I have to be honest.  The Phillies have finally left me speechless.  I really don’t want to sound like one of those stereotypical “Negadelphians”, but after watching last light’s loss to the Pirates, the taste in my mouth from Thursday’s loss to the Marlins has intenstified.

Despite a superb pitching performance by starter Joe Blanton, who pitched seven one-hit innings, the Phillies offense was never able to get it going against Paul Maholm (7IP, 5H, 3BB, 10K), Sean Burnett (.2IP, 1H, 0BB, 1K), Denny Bautista (.1IP, 0H, 1BB, 0K), John Grabow (1IP, 0H, 0BB, 0K), TJ Beam (2IP, 0H, 3BB, 0K), and Craig Hansen (1IP, 0H, 2BB, 0K).

It’s not like the Phillies didn’t have any chances, they left 13 men on base.  They just couldn’t get a base hit when it counted.

In the first inning Shane Victorino was left on third base when Ryan Howard grounded to second.  A rally in the second was squashed when Eric Bruntlett hit into an inning ending double play. In the third, Jimmy Rollins was left on second base when Chase Utley struck out.  Rollins was again left on second base in the fifth (with Victorino at first), when Utley struck out for the second time.  In the eighth, Victorino was stuck at second when Pat Burrell flied out to left (in Burell’s defense, that did appear to be a home run, that the wind held in the park).  In the bottom of the tenth Burell popped up to first base with the bases loaded.  Finally in the twelfth <!– /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:”"; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-fareast-font-family:”Times New Roman”;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> Rollins was left on second after Utley flied out to left (on a beautiful diving grab by Brandon Moss), and Victorino was doubled off first base, ending the game.

As I said, the Phillies had plenty of chances.

While the offense continued to struggle the pitching once again held up, well at least until the 12th inning.  After Blanton departed after seven innings Chad Durbin and J.C. Romero each pitched an inning and a third of perfect baseball.  Brad Lidge came in with two outs and the bases empty in the tenth inning, only to load them on a single and two walks.    He got out of the jam when former Phillie, Jason Michaels, fouled out to the catcher.

The twelfth inning was a different story.  With Les Walrond on the mound (entering his second inning of work), Ryan Doumit doubled to left field.  He moved to third when Moss grounded to Utley.  Doumit scored when Steve Pearce doubled down the left field line.  After Jose Bautista was intentionally walked, Clay Condrey replaced Walrond and gave up consecutive infield singles to Jack Wilson and Freddie Sanchez, allowing Pearce to score and giving the Pirates a 2-0 lead.

There’s absolutely no excuse for this loss.  The Pirates are one of baseball’s worst teams, and have one of the leagues worst pitching staffs.  While they will win their share of games, they’re not a team that shuts you out for 12 innings.  How any of the Phillies players left the clubhouse last night with any shred of pride is beyond me.

The Phillies haven’t scored a run in 23 consecutive innings.  This is the second longest streak since 2000 when they didn’t score a run in 24 consecutive innings.  It’s also the first time they’ve been shut out in consecutive games since 1999.

I don’t care how talented this offense is, there is cause for concern.  Excuses like Rollins telling the media “at least they’re still in first place” is getting real old.  The Phillies need to quit making excuses for their inconsistant play.  Someone needs to take responsability for these scoring lulls and if the players aren’t going to do it, it needs to be management, be it Milt Thompson or Charlie Manuel.

The Phillies look like a team only concerned about winning the division, and as long as they’re still in first place all is well.  They fail to see the bigger picture, which is winning a World Series; something this team isn’t ready to do.

With the Mets defeating the Marlins 3-0, the Phillies find their lead only one game ahead of hte second place Mets and 1 and a half over the Marlins.  The Phillies will turn to Brett Myers (4-9 5.34) tonight, as he looks for his third consecutive strong outing.  He’ll face Ian Snell (4-8, 6.14).  Knowing the Phillies inconisistancies, this will be the game they score 20.