Phillies Notebook: Phillies still on the lookout for some offense

LOS ANGELES - After holding the Padres to three runs in a three-game sweep over the weekend, the Phillies bused north up Interstate 5 hoping their offense would meet up with them somewhere along the way.

Given the strong pitching they have enjoyed recently - heading into last night's series opener against the Dodgers, the Phillies had a 2.93 ERA since Aug. 1 - the only thing standing in the way of a scorching September might be the various offensive struggles of their star-laden lineup.

After being one-hit by the Dodgers last night:

* Shane Victorino hasn't homered in 28 games, his longest stretch of the year. On July 16, he hit a solo home run off lefty Ted Lilly in the fourth inning of the Phillies' 4-3 loss to the Cubs, giving him a new career high of 15. Since then, he has gone 117 plate appearances without a home run. He got the lone hit in last night's 3-0 loss to the Dodgers.

* Chase Utley is 9-for-49 (.184) with no home runs and two doubles in 13 games since returning from a 7-week layoff due to thumb surgery.

* Ryan Howard is 4-for-36 with no extra-base hits and 16 strikeouts in nine games (eight starts) since returning from a 3-week layoff due to a sprained ankle.

* Placido Polanco was hitting .256 with a .298 on-base percentage in 22 games, dropping his batting average from .322 to .309. After last night's 0-for-4 outing, his average dipped again to .306.

"When we've got our offense going, we've got guys hitting like [Jimmy] Rollins, Utley, Howard, those guys like that," manager Charlie Manuel said. "Polly's been pretty consistent all year. He's been over .300 all season . . . We need to get those people hitting in general."

Manuel made a minor adjustment to his batting order, moving Polanco from second to third in order to put a righthanded bat between Utley, who hit second, and Howard, who remained at No. 4. The move, Manuel said, was made largely because of the presence of tough lefty Hong-Chih Kuo in the Dodgers bullpen.

"Try to find some balance," Manuel said.

Utley and Howard remain the key. Utley made a speedy recovery from his thumb surgery, but has had little success driving the ball since his return.

"We definitely need for him and Ryan to get hot," Manuel said.

September call-ups