Tom Gordon

The Phillies did not offer Jamie Moyer or Pat Burrell salary arbitration before last night's midnight deadline, a league source said. This means the Phillies will not receive draft picks as compensation if either player signs with another team. Both are Type A free agents, which means the Phils would have received two draft picks if either player had signed elsewhere. But the Phillies, who would not comment last night, must have felt the compensation was not worth it. The fact that the Phillies did not offer Moyer or Burrell arbitration does not mean the players won't be back in 2009.

Tom Gordon sat stoically in front of a computer screen last night in the corner of the visitors' clubhouse at Dolphin Stadium, where hitters typically spend hours studying and dissecting film. The Phillies reliever also studied and dissected. But Gordon mostly relived his disastrous ninth inning in a 6-2 loss to the Florida Marlins, which moved the Marlins within two games of the Phillies in the National League East. Gordon had no command of his fastball, and it cost him. He loaded the bases, walking two batters on four pitches each, before Dan Uggla hit a 3-1 fastball into the second deck in left field for a game-winning grand slam.

Tom Gordon must have been just 9 or 10 at the time, but he remembers the moment vividly. He and his father were watching the Atlanta Braves play the Phillies. It must have been late in the game and the Phillies must have been winning because Gordon's father turned to him and said, "Son, that's Tug McGraw pitching. " To which Gordon responded, "Dad, his name is Tug?" But Gordon, whose nickname is "Flash" and whom the Phillies introduced as their new closer yesterday at Citizens Bank Park, has an appreciation for McGraw.

In the clubhouse, all Tom Gordon could do was talk about the Phillies' offense. And why wouldn't he? The offense had just bailed the closer out in the ninth inning last night at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies used big plays and timely hitting to beat Florida, 6-5, after Gordon had blown his third save attempt of the season, allowing the Marlins to tie the game in the top of the inning. They won it when catcher Carlos Ruiz, who went 3 for 5, singled with the bases loaded "Right now, they're carrying us," Gordon said.

The bullpen doors opened, Tom Gordon stepped out, and Queen's "Flash's Theme" played. His moment had arrived. Gordon, who replaced Billy Wagner as the Phillies' closer this season, took the mound in the top of the ninth inning in a tie game last night at Citizens Bank Park. Then he allowed a run to score in a 4-3 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals that featured Jimmy Rollins' extending his lifetime hitting streak to 38 games in the bottom of the first. The Phillies will try to avoid a series sweep this afternoon.

Every loss counts the same, but don't believe for a second that every loss feels the same. That truth could be found everywhere last night at Miller Park. It started with the quiet that filled the visitors' clubhouse, where the Phillies tried to collect themselves after they blew a four-run lead in a 6-5 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. It continued with the door to Charlie Manuel's office that remained closed for at least 45 minutes after the game, highly unusual for the typically affable and buoyant manager.

There was the well-documented arrest of Brett Myers. There were plane problems and rain delays, lopsided losses and rainouts, lousy pitching and nonexistent clutch hitting. No wonder a Phillies executive yesterday called it "the road trip from hell. " That was before the Phillies, sparked by Ryan Madson's superb pitching and David Dellucci's two-run, first-inning homer, ended a seven-game losing streak last night by blanking the Baltimore Orioles, 4-0, in front of 31,038 at steamy Camden Yards.

A road trip that started so promisingly ended yesterday with Phillies players walking around the clubhouse with expressions of stunned disbelief on their faces. They knew they let one get away in a 7-6 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in 10 innings at Busch Stadium. They knew they could have had more than five wins on this nine-game trip. "We had a chance, after we won three in Atlanta, to have a better record," manager Charlie Manuel said. "In some ways, I'm disappointed we didn't win six or seven games, but that's the way it goes.

Right after trading off a power pitcher, Arizona acquired a power hitter who ranks among the best in the game. The Diamondbacks got Richie Sexson, 28, from Milwaukee in a nine-player deal yesterday that sent infielder Craig Counsell and second baseman Junior Spivey to the Brewers. First baseman Lyle Overbay, catcher Chad Moeller and lefthanders Jorge De La Rosa and Chris Capuano also were dealt to Milwaukee. Arizona also received lefthander Shane Nance and a player to be named.

The Kansas City Royals now have a gaping hole in left field where Bo Jackson used to reside. And it may be the Phillies who could help them fill it. Royals general manager Herk Robinson acknowledged yesterday that he had had a number of conversations with Phillies general manager Lee Thomas over the last two months. And while he didn't name the people discussed, he left a clear impression that they included Von Hayes and John Kruk. "I can't totally deny that we have discussed names in the last couple of months," Robinson said.

