhoff and Jeanmar Gomez to beat the Cubs on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park. Both delivered in a 3-2 victory over Chicago, preventing a season sweep, as the teams play the series and season finales Wednesday. Eickhoff allowed just two hits, one run, two walks and struck out eight over seven innings to give the Phillies just their fifth victory in their last 18 games. The Cubs threatened in the eighth inning when they loaded the bases with no outs, but Gomez replaced Hector Neris and allowed only one run to score to work out of the jam as he picked up his Major League-leading 19th save. "Wow," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "That was just a little loss for the Cubs, but it was a huge morale booster for us." Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard homered in his first start since May 31 to help the Phillies' offense. "It's good," Howard said. "I wasn't thinking about the week or the past 10 days, I was just thinking about that moment. I got a good pitch to hit, he hung me a breaking ball and I was able to hit it out."

PHILS PHACTS:

• Eickhoff pitched a gem in a game the Phillies sorely needed. It was just the third time this season a starter had pitched seven or more innings and allowed one or fewer runs against the high-octane Cubs offense. Eickhoff, who has a 2.76 ERA (10 earned runs in 32 2/3 innings) in his last five starts, struck out six of seven batters at one point. "He just made pitches," Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward said. "All night I feel like we had good at-bats, got to 3-2 counts a lot. He was able to make some pitches and that was kinda it. We faced him recently. Hitters adjust, but he was able to make an adjustment tonight.
• Things looked bleak for the Phillies in the eighth when the Cubs loaded the bases with no outs, thanks to a Cesar Hernandez error and a couple hits allowed by Neris. But Gomez entered the game to pick up a six-out save and came up big. He allowed a sacrifice fly for the first out. Jason Heyward then hit a smash to Andres Blanco, who had just replaced Hernandez at second base. Blanco flipped the ball to Freddy Galvis, who threw to first to complete an incredible inning-ending and game-saving double play. "I said, this is the guy I want to face the top of that lineup right now," Galvis said about Gomez. "He trusts his stuff. His ball has a lot of movement right now. He controls the ball. That's why he is so good."
• "Nobody believes it. I was talking to Whitey [Blanco] and Jeanmar. This is going to sound weird, but he has no emotions. He's like really chill when he pitches." -- Galvis, on what has made Gomez so effective as the team's closer.
• Howard has been a hot topic of conversation lately as Mackanin benched him last week and a fan threw a beer bottle at him Saturday. But Howard, starting for the first time since May 31, hit a solo home run to right-center field in the fourth inning to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. It was his 366th career homer, which ties him with Lance Berkman for 80th on the all-time list.
• Cubs reliever Clayton Richard caught Odubel Herrera between first and second on a pickoff move in the eighth inning. Herrera sped toward second after Richard tossed the ball to first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo fired a throw to beat Herrera to second, but Herrera dodged Zobrist's tag. The Cubs challenged and it took 2 minutes, 45 seconds to uphold the call. Maddon is now 7-for-15 on challenges this season.

NEXT GAME:

Phillies right-hander Vince Velasquez starts the series finale at 1:05 p.m. ET against the Cubs. Velasquez (5-2, 3.67 ERA) has not pitched more than five innings in each of his previous four starts, posting a 6.00 ERA.

PHILS PHACTS:

There’s A New Hoff In Town – If the Phillies had any chance to beat the Cubs this season, they needed one of their starting pitchers to pitch nearly perfectly. Jerad Eickhoff came close Tuesday night in a 3-2 victory at Citizens Bank Park. He allowed two hits, one run, two walks and struck out eight in seven innings. It was just the third time this season a starter had allowed one or fewer runs in seven or more innings against the high-octane Cubs offense. "That's as good as he's been all year," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. Eickhoff struck out seven batters through four innings. He struck out the side in the fourth, giving him six strikeouts in seven at-bats. It helped that he showed the Cubs a bit of a different look. Eickhoff threw a career-high 28 sliders. His previous high had been 25, which came in his previous start. He struck out three batters on the pitch Tuesday. He had struck out just five batters on sliders the entire season entering the night. Eickhoff's best pitch is his curveball. He entered the game with 40 strikeouts on that pitch. But the slider was working well Tuesday, so he kept with it. It has been a conscious effort on his part. It began a few starts ago following a conversation with Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure, and another talk with Phillies broadcaster Larry Andersen. Eickhoff threw his slider just 6.1 percent of the time in April and 14 percent of the time in May. That number is up to 26.6 percent through two June starts. "That was kind of the spark," Eickhoff said. "To key them off my fastball and curveball. It's a huge thing to think about, just a third pitch for the hitters."

