Bulletholes where my compassion used to be...

It has been a strange couple of days in Phillies Nation. By "strange", I pretty much mean "horrifyingly bad." On Tuesday night, there was a lifeless 8-1 loss to the Mets. The game almost had the feeling of a spring training game, at least in terms of (lack of) effort. Or maybe a simulated rehab start for SP Freddy Garcia, in that he seemed to be pitching towards a pre-determined pitch count, and would remain in the game regardless of the results. Well, the results were pretty ugly.

Even more ugly was what transpired after the game. Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel took offense to the questions offered by radio personality Howard Eskin, and challenged Eskin to a fight. Perhaps Manuel dislikes being referred to as "Elmer Befuddled." A heated confrontation between the two in Manuel's office followed, with the two needing to be separated by media members and players. I guess it was good to see some life from the Phillies organization, but that was not exactly what the Phans were looking for.

Wednesday brought the announcement of the moving of Brett Myers to the bullpen. You may remember him from way back in the day (2 weeks ago) when he was the Phillies #1 starter and pitched effectively in the Phillies opener. After 2 consecutive seasons of 200 IP, double digit wins, and a sub 4.00 ERA, Myers seemed primed for a breakout season. Now after 3 starts (1 good, 2 bad), he will be pitching in the later innings as a setup man. Inexplicable. Hopefully, this will be an extremely short term move. Because it really, really sucks. For serious.

The Wednesday night matchup against the woeful Washington Nationals featured the Phillies mediocre SP Adam Eaton against Nats neophyte SP Jason Bergmann. The loser would have sole possession of last place in the NL. The game progressed typically for a Phillies Eaton start. After 6 innings, the Phillies trailed 4-1, and were making Bergmann look good.

As I was sick of the Nationals announcing team, and the Phillies' losing ways, I tried to mix things up a little bit to help the Phillies comeback chances. I put the new Nine Inch Nails release "Year Zero" on, streaming it out of the same speaker as the MLB.TV Phillies broadcast. The dissonance of NIN pretty much blocked out the soporific Nats announcers. It also seemed to rouse the somnambulant Phillies. They rallied for 2 runs in the 7th, and Geoff Geary and Brett Myers (Serenity now!) shut down the Nats for the next 2 frames. The Phillies batted in the 9th against Nats closer Chad Cordero (2.33 WHIP entering the game), trailing 4-3.

They managed to tie the game, but they should have taken a lead. Pat Burrell lead of with a single, and OF Michael Bourn replaced him as a pinch runner. (Serenity now!) After a Rowand single put runners on 1st and 2nd, with no out, Manuel opted to play for the tie, and sacrificed. I am against the sacrifice in most cases, as it significantly reduces your scoring expectancy. In this case, in the 9th inning of a tie game on the road, I found the decision extremely unappetizing. Well, Charlie got the one run he wanted, but Pat Burrell (the Phils best bat) was (AGAIN!) out of the game, and the Nats had a chance to win in the bottom of the inning.

The game wound up going into the 13th inning, with Bourn going 0 for 2 in Burrell's spot in the lineup, #1 SP Cole Hamels walking as a pinch hitter, the Phillies going 1-11 with RISP in the game, and getting effective relief from Ryan Madson and Antonio Alfonseca. But another egregious error made by Manuel earlier in the game came back to haunt the Phillies.
Nats bench player Michael Restovich was in the on deck circle when Manuel made a pitching change earlier in the game. However, Manuel did NOT wait until Restovich was announced as a pinch hitter before making the change. The Nats pulled Restovich back, and inserted a different PH. Innings later, when the Nats announcers revealed this folly (during the chorus of "Meet your Master" - "This is your disaster, Countdown to the End", disturbingly foreboding lyrics), I knew that Manuel Mistake could very well come back to haunt the Phillies. Sure enough, Restovich had a big hit in the 13th, when the Phillies blew the game, losing 5-4. The Phillies are now 3-10, the worst record in MLB.

After Wednesday's debacles, I am officially ready for Charlie Manuel to be fired. I am sick of the downward spiral. I am sick of the Phillies losing games with Pat Burrell conceding late-inning ABs to minor leaguer Michael Bourn (.125 avg.). I am sick of idiotic bunting and baserunning and losing games because of stupid and/or inexplicable managing. Every day is exactly the same. It's time for a new regime. It's time for Year Zero with a new Manager. I am tired of this zero-sum game, where the Phillies are always the zero.