Phillies Recap: Braves-11, Phillies-1

Game Recap:
The Phillies were no hit into the seventh inning, and Cole Hamels was rocked for the second straight start as the Braves took their second straight from the Phils.

What went right?

Nothing.

What went wrong?

Cole Hamels got beat up again, lasting only five innings while allowing seven runs on nine hits. He walked two and struck out one.

I'm not going to go through every player, but the Phillies had just two hits for the game.

The bullpen wasn't much better, allowing four runs in the four innings they pitched.

Game Analysis:

There have been very few times this year where I just couldn't watch the Phillies play anymore. Tonight was one of those games. I know Jair Jurrjens is a good pitcher, but to be no hit until the last out of the seventh inning is pushing it a bit too far. I had my hopes higher after the series in Toronto, but right now, they're back down at the bottom again. This team has no spark, no leadership and it sure as hell looks like they don't know how to get back on track.

Well, they do have to get back on track. Something has to change, or this team is going to be sitting at home well before they wanted to this October. The talent is there, the players are there, but nothing is working right now. Was having Pat Burrell in the clubhouse really that important? Is the fact that Jimmy Rollins couldn't hit the broad side of a barn if he were two inches in front of it carrying over into the clubhouse? Did the J.C. Romero suspension and poor start by Brad Lidge have a ripple effect throughout the pitching staff? All of these things have to be figured out. This is a team circling the drain right now, and if not for the general crappiness of the NL East this year, they would more than likely be in fourth place. This is not a team that I even want to see in the playoffs right now; we saw them get swept two years ago, and I don't want to see that happen again.

I know that this team is good, they know that they are good. They need to start putting it back together again. Yes, they do better when they're backed up against the wall, but they need to start playing better every damn night, or else it isn't going to matter when they start playing well again. It's going to be like when Larry Bowa was the manager, and they'd make that late season charge, only to fall two games short of the playoffs. I don't want to go through that again. Either kick ass or get out of the way. You guys gave us a taste of what it's like to be at the top last year, and I'd like to feel that again, but I'm going to need your help to get back there.

Tomorrow, J.A. Happ (5-0, 3.00 ERA) goes against Javier Vazquez (5-7, 3.04 ERA). The Phils need to at least salvage one of these games, so they had better win.