The team lacks a dominant No. 2 starter behind ace Cole Hamels.

Still, that doesn't mean the front office is focused solely on the rotation with the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline 36 days away. The Phillies also are expected to try to bolster their bullpen.

Relief help might not seem to be a pressing need, because the Phillies have the best bullpen in baseball with a 2.51 ERA. But the team would like another lefthander to complement J.C. Romero. There also is a potential issue that could push the club to make a move: Tom Gordon's shoulder.

Lost in the shuffle of last week's terrible homestand against the Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Angels is that Gordon hasn't pitched since June 15 in St. Louis. Every other reliever pitched at least twice during the homestand: Romero, Ryan Madson, Chad Durbin and Clay Condrey each pitched three times. Brad Lidge and Rudy Seanez each pitched twice.

Phillies assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said yesterday that Gordon had a "balky" shoulder but was available to pitch last night in the series opener against the Oakland Athletics at McAfee Coliseum. Amaro said it was nothing serious - Gordon described it as soreness - although the Phillies understandably are cautious about a pitcher who has been throwing with a slight tear in his rotator cuff since he joined the organization before the 2006 season.

"Things happen, and sometimes I try to overlook them," Gordon said. "That's been my problem. I felt myself starting to get a little tired and a little weak and I intensified my workouts, and I think that kind of set me back. I just totally lost a really good feel for where I was trying to get to. I've been a damn knucklehead in that situation. I'm still learning."

Gordon is 5-4 with a 5.06 ERA in 30 appearances, but his ERA is deceiving. In 28 of those 30 appearances, he is 5-2 with a 2.08 ERA (six earned runs in 26 innings). In the two other appearances, he is 0-2 with a 121.50 ERA (nine earned runs in two-thirds of an inning).

"I was feeling good," the 40-year-old Gordon said. "But I've noticed it, even playing catch. I could barely get the ball sometimes to Romero in the outfield. I shouldn't feel like that. I knew that I was sore, but I didn't want to put the team in a bad situation. I wanted to continue to go out there, and that set me back."

Pitching coach Rich Dubee said he hoped the week off was enough for Gordon to feel better on the mound. But the latest setback only reinforces the idea that the Phillies have to pay closer attention to Gordon's use. He pitched June 1, 2 and 3, and back-to-back days on five other occasions.

"He also needs to step up once in a while and be a little more honest," Dubee said. "He's such a competitor. He hides it well. You can see it sometimes on the mound when he's not feeling right, but when you talk to him, he hides it."