Tough Save – Freddy Galvis looked up at the scoreboard in the top of the eighth inning Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park to see exactly who Phillies closer Jeanmar Gomez needed to beat with the bases loaded and no outs to pick up his 19th save of the season. He had to face the top of the Cubs' lineup with the Phillies holding a two-run lead. "I said, this is the guy I want to face the top of that lineup right now," Galvis said after a dramatic 3-2 victory. "He trusts his stuff. His ball has a lot of movement right now. He controls the ball. That's why he is so good." Gomez, who replaced Hector Neris, got Dexter Fowler to hit a sacrifice fly to left field for the first out. He then got Jason Heyward to hit a bullet to Phillies second baseman Andres Blanco, who replaced Cesar Hernandez in a double switch. Blanco slid to his right, backhanded the ball and flipped it to Galvis at second base. Galvis caught the relay, avoided the slide from Javier Baez and threw to first baseman Ryan Howard for the inning-ending and game-saving double play. "I don't give Gomez the only save," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "I give Freddy and Blanco one, for turning that double play in the eighth inning. Wow. That was a special play." Blanco told Galvis afterward that he just wanted to knock down the ball. He did better than that and made a perfect flip. "I just tried to get away from the runner," Galvis said. "We were talking about the new rule at second base. If this happened last year, he might have killed me right there, you know?" Gomez pitched a scoreless ninth. The guy who entered the season as a middle reliever suddenly leads Major League Baseball in saves. "I didn't know what role I would have," Gomez said. "I just try to be ready." "Nobody believes it," Galvis said. "I was talking to Whitey [Blanco] and Jeanmar. This is going to sound weird, but he has no emotions. He's like really chill when he pitches. Whatever happens, happens. He's a Christian guy, so when he goes to the mound he says, 'I'm here, I'm going to throw the ball and that's it.' He has no emotions, so he's controlling himself in that moment. It's really good to have a closer without emotions like that. He can stay in the game, even if he gives up a homer or something like that. He stays in the game." And most of the time when he is pitching with a lead in the ninth, the Phillies win.

Defense Only Does So Much – The biggest reason the Phillies acquired Peter Bourjos in the offseason is they loved his defense. But his stellar defense and its benefits to a young pitching staff no longer outweigh his offensive struggles. "Unfortunately, yes," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "We were just talking about that. He has got to make a drastic change to his approach offensively. Because he just has that tendency to pull off the ball too much." Bourjos, who started 43 of the team's first 51 games, has started just one of the last eight after starting on the bench Tuesday night because he is hitting .196 with a .511 OPS in 158 plate appearances. There are 215 hitters with 150 or more plate appearances this season. According to FanGraphs, Bourjos' offensive production is next-to-last in baseball, above only Erick Aybar. Bourjos' wRC+ (weighted runs created plus) is 34. Aybar's is 13. According to Baseball Savant, 42.5 percent of pitches thrown to Bourjos this season have been breaking balls, which ranks eighth in baseball among 238 hitters that have seen 500 or more pitches this season. "Well, you know, he's got to make an adjustment," Mackanin said about Bourjos seeing a steady diet of breaking balls. "I love his defense. He has to make adjustments mechanically like a lot of our guys." Of course, Bourjos made a fine defensive play in the ninth inning in Tuesday's 3-2victory over the Cubs. He cut off a ball in right-center field to prevent the tying run from scoring. "Not too many right fielders would have cut that ball off in right-center like Bourjos did," Mackanin said. "I give him a save, as well. Defense really saved us."

