Phils Swept; Out of First Place

The Phillies were ignominiously swept out of Chavez Ravine by the Dodgers last night by a score of 3 - 1. The loss, coupled with another Mets win, puts the Phils 1 game behind the Mets for 1st place in NL East.

The story of the game was the inability of the Phillies to solve Dodger starter Hiroki Kuroda, who pitched 7 innings of 2 hit ball. The Phils' lone run came from the bat of Ryan Howard, whose sacrifice fly scored Jayson Werth, who had doubled to lead off the 7th inning. This game was just another in a long string of games where the Phils played lifeless offensive baseball. They continue to occupy the basement in the NL in in team BA (.206) and hits (86) in the month of August.

The lone bright spot came from perhaps the Phillies' biggest pain in the ass. Brett Myers pitched 7 effective innings, giving up 3 earned runs on 5 hits and striking out 8. Myers has now gone 7 innings in 3 of his last 4 starts and appears to be gaining confidence down the stretch, in direct contrast to some of the Phillies' offensive "stars".

The Phillies' battan death march out west continues tonite in San Diego, where they have a ballpark that fly balls go to die. A Geritol matchup is on tap with Jamie Moyer going up against Greg Maddux.

(Photo by Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images)