YOU HEAR IT all the time, that each year's Phillies team owns a different personality than the one before. But only when you scan the rosters of the Phillies teams responsible for their string of five straight division titles does the axiom become emphasized. Scott Eyre, Eric Bruntlett, So Taguchi, Tadahito Iguchi, Clay Condrey. Tom Gordon, Rudy Seanez, Chad Durbin, Abraham Nunez. Antonio Alfonseca, Jose Mesa, Paul Bako, Chan Ho Park. Tyler Walker, Jack Taschner . . . You get the gist.

DENVER - Well before the start of yesterday's game, Brad Lidge learned that the Phillies would be taking the field without their closer as Ryan Madson headed to Los Angeles to be with his wife for the birth of their fourth child. Lidge did not know whether that meant he would be the top option in a save situation. He had not had a save since last season, when he was still 5 months away from the shoulder and elbow trouble that would cost him the first half of 2011. But manager Charlie Manuel had no doubt.

BY THE END of the night, the Phillies' offense had produced three runs, their shortstop had missed his second straight game with a swollen knee, their first baseman had fouled a ball off an ankle, and there was significant cause to question which of their former closers was more game-ready: Brad Lidge, whose attempted return from a rotator-cuff strain has been interrupted by soreness in his elbow, or retiree Tom Gordon, who returned to Citizens Bank...

During the off-season, Ryan Howard participated in some workouts with former Giants slugger Barry Bonds . They met for lunch in August when the Phillies traveled to Los Angeles. They have become friends. The two kept in touch occasionally as the season progressed. So, naturally, with the Phillies taking on Bonds' former team, it was time for another chat, right? "No, not yet," Howard said Friday. "I may give him a call and see what's going on - talk some trash, maybe.

In an uncertain economy, the Phillies are spending with a lot of confidence. Signing Ryan Howard to a three-year deal worth $54 million yesterday pushed the Phillies' 2009 payroll over $130 million. The team's payroll will jump more than $30 million from where it began last season and about $20 million from where it ended it. That's the biggest off-season increase in baseball in a year when more than half of the teams in the majors are projected to cut payroll or hold expenditures steady.

The Phillies did not offer Jamie Moyer or Pat Burrell salary arbitration before last night's midnight deadline, a league source said. This means the Phillies will not receive draft picks as compensation if either player signs with another team. Both are Type A free agents, which means the Phils would have received two draft picks if either player had signed elsewhere. But the Phillies, who would not comment last night, must have felt the compensation was not worth it. The fact that the Phillies did not offer Moyer or Burrell arbitration does not mean the players won't be back in 2009.

Teams officially can expand their rosters today, and the Phillies yesterday announced four additions for the stretch run: Catcher Lou Marson. Outfielder Greg Golson. Lefthander J.A. Happ. Righthander Adam Eaton. Eaton and Happ were no surprise. The Phillies promised Eaton that he would be recalled once they optioned him to the minors July 28. He pitched poorly (0-5, 7.02 ERA) in a combined seven starts for single-A Lakewood, double-A Reading and triple-A Lehigh Valley, but is back and will be a long man. Happ deserved a spot because he pitched well in two starts for the team in July.

Tom Gordon, who has been on the 15-day disabled list since July 6 with an injured right elbow, has thrown his last pitch for the Phillies this season, barring a miracle. The reliever visited orthopedist Lewis Yocum on Monday, and he agreed with team physician Michael Ciccotti's diagnosis: Gordon has an injured ligament, an injured muscle on the inside of the elbow, an irritated nerve, and a small piece of bone that has separated from the ligament. "That's really the biggest thing," athletic trainer Scott Sheridan said yesterday of the bone injury.

THE 2008 PHILLIES are a Hollywood movie set of a baseball team. Cecil B. De Mille would have been proud of the facade they present. What the camera sees is the Roman Forum in all its marble-faced grandeur. Walk behind the set, however, and it is the clever handiwork of skilled carpenters, propped up by timbers, a plywood, styrofoam and plastic edifice that can be broken down in moments and configured into a gracious plantation manor. General manager Pat Gillick will understand the analogy, even if he does not agree with it. After all, he grew up in Southern California and knows how things work in Hollywood.

Cross one more pitcher off the Phillies' wish list. The Chicago Cubs announced yesterday that they acquired righthander Rich Harden, who threw eight shutout innings against the Phillies on June 26, and righthander Chad Gaudin from the Oakland Athletics. The Cubs traded pitcher Sean Gallagher, outfielders Matt Murton and Eric Patterson, and minor-leaguer John Donaldson. Chicago made the trade one day after the Milwaukee Brewers introduced Cy Young winner CC Sabathia to their rotation.