Well so much for the Phillies rising to meet the challenge of facing the top teams in the majors. After sweeping the Atlanta Braves, the Phils have lost each of their last three series, all to teams with records close to or better than the Phillies’ own record.

After Atlanta, the Phillies traveled to Miami to face the Florida Marlins with an opportunity to extend their momentum and further distance themselves from their closest rival in the NL East standings. Instead, they lost the first two games of the three game set, salvaging the final game to 5.5 games ahead of the Marlins. They then went to St. Louis and won the first game against the Cardinals. However, the Phils again lost two in a row and were limping badly coming back into Philadelphia for the start of interleague play with a series against the Boston Red Sox.

It appeared as though the Phils had brushed off the cobwebs when they beat the Red Sox 8-2 in the first game of the series. Struggling slugger Ryan Howard hit two home runs and a triple on the night and things looked like they were starting to get back on track. The Phillies followed up that impressive offensive performance with zero runs the following night against Boston’s Jon Lester. Howard followed up his two home run night on Monday with four strike outs on Tuesday. Second baseman Chase Utley is mired in the worst slump of his career, currently on an 0-20 streak.

The Phillies are currently 10 games over .500 at 42 and 32, two and a half games up on the Marlins and are still in a great position for the rest of the year. That being said, they need to right their ship and quickly. They need to accept the troubles of the past week and a half, put it behind them, and move on. Thursday is a day off. The Phils need to take a day off and relax. Spend some time with their families. Catch a movie. Do some yard work, I mean hire someone to do some yard work. Then come back Friday and put their gloves on and go out and play the kind of baseball they have been playing all year.

Coming in Friday are the first place Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, who have the second best winning percentage in the American League, and the third best overall. Then the Phillies fly out to the west coast to face off with their former AL citymates, the Oakland Athletics, then to Texas to face off with the Rangers None of these three teams will be easy to beat, but the Phillies have the talent to match up with them all. The key is consistency.

They need production from the top of the order and they need the meat of the lineup to bring them in. Catcher Carlos Ruiz needs to step it up. The starting pitching needs to be more consistent, especially with the uncertainty in the bullpen. They don’t need to win every game, but they need to win their series. They need to be more consistent and build on their successes, no matter how small.