Vance Worley

MILWAUKEE - With his right knee wrapped in ice, Domonic Brown did not immediately retreat to his locker in the visitors clubhouse at Miller Park after a 6-2 Phillies loss to the Brewers. He found a seat next to Vance Worley, and the two 24-year-olds talked. They have been teammates since 2008 at single-A Lakewood. There is a certain bond, Brown said, between them. Still, words were needed Friday. "That play has to be made," Brown said. "It's as simple as that. " He told Worley that, and it hardly atoned for the fly ball that fell as a two-run triple instead of being caught for a third out. The ballpark erupted as Brown lay facedown on the dirt warning track in right field.

MIAMI - Later this week, Placido Polanco will travel across the state of Florida to resume playing baseball with the single-A Clearwater Threshers. He plans to rejoin the Phillies on Saturday in Milwaukee after missing nearly a month of action with back inflammation. He will not be the everyday third baseman upon his return. "No," manager Charlie Manuel said. "I probably won't be able to throw him out there every day. We definitely need him back, because he is a good defensive player.

Manager Charlie Manuel talked about Vance Worley as if he hadn't expected much more than the righthander gave him Sunday during the Phillies' 8-7, 11-inning victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. "He battled," Manuel said. "He stays in there and he usually gives us a chance to win the game. He usually takes you five or six innings. If you're going to be a fourth or fifth starter . . . in the major leagues, that ain't all bad. He definitely guts it out at times. " It could be argued that Worley has been gutting it out for some time.

Stand in the middle of the Phillies clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park and look up. The white ceiling is splotched with brown stains, the remnants of champagne celebrations from yesteryear. The mood in the room is decidedly less festive these days. Each one brings another failure or empty victory. Apathy has spread to the blue seats, which are becoming easier to spot. High above right field, Section 305 was barren Monday night, with about 15 rows unoccupied. The fans booed when first baseman Ryan Howard, 80 feet from second base, threw a ball straight at leftfielder Domonic Brown.

CLIFF LEE'S biggest problem this season has been a common one among Phillies starters: Citizens Bank Park. On Sunday, he allowed three more home runs in front of the home crowd. Pitching troubles like those are the big reason the Phillies are 23-30 at Citizens Bank Park this season. On the road, Lee's numbers are similar to what they were last season, when he held opponents to a .245 batting average, .282 on-base percentage, .390 slugging percentage and 10 home runs in 367 at-bats.

WASHINGTON — As the ground ball skipped to his left, John Mayberry Jr. froze, leaned back toward third, then broke for home. He had no chance. Mayberry found himself in a rundown. He became the second out of the fourth inning, a forfeited out, a lost chance. It was the kind of moment that deflated the Phillies game after game for the first 4 months of the season. On Wednesday, it was just another play. Young starter Vance Worley retired three Nationals on nine pitches.

THE PHILLIES' biggest problem this season is both underdiscussed and unfixable by outside intervention (which is why it is underdiscussed). There are a bunch of things they need to do to make this team and this roster more complete in 2013. Maybe the fixing starts between now and Tuesday's nonwaiver trade deadline and maybe not. Honestly, people-for-prospects is not the answer to any of their questions and that is all we are likely talking about as the deadline approaches. So, well, whatever.

Even as Kyle Kendrick has flourished this July with a scoreless streak of 182/3 innings, there are unfulfilled goals. Kendrick has started 111 games in the majors, but it is only through injuries to other Phillies arms that he finds himself in the starting rotation during the last two seasons. He preserved a 12-inning victory Sunday with 21/3 more spotless frames. He has started 13 of his 22 games in 2012, and has a 4.54 ERA in that role. "Right now, I'll do whatever," Kendrick said.

DENVER - This was a tale of two intentional walks and one much-needed Phillies victory, with Vance Worley in the middle of it all. Thanks to a three-run home run from Carlos Ruiz in the first inning and two clutch moments from Worley in the middle innings, the Phillies ended a five-game losing streak Saturday night at Coors Field with an 8-5 victory over the Colorado Rockies. After the Rockies had cut a four-run deficit in half with two runs in the third inning, Worley was at risk of letting the entire lead slip away in the bottom of the fifth when Marco Scutaro lined a two-out double to right-center field.