Phillies manager Charlie Manuel sees the same things everyone else sees with his ballclub. He knows there are no safe leads given the state of his bullpen and that runs from his languid offense are going to be tough to come by.
Worse, with a 34-39 record that has the Phils in last place in the NL East, Manuel says he doesnt see much changing with his team in the near future. That was evident after the Phillies tough, 3-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in the opener of a day-night doubleheader at the Bank on Sunday.
Its hard for us right now to have a winning streak, Manuel said. The reason is because of our pitching, but at the same time were weak in other areas too. Thats what I see.
A winning streak is exactly what Manuels team needs at this stage of the season, too. Nestled 8 games behind the first-place Nationals, the Phillies are getting closer to that precarious point of the season where it must be determined if they are too far off the pace to make trades for reinforcements. Moreover, given the teams current payroll and the expiring contracts of notable players like Cole Hamels and Shane Victorino, the next month could be very interesting.
For now though, Manuel is stuck with a bullpen that cant hold the slightest of leads late in games.
In Sunday afternoons defeat it was lefty reliever Antonio Bastardo who gave away the 1-0 lead ace Cole Hamels babied through the first seven innings and 111 pitches when he gave up a three-run homer to Carlos Pena with one out in the eighth inning.
Penas blast came after Bastardo gave up a pair of walks and was the third homer the lefty allowed this season with two of those hit by lefty hitters. It also came after Hamels stymied the Rays on three hits and three walks while notching seven strikeouts. Hamels retired the first nine hitters he faced and 10 of the first 11 before giving up his first hit in the fourth inning.
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Still, even with a three-hit shutout going, Manuel pulled Hamels from the game for Bastardo even though his lefty reliever threw 29 pitches and needed four relievers to pitch the final five innings just the day prior. When asked if the heavy work load could have bothered Bastardo in Sundays loss, Manuel shrugged it off. A pitcher like Bastardo should be able to handle back-to-back outings, the manager said.
Thats our eighth-inning guy, Manuel said. Bastardo and Chad Qualls are who we have for the eighth inning and you should be able to throw three days in a row. Twenty-nine pitches is not a whole lot of pitches. If were going to use him like that in the eighth inning, he has to be able to pitch two or three days in a row.
Still, Manuel was asked if it was a mistake to give Hamels the hook after throwing 15 pitches to keep the shutout intact in the seventh inning. Plus, Hamels was hardly threatened during the outing aside from a moment in the fourth inning where the Rays loaded the bases with two outs. Despite that, Hamels avoided trouble and retired nine of the final 11 hitters he faced.
Certainly the 111 pitches werent too much of a factor, were they?
Thats what he told me so you just listen to your manage and go with the decision, Hamels said, adding that he felt fresh and strong after seven innings. The pitch count is kind of a factor in this day and age and when you reach a certain pitch count, they dont want to stress anything on your arm. Health is obviously a big concern.
Hamels didnt ask to come out of the game. Manuel simply felt as though his lefty ace had done enough.
He didnt say he was done or nothing, Manuel explained. I took him out of the game because he was at 111 pitches and it was a hot day and he pitched good.
The bullpen was hardly the reason why the Phillies lost Sundays game, though. After all, the Phillies didnt exactly cause the scoreboard to malfunction with a ton of runs. Jimmy Rollins led off the sixth inning with a solo homer and Ty Wigginton added an RBI single in the eighth, but that was as deep as the offense got against Rays ace David Price. The Phillies went 2 for 11 with runners in scoring position and had multiple runners on base in four innings with at least one runner in scoring position in five frames.
In other words, the Phillies had plenty of chances. They also allowed for plenty of chances to second-guess a few decisions, too. Thats certainly a part of the job managers like Manuel arent too keen on when the losses keep piling up.
You guys ought to sit in the dugout with me during the game and give me all the scenarios because I dont think we know them, Manuel said sarcastically. We dont know how to manage a game. Really, you guys ought to sit down there with us or tweet or something and float the information down there to me because Im not smart enough to get it.
E-mail John Finger at jfinger@comcastsportsnet.com.