Jimmy Rollins

PHOENIX - Of the 32,785 people who filed into Chase Field on Mother's Day, there was one whose voice carried the loudest, with the convertible ballpark's roof closed. He was seated somewhere along the first-base line and he continually heckled Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard yesterday afternoon. "Swing . . . miss!" "Big spot, game on the line, no pressure!" "Eat fresh!" If nothing else, the man was creative in co-opting Howard's favorite sandwich brand's catchphrase into his material.

PHOENIX - The decision was made long before Tyler Cloyd allowed just two runs in 6 1/3 innings and pitched well enough to win Friday's 3-2 Phillies loss. Reliever Justin De Fratus was put on a cross-country flight to Arizona prior to the start of the game. "They told me no matter what happened they were going to send me down," Cloyd said. The Phillies do not need a fifth starter until May 21. They can go two turns through the rotation without one because of two off days next week.

PHOENIX — Every Phillies hitter had to pass Charlie Manuel before stepping into the on-deck circle Saturday. The manager positioned himself at the top of the dugout steps for the entirety of a 3-1 victory over Arizona. He talked strategy with Michael Young. He patted Ryan Howard on the back. He shook his head, slammed his fists together, and watched more offensive futility. "I was thinking there during the game," Manuel said. "We have 125 games left. We're going to hit. " On this night, three runs patched together by walks, singles, stolen bases, wild pitches, and sacrifices were enough despite 11 stranded runners.

PHOENIX - Jimmy Rollins never shed his batting gloves. With the tying run 90 feet away, he tapped one to first base that sealed a 3-2 Phillies loss. Rollins retreated to the clubhouse with the rest of his downtrodden teammates and went straight to one of the five laptops in the middle of the room. For 16 minutes, Rollins watched. Dressed in full uniform, he moved the mouse with his right glove. He tapped on the keyboard with his left glove. He stood up, pretended to swing, and pulled off his No. 11 jersey.

SAN FRANCISCO - After a spirited ninth inning that saw the Phillies tie the game, Ben Revere tried to keep the momentum going in the 10th. He beat out an infield single and then attempted to steal second with Domonic Brown up and Jimmy Rollins on deck. But Revere was called out by Alfonso Marquez. And in the bottom of the inning, San Francisco reserve outfielder Andres Torres punched a two-out, RBI single to rightfield off Antonio Bastardo as the Phillies fell yesterday, 4-3. On the replay of Revere's stolen base attempt, it looked like he got his left hand on the bag in time.

PHOENIX - The night he became the longest-tenured manager in 131 years of Phillies baseball, Charlie Manuel left his lineup on his desk. His players streamed from the clubhouse to the field for stretches two hours before first pitch. Manuel lounged on a tractor when Chase Utley tapped him on the knee to ask who was playing. "I forgot to put the lineup up," Manuel said, shaking his head. The Phillies dragged through Thursday, a 2-1 loss to Arizona, when the most rudimentary tasks were difficult.

SAN FRANCISCO - A dozen Giants dashed from the dugout toward first base and danced past Antonio Bastardo, who lugged a loss with him as he walked to the Phillies clubhouse and a flight to Phoenix. The home team wanted to pound Andres Torres. He flared a single to right in the 10th inning for a 4-3 win Wednesday at AT&T Park. The road team departed with confidence. The Phillies' last-minute comeback and chance for their first sweep in San Francisco since 1984 was spoiled. But they played crisp baseball against a talented squad for three days, and most drew comfort from that.

Baseball rewards panic the same way a pit bull rewards sudden movement. There's no future in simply turning and running from a bad start from a baseball team, or in trying to repair a six-month season with a few weeks of glue and duct tape. The Phillies were constructed for 2013 on the precarious hope that their aging veteran starters would pitch well and that their aging everyday players would regain their productivity. Around that central theme, the front office sprinkled journeymen and prospects who might be good enough if everything else went right.

NEW YORK - Before Ryan Howard smashed a dramatic double, before Chase Utley added another run, before Jimmy Rollins and Laynce Nix touched off the winning rally with two singles, John Buck could not catch a foul pop Sunday. It floated toward the Phillies dugout at Citi Field. Buck ripped off his catcher's mask and looked to the sky. The ball nicked his glove; Nix's at-bat continued. There were two outs in the seventh inning of a 5-1 Phillies win, and Buck could have prevented chaos.

NEW YORK - Time will tell whether the weekend was a respite against a rotten team or a springboard to a turnaround for the Phillies. Either way, they will take their three-game sweep of the New York Mets, a team that would be even worse off if not for the presence of young pitching star Matt Harvey in their rotation and the rancid Miami Marlins in their division. It can be said with certainty that the Mets are on the road to nowhere this season, even though their charter flight took them to Miami after Sunday's 5-1 loss to the Phillies at Citi Field.