Need to Get Away? Phillies could use a road trip after another home loss

There's a long way to go and the Phillies remain, after all, in first place in a National League East Division that has yet to show another club as a worthy challenger.

Still, the danger signs keep popping up around Citizens Bank Park, and the citizens who pack the place for just about every game are getting restless. Understandably. It's the third week of June and they have witnessed just 13 wins in South Philly.

Last night, for the first time in a week, the Phillies got something out of a starting pitcher that was good enough to help a good-hitting club grab a win. Lefthanded rookie Antonio Bastardo had one bad inning among the seven he pitched and finished by allowing four runs before Jack Taschner let the game get out of hand in the ninth inning of a 7-2 loss to the Baltimore Orioles.

The problem was that the Phils weren't a good-hitting club, and the Orioles became the third team from the American League East to enjoy their visit in the last week.

"It seems like the last week or so we can't get our game together," said manager Charlie Manuel, who insisted he was remaining patient, for now. "[On Thursday] we scored runs, but we didn't hold them. That's kind of how we've been playing. That's kind of where we're at."

But the patience of the paying customers is running thin. Fans booed the defending World Series champions heartily before heading for the exits when Nick Markakis made the result official with a two-run double off Taschner in the ninth.

The Phillies' loss to the AL East bottom-dwellers dropped them to 1-6 on this nine-game homestand. The players are sick of being asked why they can't win at home, but they aren't doing anything about it. So it gets uglier. The Phillies' home mark dropped to 13-20, third worst in the big leagues, and they are 8-19 in their ballpark if a 5-1 record against the lowly Washington Nationals is discarded.

Last night, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard combined to go 0 for 11, not the kind of numbers Manuel had in mind when he expressed confidence that his lineup would score plenty of runs despite the loss of Raul Ibanez with a strained left groin for at least two weeks.

Manuel doesn't like what he is seeing from the hitters.