Phillies can't win 'em all

AFTER SCORING a season-high 12 runs the night before, the Phillies only crossed home plate twice in yesterday's 6-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves, who salvaged the series finale behind a strong outing from starting pitcher Julio Teheran.

The Phillies, now 12-3 since the All-Star break, missed out on a chance for their third series sweep of the second half.

"We took three out of four and that's a nice little start," interim manager Pete Mackanin said. "The story was Teheran was good and [Adam] Morgan wasn't sharp; Morgan didn't have real good command of his fastball and he got hurt.

"Teheran, he's been tough on us for the last two years; he changes speeds, mixes his pitches well, had a real good slider, he's always had a good changeup, and he just pitched very well. We got some hits but didn't really string a lot together."

Teheran (7-6) went seven innings, holding the Phils to just eight hits and two runs while striking out seven and walking none. Of his 100 pitches, 67 were strikes.

Morgan (2-3) was far less efficient, allowing seven hits and four earned runs in just five innings of work. The 6-1 lefty was especially erratic on the day, walking three batters, tossing a wild pitch, hitting a batter, balking, and allowing a home run; he threw 47 strikes on 78 pitches.

"When you don't have command of the fastball, it's tough to get ahead and . . . hitters, in my opinion, are taught to sit on the breaking pitches and react off the fastball," Morgan said. "When you don't have a fastball, it's easy for them."

Morgan admitted that he's been living dangerously in his last few starts, but his lack of control finally caught up to him yesterday. The Phillies have gone 3-1 in games he has started since the All-Star break, but his ERA has upticked from 3.91 to 4.46 in that span.

"My last couple outings I feel like I've been battling a lot more and putting myself in those situations and . . . it increases your focus, not saying that I'm not focused at all, but it takes a toll," Morgan said. "It takes a toll from the first inning on. It was my fault today, not being ready to pitch that first inning. There's no excuse for that."

Morgan's first inning epitomized his battling mentality, as he allowed back-to-back base hits and then retired the next three batters.

He looked shaky, but he hadn't cracked just yet.

Leftfielder Cody Asche went 1-for-3, including a second-inning single to rightfield that scored first baseman Ryan Howard, who reached on a double, and gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead.

Howard was 2-for-4, raising his average from .238 to .241.

The Phillies would hold onto a one-run advantage until the top of the fifth, when the Braves jumped on the board in a big way thanks to a single from third baseman Chris Johnson that scored centerfielder Cameron Maybin, and a three-run homer by second baseman Jace Peterson, that provided a 4-1 lead.

Maybin reached on a walk, and then advanced to second on a balk by Morgan, setting up Johnson for a scoring opportunity he wouldn't miss.

"I feel a little out of whack, but I'm not pressing the panic button just yet," Morgan said. "It's a process and definitely keeping the ball down strike one is something that I'll focus on this week.

"And mechanics-wise, like I said, I'm excited to work on it these next five days and take the hill after that."

In the bottom of the fifth, centerfielder Odubel Herrera lined a single up the middle to score second baseman Cesar Hernandez, who reached on a ground-rule double, to cut the Phillies' deficit to 4-2.

But the Phils simply couldn't keep up with the Braves, who scored another two runs in the seventh inning off reliever Justin De Fratus. The 27-year-old righty gave up run-scoring singles to leftfielder Jonny Gomes and Peterson that gave the Braves a commanding 6-2 lead.

A bright spot from the Phillies' poor offensive outing was their spectacular play in the outfield, highlighted by a diving catch by Herrera and a warning-track grab by Asche.

While Mackanin commended the defensive play of both Herrera and Asche, he was most pleased with the efforts of rightfielder Domonic Brown, who battled significant glare throughout the game.

"Asche made a real nice play to left-centerfield, Odubel made a very nice play to right-center, but the thing that impressed me a lot was a couple of fly balls," Mackanin said. "That sun was really bright and I was impressed by the fact that Brown, he just fought that sun.

"A lot of times, guys give up on that but he wasn't going to let it get to him; he fought the sun a couple times and that was impressive to me."

Brown, who homered for the first time in 162 plate appearances on Thursday and added another blast on Friday, failed to get a hit and struck out twice.

The Phillies (41-65) will send Jerome Williams to the mound for Game 1 of a three-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who feature former Phil Jimmy Rollins, at Citizens Bank Park tomorrow night at 7:05.