Phillies Drop Eighth Straight
The good news is Jimmy Rollins had three hits, breaking an 0-for-16 slump. The bad news is the Phillies lost again. The Mets beat them 6-3 to complete a sweep of the day-night doubleheader.
That makes eight losses in a row. If losing is contagious, this has now become an epidemic. And the club appears no closer to finding the cure.
“We’re out of sync, we’re out of focus, like we’re searching. And nothing’s going right,” Charlie Manuel told reporters afterward.
The NL East champs have lost every game since clinching their fifth consecutive division title last Saturday night.
The Phillies blew a 3-0 lead when the Mets scored five unearned runs in the third. Two of the runs scored on an error by Hunter Pence. With two outs and two on, Willie Harris hit a long fly ball to right field that Pence dropped, allowing both runners to score.
“I saw it. I just missed it,” Pence told reporters. “It’s a play that’s got to be made and it cost us big-time.”
It’s not like the Phils to give the other team extra outs. Then again, it’s not like the Phils to lose this many in a row. It is their first eight-game losing streak since 2000.
They have now been swept in doubleheaders by both Washington and the Mets in the same week. But the players refuse to hit the panic button.
“You lose eight in a row, people are going to panic,” said Shane Victorino to reporters. “But I’m not worried. We haven’t had our full lineup out there, we haven’t had one through eight.”
Tell that to the hometown fans.
“If we’re not panicking, they shouldn’t panic,” Ryan Howard said.
Sure, it is true that they have not used their regular lineup for much of this skid, but should they need it to win at least one against the likes of Washington and the Mets?
Manuel admits he’s not sure how to stop the bleeding.
“I’m sitting there watching it, don’t know what I can do about it.”
Manuel will have all of his regulars behind Roy Halladay in Sunday’s game. It remains to be seen if that will be enough to break out of this funk. It better be, because enough is enough. Right now this team hardly looks capable of roaring into the postseason.
This is no longer a hangover from the division-clinching celebration. This has become an epidemic.
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