Turner Field

For the Atlanta Braves, this three-game series was another routine tune-up for their seventh straight excursion into the postseason. For the Phillies, it was three more losses and a painful reminder of how very far they are from measuring up to the class of their division. "They're just much better than we are," the glum-looking Curt Schilling said while he packed his bags after the Phils' 5-1 loss yesterday at Turner Field. The Braves outscored the Phils, 12-3, in the series.

Five hours before the first pitch, a couple of dozen fans lined the fence that encloses the players' parking lot at Turner Field. As each Braves player wheeled in, as usual, the people shouted words of encouragement and requests for autographs. This, of course, was anything but business-as-usual, even though the arrival of John Rocker was greeted with the ritual cheers. This was the closer's first game back from the suspension imposed after his comments in Sports Illustrated about gays, minorities, foreigners and New Yorkers jolted the national consciousness last December.

ATLANTA - The Avett Brothers performed a postgame concert at Turner Field following Sunday's series finale, and it always seems as if the Braves are booking musical guests when the Phillies are in town. Last season, The Beach Boys and REO Speedwagon played after Phillies-Braves games. Later this season, Ludacris will play a postgame concert after the Phillies-Braves game on May 14. Alas, the Phillies are not in town when the B-52s and Yacht Rock Revue play postgame concerts this season.

ATLANTA - They love Bobby Cox here so it was right that the loudest Turner Field got during pregame festivities for opening night was when the retired manager threw the first pitch to current Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. Cox, wearing khakis and his old home white No. 6 jersey, threw a strike to Gonzalez and then tipped his cap on his way to the stands, where he became a fan just like everyone else. It makes you wonder what the Phillies will do once Charlie Manuel hangs 'em up. Will he be carried into Citizens Bank Park on a chariot?

The Atlanta Braves' not being in first place in the National League East is about as unlikely a thought as . . . well, Paul Byrd's throwing punches and being labeled a troublemaker. Strange but true. The fighting Phillies knocked the Braves out of first place when they hammered their way to an emotional 9-2 victory over the perennial division champions last night at raucous Turner Field. Byrd pitched a seven-inning gem against the team that waived him a year ago, and he was backed by four home runs as the Phils improved to a season-high 11 games over .500.

ATLANTA - Quite possibly the best pregame fan contest in baseball is held here at Turner Field. Normally once a homestand, three contestants and one Braves player participate in a closest-to-the-pin game. On Saturday, it was infielder Brooks Conrad's turn. They set up a small plot of turf in the on-deck circle and a flag in center field. Conrad took the high-iron club and hit the golf ball to within 15 feet of the pin. Usually the Braves player has the best shot. This time, two of the fan contestants couldn't even chip the ball out of the infield.

1:05, Turner Field, Atlanta. TV: Comcast SportsNet Radio: WPHT (1210-AM); WUBA (1480-AM) Spanish. Phillies RHP Kyle Kendrick (3-2, 5.04) vs. Braves RHP Derek Lowe (7-4, 4.86)   Three matchups to watch   Kendrick vs. Braves: His last start at Turner Field, when he allowed four hits in eight scoreless innings of a 4-3 loss on April 20, may have turned his season around. Including that game, he is 3-2 with a 3.62 ERA in eight starts. Lowe vs. Phillies: The veteran righthander has already faced them twice this season, allowing five runs in five innings of an 8-3 loss on April 22, and seven runs on 11 hits in five innings of a 7-0 loss on May 7. Since that last start against the Phillies, Lowe has posted a 2.88 ERA and held opponents to a .224 average in four starts.

Must-see TV As someone who has spent a lot of time in both a baseball clubhouse and a football locker room, I really am fascinated at how different the two places are. There are plenty of TVs in football locker rooms, but because there is so little downtime between meetings and practice, the players rarely watch them unless one of their colleges is playing. In baseball, of course, there is a lot of waiting, especially when you are the visiting team and have to take batting practice after the home team.

Another year, another division title for the Braves. Atlanta became the first team to win six straight division championships, clinching the National League East when Florida lost to the New York Mets, then beating the visiting Montreal Expos, 3-2, last night in 11 innings. Steven Kline threw a third-strike wild pitch to Mike Mordecai with the bases loaded, allowing Danny Bautista to trot home with the winning run. By then, the division already was Atlanta's. "It's a great feeling every time we do this," third baseman Chipper Jones said in a champagne-filled clubhouse.