Can’t Blame The Coaches – Phillies manager Pete Mackanin has talked plenty lately about his hitters' approach at the plate. He sees Maikel Franco and Peter Bourjos pulling off the ball. He sees Ryan Howard and Freddy Galvis chasing too many pitches outside the strike zone. He sees Cesar Hernandez mishandling offspeed pitches. Their struggles, among others, are why the Phillies rank 29th in baseball, averaging 3.24 runs per game. But Mackanin made it clear Tuesday he thinks Phillies hitting coach Steve Henderson is delivering the proper message to his hitters. "I listen to him, and I go in the cage and I watch what they're doing, and they are doing exactly what they need to be doing," Mackanin said. "And in the cage, they do it. The hard part is taking it into a game. You can only teach so much. "I've said this many times, but I can't teach you how to ride a bike. You got to get on it and feel it. Ice skate, I can't teach you how to ice skate. I can tell you how to tie your skates and push off, but you've got to figure it out." Coaches can be easy scapegoats, regardless of a team's expectations or talent level. Mackanin knows a coach can only do so much. "If you're a hitting coach and you're teaching a guy to do something, and he does it in the cage over and over again and then in the game he doesn't bring it, all you can do is show him the video," Mackanin said. "'Look it, you're not doing it. Let's do it.' And then they take it out into batting practice and do it and then in a game; it's uncomfortable. "It's like teaching a guy a [split-finger fastball]. On the side he says 'OK, that feels good.' Is he going to throw it in the game? Is he going to push it? Is he going to let it go? It's hard to do, but if you want to improve you've got to do it. If you don't do it, you're not going to improve."

Today In Phils History – It is all about the 2’s today. It starts in 1914 when Fred Luderus hit two home runs with the first being the result of the ball getting lodged in a hole in the brick wall for an inside-the-park home run. In 1968, outfielder Howie Bedell hit a sacrifice fly to collect his only RBI of the season which also ended Don Drysdale's record scoreless innings streak at 58 2/3 innings. While not known as a power hitter by any stretch of the imagination, Steve Jeltz hit 2 homeruns, 1 from each side of the plate, to lead the Phillies back from a 10 run deficit in 1989 against the Pirates. 7 years later, in the 1^st Phillies game shown on the Fox Network, Jim Eisenreich hit 2 homers in the loss to Houston. And, finally, the Phillies got 2 for 1 in 2005, when they traded Placido Polanco to Detroit for Ugueth Urbina and Ramon Martinez.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 29-30 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the Phillies are 48-57-0 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record. Let the rebuild begin!

Just As Ugly The Second Time Around

GAME RECAP: Nationals Crush Phillies 8-1

Max Scherzer and Bryce Harper led the Nationals to an easy 8-1 win over the Phillies on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park, their seventh straight victory. Scherzer not only allowed one run over seven innings, but he hit a two-out, two-run double to right in the fourth inning to give Washington a 5-0 lead. Harper hit a sacrifice fly to score the game's first run in the first before he ripped a two-run home run to right field in the fifth to make it 7-0 -- his third straight game with a homer. The Nationals (9-1) can sweep the series with a victory Sunday afternoon. Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola allowed a career-high seven runs in five innings, as Cameron Rupp provided the only offense for the Phillies with a solo homer to left in the fifth. "The big hit was the two-run double by Scherzer," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "That really kind of iced it." Chris Heisey hit a pinch-hit home run in the ninth for Washington.

