Phillies

Losing in the bottom of the ninth, with nobody on and two outs, will always hurt. Always. But consider that the Phillies should’ve defeated the Dodgers soundly, as I whisper to myself: “Don’t get upset.”

The Phillies lost to the Dodgers, 4-3, despite leading 3-2 with two outs and two strikes in the ninth. Jamie Moyer pitched a beautiful game, polishing seven innings while inducing myriad ground balls and edgy fly balls. The Dodgers simply had no answer for him. And when he left, JC Romero gutted through a tense eighth inning unscathed.

But Brad Lidge — as has been the case many times this season — allowed the trouble. Though he took out the first two hitters easily, he let up a single, then a walk. A ground ball by Russell Martin should’ve ended the game, but the always-reliable Pedro Feliz booted the ball. Then a first-pitch rope by Andre Ethier ended the contest.

It shouldn’t have ended that way; then again, the Phillies deserved that loss.

The offense left 26 men on base, and no man was a greater failure to the cause than Jimmy Rollins. Yet again. The “leadoff” hitter lifted four balls into the air, grounded one more, and squandered two rallies that amounted to less than hills of beans. He was horrible. Truly horrible.

Elsewhere, Raul Ibanez left five on the pond and Ryan Howard kept four on the paths, among many others. The Phillies should’ve beaten Los Angeles starter Eric Milton into submission; instead, they laughably kept it close. This wasn’t Lidge’s loss. This wasn’t even Feliz’s loss. This was everybody’s loss.

Well, everyone except Moyer, who was sparkling in defeat. But a loss like this will pin blame on all, recenter the focus, and hopefully spur a new winning streak. It’s up to Joe Blanton to re-guide the ship tomorrow afternoon. You can’t get upset about that.