What a waste. The Phillies wasted a gritty start from lefty Randy Wolf. Wasted a chance to cut the Braves lead in the National League East, which stood at 121/2 games as recently as the end of play Tuesday, to 10. Wasted a four-run rally in the ninth against previously untouchable Braves closer John Rocker. It all disappeared so quickly into the soft, Georgia night. Pinch-hitter Wally Joyner opened the bottom of the ninth at Turner Field with a single. Quilvio Veras bunted pinch-runner Mark DeRose to second.

ATLANTA - As Rich Dubee preached his optimism Thursday afternoon about Roy Halladay, the pitcher ran. Halladay donned a red beanie and black sweatpants. He paced the warning track at Turner Field in the 40-degree weather while a steady mist fell. Halladay was the only player on the field at 4 p.m. "I'm starting to see some results," Dubee said. "You think I'm going to take the ball away from this guy?" No one is saying the Phillies pitching coach should do that. Dubee reiterated his encouragement for Halladay despite a baffling, 95-pitch outing in which the erstwhile ace recorded 10 outs.

ATLANTA - If the baseball gods had it in for the Phillies in Atlanta, the ball that betrayed Chase Utley's glove to begin the bottom of the sixth inning would have led to a game-tying rally. Instead, Gerald Laird, the Braves' leadoff baserunner, didn't move an inch off first. Cliff Lee was out of the inning six pitches later. In the third game of the Phillies' season, an All-Star ace took the mound and didn't disappoint. In a week that began with Cole Hamels serving up a hat trick of homers and continued with Roy Halladay needing 95 pitches before exiting in the fourth inning, Lee blanked the supersized Atlanta lineup in a crisp, 2-0 victory on a cool, damp night at Turner Field.

ATLANTA - Frustrated. That was the first word out of a distraught Roy Halladay's mouth following an odd outing in a string of troubling starts. On Wednesday night, Halladay needed 95 pitches to get 10 outs, nine of which came on strikeouts. He also served up two home runs and was out of the game before the fourth inning was over. But perhaps it was also the most predictable of outcomes when you matched up the aging, scuffling Halladay against the new-look, free-swinging Atlanta Braves.

ATLANTA - The toughest thing about watching it is that you know how much Roy Halladay cares. That part did not change on Wednesday night in the Phillies' 9-2 loss to the Braves. The sub-zero scowl never vanished: not after Justin Upton blasted a 1-2 sinking fastball for a home run in the first inning, not after Halladay bounced a curveball in the dirt for the fifth time, not after a gargantuan rookie named Evan Gattis sent a cutter over the leftfield wall in his second major league at-bat.

ATLANTA - Charlie Manuel raised his left arm at 8:38 p.m. Wednesday and looked to the bullpen. The steady rain that dampened Turner Field persisted. The gloom extended north to Philadelphia. With one out in the fourth inning of a 9-2 Phillies loss to Atlanta, Roy Halladay capitulated. He ditched the weapons that, for a decade, armed a dominant pitcher. When Halladay threw his fastball, Braves hitters mashed it. The constant diet of off-speed pitches elicited strikeouts, but at the cost of a rising pitch count.

ATLANTA - Mind over matter. Stamina over stuff. Brain over brawn. For Roy Halladay, perhaps it won't be all that difficult to continue his evolution as a major league pitcher. He was burned at an early age and rebuilt, in part with an overhaul to his mechanics and in part to the power of positive thinking. If the last 12 months are any indication, Halladay doesn't have the $20 million arm that made him baseball's best pitcher for the majority of the last decade. But he still has the tireless work ethic and meticulous game preparation.

ATLANTA - Cole Hamels probably should have worn a helmet last month when he faced the Dominican Republic's World Baseball Classic team in an exhibition game. But he was working on fastball command in spring training, and he went uninjured, so all was well. Last week, Hamels was matched up against arguably baseball's best hitting team in his spring finale. The results were much better, but afterward Hamels was thankful he wouldn't have to face the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder regularly in 2013.

ATLANTA - It is a long season, as the Phillies vividly reminded us with a long night here Monday. It is impossible to reach reasonable conclusions after just one game, but that's what opening day is for. For more than a month, we've been told every rough outing results from a pitcher working on some troublesome pitch, that the offensive numbers are meaningless. All of those qualifiers disappear on opening day. The game counts. This game counted more than most. There will be no easing into this National League East race.

ATLANTA -  Cole Hamels probably should have worn a helmet last month when he faced the Dominican Republic's World Baseball Classic team in an exhibition game. But he was working on fastball command in spring training, and he went uninjured, so all was well. Last week, Hamels was matched up against arguably baseball's best hitting team in his spring finale. The results were much better, but afterward Hamels was thankful he wouldn't have to face the Tigers' Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder regularly in 2013.