PHILS PHACTS:

• For the second straight night, the Nationals hung a crooked number on the Phillies in the first inning. On Friday, it took Jeremy Hellickson 45 pitches to retire the side, allowing five runs. Nola fared slightly better Saturday, surrendering only three runs on 19 pitches in the first inning, but Washington continued to pile on in later innings. Phillies starters entered the series with a MLB-best 2.14 ERA. They now enter the series finale Sunday with a 3.42 ERA. "They're aggressive," Nola said. "We've gotta hit our spots. We've gotta make quality pitches. They're hitting mistakes well right now. That's why they're scoring a lot of runs."
• Mackanin has been desperately searching for an offensive boost, with the Phillies averaging 2.58 runs per game. Things reached a tipping point on Saturday, when Mackanin inserted Darin Ruf to left field after Phillies left fielders had a combined .299 OPS through 11 games. Ruf went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts as the Phillies' offense tied a franchise record, going the first 12 games of the season without recording 10 hits in a game. The mark was previously reached in 1967. "We don't feel pressure," Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez said through an interpreter. "We just need to get that confidence back, just like it was at the beginning of the season. We know we have what it takes to keep winning games."
• "I was telling Dusty before the game that [Nola] has a knack for pinpointing his fastball on the knees on both sides of the plate, and he didn't have that today." -- Mackanin, on Nola's five-inning outing.
• After Harper singled to left in the third, Nola attempted to pick him off first base. Although Harper dove back and was initially called safe, Mackanin challenged the call and replay officials overturned the ruling on the field. That was Mackanin's fourth challenge this season; he has won two of them.

NEXT GAME:

The Phillies send Charlie Morton to the mound in the series finale. Morton's last outing kicked off a streak of 22 2/3 scoreless innings for Philadelphia starters. In two games against the Nationals, the Phillies' starters have allowed 13 runs (12 earned) in eight innings.

PHILS PHACTS:

Don’t Walk This Way – Aaron Nola had yet to walk a batter in 14 innings over two starts to begin the 2016 season. Then, against the first batter of the game Saturday, he did. And then he did so again in the fourth. And again in the fifth. All three walks came around to score in the Phillies' 8-1 loss to the Nationals. Nola allowed seven runs over five innings, including Bryce Harper's two-run shot to right which scored Anthony Rendon, who -- you guessed it -- reached on a walk to lead off the inning. In the fourth, Nola intentionally walked Washington's No. 8 hitter, Danny Espinosa, with Wilson Ramos on second to get to pitcher Max Scherzer. He left a fastball up and Scherzer ripped a two-run double to right. "I was missing spots on my fastball," Nola said. "My two-seam, I didn't have it out of the gate. I kept missing, and they didn't miss swinging." Phillies manager Pete Mackanin attributed Nola's fastball issues to the ball running back over the plate when he threw to his glove side. That's the pitch Scherzer hit his double against, and Daniel Murphy tripled off that same pitch. Before the game, Mackanin mentioned to Nationals manager Dusty Baker Nola's ability to command his fastball. "This guy's got a real knack for pinpointing his fastball at the knees on both sides of the plate," Mackanin said he told Baker. "He didn't have that today." One of Nola's biggest assets as a pitcher is his strike-throwing ability. After his home-opening start on Monday, Mackanin said he wished Nola was even a little more "effectively wild." Nola left Saturday's game having thrown 80 pitches -- the fourth-fewest in an outing for him in his career -- and only 49 for strikes. That amounts to a strike rate of 61.3 percent. It's the fifth-lowest of Nola's career, but there hasn't necessarily been a trend of ineffectiveness there. Twice he's thrown fewer than 60 percent strikes, resulting in two three-run outings of five and six innings each. Two more times he had exactly 60.4 percent, in both of which he went seven innings and allowed one run. The seven runs the Nationals posted against him Saturday were the most he's given up in his young career. Twice Nola has allowed six runs. In those starts, he threw 70.7 and 73.4 percent strikes. "My plan of attack is to be aggressive. But there's different parts of being aggressive," Nola said. "There's being aggressive and making quality pitches, and there's hitting your spots." The Nationals have found success against Nola and Jeremy Hellickson by being aggressive, themselves, and making the pitchers pay for their mistakes. "We've got to make quality pitches," Nola said. "They're hitting mistakes well right now. That's why they're scoring a lot of runs." After throwing 22 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings, Phillies starters have allowed 13 runs (12 earned) in eight innings against the Nationals. They entered the series with a league-leading 2.14 ERA, but that has increased to 3.42.

