Looking Glum

It seems as if a lifetime has passed since the Phillies swept the Braves in Atlanta.

That momentum and optimism from nine days ago? Gone.

"It feels distant," lefthander Jamie Moyer said after yesterday's 8-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants at Citizens Bank Park, which completed a miserable 2-5 homestand. "We've had some long days here."

Fun nights and afternoons at the ballpark turn into expensive punishment for fans when the Phillies continue to pitch this poorly. Righthander Jon Lieber allowed 10 hits and five runs in five-plus innings yesterday. Phillies starters had a 6.18 ERA in the homestand against Arizona and San Francisco. Remove Saturday's fine effort from Cole Hamels and the rotation's ERA balloons to a gaudy 7.27.

The Phillies own the highest ERA in the National League at 4.79.

But here's the worst part: There's not much help on the horizon, other than the return of righthanders Brett Myers and Tom Gordon from the disabled list - and they're not in the starting rotation.

"What do you want me to say?" manager Charlie Manuel said. "Hell, we've got to hold them. That means we've got to improve. We've got to pitch better. That's how I look at it. Do we have the talent? I'd say we've got to get consistent. We've got to hold people."

The rotation seemed to be the least of this team's concerns entering the season. The Phils entered spring training with six starting pitchers - Myers, Hamels, Moyer, Lieber, Adam Eaton and Freddy Garcia - and major question marks in the bullpen. The question marks in the bullpen remain, but the performances from Garcia, Eaton and Lieber have been spotty at best.

Lieber, who left the ballpark before speaking with reporters, had a 2.50 ERA after his first six starts, but has a 7.56 ERA in his last three.

The Phillies are 2-7 when he starts.

"Our pitching definitely has to get better," Manuel said.

That's not to say the offense has been the mark of consistency lately, either. The Phillies hit .182 (10 for 55) with runners in scoring position during the homestand, which included a dreadful 1-for-14 effort yesterday.

They had runners on first and second with no outs in the first inning when Chase Utley surprisingly bunted. He advanced the runners to second and third, but why was the best hitter on the team bunting in the first place?

That call didn't come from the bench. It came from Utley, who said he "kind of, sort of" was bunting for a base hit.

"I was trying to make something happen," Utley said. "You don't know how many times you're going to have an opportunity to score off [Giants lefthander Barry Zito]. It was a curveball that I tried to put in play. Worse-case scenario, you got two guys in scoring position with the middle of your lineup up. We didn't get the job done."

Zito intentionally walked Ryan Howard to load the bases, but nobody scored. The Phillies had runners on first and second with no outs in the third, but nobody scored. They loaded the bases with nobody out in the fifth, but scored just once.

"We've got to capitalize in those situations," third baseman Wes Helms said. "It's frustrating because we haven't hit lefties all year. . . . We left a lot of men on. We can't do that."

They certainly can't do that starting tonight in New York, where they open a three-game series against the Mets.

"We had the momentum and we didn't run with it," Helms said. "And now we're going back on the road. . . . This is where we've got to take it to the Mets, because if we don't beat the Mets, we don't go to the playoffs. We've got to beat the teams that are in front of us. . . . We've got to go up there, do our job, and take three of these games."

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