ATLANTA - On one side of the clubhouse, the shortstop sat in his freshly pressed shirt and his blue jeans, trying to make some sense of another hitless night. On the other side, the starting pitcher stood in his running shoes and gym attire, trying to make some sense out of another shaky start. Regardless of what the statistics say about who contributed what to last year's title run, they are the faces of this Phillies franchise, and they have spent much of the last three seasons collecting accolades and antagonizing opponents, both on the field and through various forms of media.

As different as their backgrounds and their rises to center stage may have been - Jimmy Rollins from Alameda, Calif., Cole Hamels from San Diego; Rollins the slow path to stardom, Hamels the rocket ship - they are inextricably linked as the hammer and pistons that make the rest of the machine go.

And last night, after Rollins went hitless in his seventh straight game and Hamels lasted just four-plus innings in the Phillies' 11-1 loss to Atlanta, both admitted that this fact is never far from their minds.

"I try to block it out sometimes, but out of 162 games, it might be 10 games that I try to block it out," Rollins said. "Like, 'I don't want to hear that right now.' But you can't help it. You go in the dugout and everyone high-fives and [says], 'You go, we go!' And it helps, most of the time."

"It's something I take to heart," Hamels said, "because I want to be that guy who can go out there and win."

When a craft that you have spent a lifetime perfecting vanishes, the questions are far more numerous than the answers, mostly because those who spend their careers answering those questions - Why can't I get these guys out? Why can't I get a hit? - never reach the status of a Rollins or a Hamels.

Last night, Hamels ticked through the answers. Yes, he is healthy. Yes, his arm feels fine. No, the tightness and stiffness that plagued him in spring training is not present. While figures provided by MLB.com show that Hamels' fastball did not reach 90 mph in either of his final two innings, he said his stuff felt fine.

No, Hamels says, he is not tipping his pitches, despite the uncharacteristic number of hits (nine last night, 33 in his last 22 2/3 innings), and runs (seven last night, 15 in his last 22 2/3) he has allowed in his last four starts. He has watched video, and he sure that isn't it.

The problem, he says, is location. Last night, when the Braves scored three runs in the third and six in the fifth, 62.5 percent of his 88 pitches went for strikes. Last season, when opponents hit just .227 off him, 67 percent of his pitches went for strikes.

"The good pitchers can figure it out when they are pitching and I'm trying to step up and I'm not able to do it," Hamels said. "Maybe I'm overanalyzing or tweaking and then it's worse, so it's probably a matter of getting back to basics."

Even more baffling has been the current funk Rollins finds himself in. He went 0-for-3 last night, reaching base on a walk and stealing his first base since June 3 at San Diego. Just 2 years removed from his MVP season and 1 year removed from a .277 batting average and career-high .349 on-base percentage, Rollins is hitting .205 with a .250 on-base percentage and is hitless in his last 27 at-bats.

He jokingly scoffed at a question about a groundout to second base, which a reporter helpfully suggested might have served as evidence of improved timing.

"It was an out," Rollins said, "so not too much to be made about it."

Rollins wasn't the only member of the team who struggled at the plate. Braves righthander Jair Jurrjens held them hitless through 6 2/3 innings until a single by Paul Bako. They scored their only run after Jayson Werth walked, went first to third on an errant pickoff throw in the fourth, then scored on a sacrifice fly by Greg Dobbs. Shane Victorino had the team's only other hit, an infield single in the eighth.

But the spotlight is on Rollins, thanks to his epic struggle and the conventional wisdom, espoused frequently by manager Charlie Manuel, that the leadoff hitter is the sparkplug of the offense.

Rollins says he isn't putting pressure on himself, that he enjoys the burden. He says it usually doesn't bother him.

"Only when we lose," Rollins said. "When you win, not at all. Because whether you have a good game or not, the team won. No hits and we won? Got a chance to do it tomorrow. Four hits, we won? Got a chance to do it tomorrow. But when the team loses, it's like, damn. I got nothing, we lost - I could have got one hit, scored a run, maybe that would have started something."

But the Phillies haven't been winning. They are 39-36 and losing ground rapidly in the National League East, just one-half game ahead of Florida. Rollins is hitting near the Mendoza line. The Phillies are 7-8 in games Hamels has started.

"This is a rough year," said Hamels, who is 4-5 with a 4.98 ERA. "You know what it is? It's a challenging year. Not every time you go out there, you're going to be great. Sometimes you're going to have years where you're going to have to learn who you are and you kind of have to take what you learned last year - the ups and downs - and really battle. I think that's when you learn who you are and what you'll be capable of in the future." *