Stop Pushing The Off Button! – Manager Pete Mackanin has been trying everything to jumpstart the Phillies' offense. He tried his 11th lineup in 12 games on Saturday night in an 8-1 loss to the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park. He tried Darin Ruf in left field. He returned Cesar Hernandez to the leadoff spot after giving him a day off on Friday. Of course, it did not help that he tried those things against Nationals ace Max Scherzer, but what are his options? "There's not much tinkering I can do," Mackanin said. Mackanin was answering a question about the Phillies' corner outfielders, who have struggled. But he could have been talking about the Phillies' offense, which is 28th in baseball, averaging 2.58 runs per game. The Phillies scored their only run on Saturday on Cameron Rupp's fifth-inning home run. The Phillies have not had 10 hits in a game in 12 games this season, which tied a franchise record to begin the season. The 1967 Phillies also opened the season without 10 hits in a game in their first 12 games. It is the longest such drought to open a season since the 2014 Astros opened with a 14-game streak. The Phillies' franchise record in that category is 17 games, which they did twice: Sept. 28, 1966-April 27, 1967, and July 22-Aug. 4, 1955. The Phillies would love to see Hernandez get on a roll again, particularly in the leadoff spot. Phillies leadoff hitters entered the night with a .292 OPS, which ranked last in baseball. Hernandez is the Phillies' best option to hit first, but for some reason he has struggled there. He entered the night with a .625 OPS in 292 career plate appearances hitting leadoff, compared to an .814 OPS in 219 plate appearances hitting second. He went 0-for-4 Saturday. "I feel comfortable leading off or batting second," Hernandez said through an interpreter. "I just want to do my job right. I want to do what my manager needs me to do. That's what I'm here for. I just need to adjust." The Phillies hope to adjust to Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez in the series finale Sunday afternoon. He is 8-5 with a 3.02 ERA in 16 career starts against the Phillies.

Change On The Horizon? – Manager Pete Mackanin has seen the numbers, which is why changes could be coming to the Phillies' outfield in the near future. "You can't get around it," he said. "It's not good." Phillies left fielders finished Saturday night's 8-1 loss to the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park with a .267 OPS, which ranked last in Major League Baseball. Phillies right fielders have a .411 OPS, which ranks 29th. Twelve games is a small sample size, but to put those numbers into perspective, the 1968 A's had a .555 OPS in left field and the 1978 A's had a .550 OPS in right field. Both are the lowest marks of any team in baseball from 1913-2015. The Phillies' poor production in the corners is why Darin Ruf started in left field Saturday for the first time this season. He went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. "I just needed some kind of infusion of offense," Mackanin said before the game. Ruf playing the outfield is something the Phillies repeatedly said they wanted to avoid as they emphasized defense in the offseason and Spring Training. But every team has its breaking point, and a .267 OPS in left field is it. "In the short term, if we don't show improvement, we'll probably make a change," Mackanin said. "We have to either get those guys going or do something." Will Venable is a candidate. The Phillies signed him to a Minor League contract before the end of Spring Training. Venable, 33, is just 3-for-20 in six games with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, but he has an extensive track record in the big leagues. Venable also can opt out of his contract May 1, if he is not on a big league roster. The Phillies could choose to give him a shot before potentially losing him. David Lough, 30, also is an option after being one of the final cuts in Spring Training. He is hitting .280 (7-for-25) with one double, two RBIs and one stolen base in six games with Lehigh Valley. He also has big league experience. Mackanin said the Phillies are not talking about top outfield prospect Nick Williams as a candidate. Williams, 22, is hitting .192 (5-for-26) with one double, one triple, and four RBIs in eight games with Lehigh Valley. He needs more time to develop in the Minor Leagues.

