Scott Eyre gives his mom, Peggy Jo Eyre,
a kiss and a bouquet of flowers in a pregame
ceremony for Mother's Day.
The Phils completed a difficult weekend today with a 4-2 loss to Atlanta at sun-splashed Citizens Bank Park, which allowed the Braves to get out of town with two wins in the three-game series as the Phils dropped 11/2 games behind the streaking New York Mets.
For a change, the starting pitching was good enough to lead the Phillies to victory. Brett Myers had to navigate out of some self-induced early trouble, but he ended up with a quality start, giving up one run in six innings.
But successful baseball requires a blend of timely hitting and quality pitching, and the Phillies have yet to find a way to put them together on a consistent basis.
The result is that five weeks into the season, they are one game over .500, on merit, in an NL East that appears stronger overall than it was last season.
"It is a tougher division," said reliever Brad Lidge, who gave up the Braves' fourth run in the ninth inning. "It's not easy. It wasn't easy last year. We expected our record to be better, but we didn't expect to have a 10-game lead going into September."
A major concern for the Phils right now is leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins, who went 0 for 5 today and finished the weekend 1 for 14. His average dropped to a woeful .195, and he left the clubhouse after a long shower and declined to take questions from the media.
"Jimmy's the guy who makes us go, and when he's struggling . . ." manager Charlie Manuel said, his voice trailing off. "I think right now, he's kind of in that stage where he's kind of struggling, when you hit a few balls pretty good and they get caught and then you start kind of over-pressing or trying too hard. . . . Of course, he's going to come out of it, but right now he's having a tough time."
The first three hitters in the Phils' lineup went a combined 0 for 13 today. The second batter, Shane Victorino, went 0 for 13 during the three-game series after rattling off a career-best 16-game hitting streak. Chase Utley went 0 for 4 and struck out with two runners on in the fifth.
When both Rollins and Victorino fail to get on base, it becomes difficult for the Phils to generate runs without playing long ball.
"It takes away our speed," Manuel said. "It hurts our running game."
Manuel said he has thought about sliding Rollins down in the lineup but has so far resisted because, first, he's a patient man, and second, he really doesn't want to disrupt the middle of the order.
"I've thought about it every night," Manuel said. "I can slide him down to third, fifth or eighth, and sometimes I do that. But the way we line up with lefthanded hitters, I look to try to keep some balance, and Jimmy being a switch-hitter plays into that."
The focus on Rollins wouldn't have been so sharp if the Phils had been able to hold on to the 2-1 they got on Matt Stairs' run-scoring double in the sixth. It was up to lefthander Jack Taschner to hold the lead, but Casey Kotchman hit a weak two-run single up the middle with the bases loaded, giving Atlanta a 3-2 lead.
"It's one thing when you make a bad pitch," Taschner said. "But when you execute and that happens, it's tough to swallow."
Miguel Cairo stirred hopes for a comeback in the ninth with a leadoff single. Pinch-hitter Jayson Werth struck out before Braves reliever Rafael Soriano retired Rollins and Victorino, each on one pitch.