Today In Phils History – We start this retrospective by remembering the debuts of Pickles Dillhoefer in Jimmie Wilson in 1923. Not a very auspicious start but debuts would play a key role in 1945 with Vince DiMaggio, Jimmie Foxx, and Garvin Hamner all donning the Phillies uniform for the first time on this day (Dutch Leonard debuted two years later). Twenty years after the debut of this trio, We Covington became the first of four strikeouts in an inning by Don Drysdale of the Dodgers. From 4 strikeouts to no hits, in the 9^th game of the Expos’ existence, Bill Stoneman pitched a 7-0 no hitter against the Phillies in 1969. Seven years later, one of the greatest performances in franchise history took place at Mike Schmidt went 5 for 6 with four homeruns and eight RBI in a victorious 18-16 slugfest against the Cubs. The final event to mark the day is a bit of an oddity as the Phillies records an NL record 21 infield assists in a win over the Expos in 1996.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 5-7 this season putting them on pace to meet most preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the Phillies are 34-37-1 on this day. I expect the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record. Let the rebuild begin!

.300: Good Batting Average, Horrid Winning Percentage

GAME RECAP: Nats Swat Phils 5-2

The Nationals continued to break out of their early-season offensive funk with a 5-2 victory over the Phillies on Thursday night at Nationals Park. Washington has scored 22 runs in its past three games and has won two straight for the first time this season. Yunel Escobar homered on the game's first pitch from Phillies starter Cole Hamels. Michael Taylor's fifth-inning solo home run gave Washington a 3-2 lead, and Ryan Zimmerman had a two-run double as the Nationals produced an efficient six hits. "Things are starting to get rolling right now," Taylor said. "The pitching has been there the whole time, guys are starting to swing it, so it'll be fun to see what happens going forward." Washington starter Doug Fister got the victory, going 6 2/3 innings while giving up two runs (one earned) and striking out four. Fister got some help from reliever Matt Thornton, who entered with bases loaded and two outs in the seventh and got Chase Utley to line out to Taylor in center field. "We're a good team," Nationals left fielder Jayson Werth said. "We've got a good lineup. We're just grinding out games, grinding out at-bats. We'll be fine. We just have to keep going."

OTHER NOTES FROM THE DAY:

• Hamels held the Nationals to one run on two hits over seven innings when they last met on April 11. The results weren't quite as good this time, beginning with Escobar's first-pitch homer, and the left-hander wound up allowing five runs on five hits in his six-inning stint. This ended a streak of 21 consecutive road starts in which Hamels allowed three earned runs or fewer -- the longest active streak in the Major Leagues.
• "The position I'm in, I'm supposed to be that guy that stops the slide or stops the bleeding, however you want to call it," said Hamels, referring to the loss being the Phillies' fifth straight. "That's kind of my job. Not being able to do [that] today is definitely frustrating."
• Not hitting at the right times has been a problem that's plagued the Phillies throughout the early season. They went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven in the loss. The Phillies now are batting just .149 (11-for-74) with RISP.
• It will be interesting to see where Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg puts first baseman Ryan Howard in the lineup. The struggling slugger was dropped down to seventh in Thursday's contest, a move that raised a few eyebrows, as the skipper is trying to get Howard started.

NEXT GAME:

The Nationals and Phillies will meet for the fifth time in this young season on Friday in the second game of a four-game weekend series between the National League East rivals. Max Scherzer starts for the Nationals, taking a 0.66 ERA -- and a losing record (0-1) -- into the outing after two starts this season. Phillies starter Sean O'Sullivan is looking for his first Major League win in four years. Sean O'Sullivan will make his second start of the season Friday and is looking for his first Major League victory since 2011 (with the Royals). He gave up two runs on five hits in six innings in a loss to Friday's opponent, the Nationals, on April 12 but got a no-decision. The game starts at 7:05 p.m. ET.

PHILS PHACTS:

Homer Happy Hamels – Cole Hamels threw effectively for most of his start against the Nationals on Thursday. He just ran into a problem that continues to arise early in the 2015 season. Hamels gave up two homers in a 5-2 Phillies loss to the Nationals in the opener of a four-game series. The left-hander now has allowed a Major League-high seven homers in his first 18 innings. In this game, Hamels gave up five runs on five hits in six innings. Yunel Escobar sent Hamels' first pitch of the game over the fence in center. Michael Taylor led off the fifth with a shot that gave the Nationals a 3-2 lead, and Washington didn't trail again. "They're definitely adding up," said Hamels, who has allowed 12 total hits this season. "What happened was [I was] getting behind in the count and leaving pitches up in a very hittable location. Just have to get the ball down, I guess." Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said that location is definitely the cause of the problem, and it's just something Hamels will need to work on. The start also ended a Major League-best streak of 21 straight road starts in which Hamels had allowed three earned runs or fewer. Hamels now must go back to work and try to find an answer to this puzzle. "It could be a couple of different things," Hamels said. "You just have to go out there and really just kind of work with it and make a couple of adjustments."

Moving On Up Down – Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg shook up his batting order before the series opener with the Nationals on Thursday, and the biggest move was dropping struggling first baseman Ryan Howard to seventh in the starting lineup for the first time since 2006. Howard went 1-for-3 with an intentional walk in Philadelphia's 5-2 loss to Washington. He twice flied out to left, drew the intentional walk that loaded the bases in a one-run third, and singled to right through a shift to start the ninth. Howard said afterward that he understood why Sandberg made the move. "I've been in situations like this before," Howard said. "This isn't the first time that I've gotten moved down in the lineup or anything like that. For me, you just try to look at it as an internal challenge. Do I feel l can hit fourth? Yeah, I know I can. I'm not worried about it. I'm not trying to look too far into it or anything like that. If I'm hitting in the seven-hole, do the best I can that day." Howard had a .148 average entering the game, and it moved up to .167. The ninth-inning single snapped an 0-for-7 slide. Sandberg said the two spoke early Thursday afternoon, and the skipper explained his thoughts to the veteran. "I talked to him this afternoon and just told him, 'Hey, it's creating a lineup, trying to win the baseball game,'" Sandberg said. "And so [I told him], 'In the meantime, just keep working.' Howie's doing everything that's asked on the defensive side of the ball, and the offensive side of the ball. If he could get hot, then I'd have some flexibility and choices in the lineup, so that would be the best scenario."

Please Define ‘Balance’ – The song remained the same for the Phillies' offense in Thursday's 5-2 loss to the Nationals to start a four-game series. The Phillies now are stuck in a five-game losing streak and have not been able to come through with hits at key times throughout the first two weeks of the season. It happened again Thursday, as the Phillies went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded seven. They entered the game 29th in the Major Leagues with a .159 average with runners in scoring position. That number fell to .149 (11-for-74) after Thursday's defeat. Philadelphia had its chances, loading the bases with one out in the third, and getting Darin Ruf's sacrifice fly to left for a 2-1 lead. Pitcher Cole Hamels then grounded out to end the inning. Nationals starter Doug Fister retired nine in a row before the Phillies loaded the bases again with two outs in the seventh. Matt Thornton came on for Fister and ended the threat by retiring Chase Utley on a fly ball to center. "The [early] opportunity we had with ... the bases loaded was minimized to the sac fly," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "We did have some balls hit hard. Chase hit three balls hard. [Cody Asche] hit a couple of balls hard, right at the defense, nothing to show for it there." Sandberg shook up the lineup before the game, even dropping struggling first baseman Ryan Howard to seventh, and the Phillies finished with five hits in addition to getting some good swings. The skipper is hoping for better in this area soon. "I like the balance of [the lineup], and it didn't totally produce tonight, but there's some balance there," Sandberg said.

THE BEGINNING

The Phillies are starting the season as expected and are now at the bottom of the NL east at 3-7. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and performance this spring, don’t expect their competitive place in the standings to last. All time, the Phillies are 34-37-1 on this day.