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He stopped for nobody.
He left manager Charlie Manuel to talk about his latest performance and his future in the Phillies' rotation. Myers pitched two-plus innings - the shortest start of his career - and allowed five hits, five runs, and four walks in an 8-7 loss to the Texas Rangers for the Phils' eighth loss in their last nine games.
Myers is 3-9 with a 5.84 ERA.
The Phillies are 4-13 when he pitches.
How much longer can this last?
"Can I say his job is secure?" Manuel said. "I don't know what to say, if you want to know the truth. We'd have to find somebody to do his job first, I guess."
Myers allowed a leadoff home run to Ian Kinsler in the first inning and found major trouble in the third after Pedro Feliz hit a two-out grand slam in the top of the inning to give the Phillies a 5-1 lead. Myers allowed a leadoff double to Kinsler and infield singles to Michael Young and Josh Hamilton to cut the lead to 5-2. He walked Milton Bradley to load the bases with no outs, and then walked David Murphy to make it 5-3.
By then, Manuel had seen enough. As soon as the ball hit Chris Coste's mitt for ball four, Manuel reached into his mouth, picked out his gum, and chucked it onto the warning track. He walked to the mound to retrieve Myers.
Myers slowly returned to the dugout. But once he got there, he whipped his glove against the wall and flipped his cap to the other end of the dugout. Then, he kicked at nothing in particular before he took a seat.
"We're trying to get him right," Manuel said. "Myers' best year is 14-9 as a starter [in 2003]. You stop and think about it, that's not lighting it up. I mean, look, that's not what you call a huge season. He's had some bumps. He's had moments on the mound where he's had some struggles.
"Our expectation of Myers was always an 18-, 20-game winner. I said before the season started that in order for us to win, we needed 16 to 20 wins out of [Cole Hamels and Myers]. That's kind of how we always evaluated him. His talent has always been there. Right now, things aren't going too well for him. He's having trouble."
But there are no simple solutions, either.
Double-A righthander Carlos Carrasco seems to be the team's best internal option at the minor-league level, but he allowed seven hits and eight runs (seven earned) in three innings last night in a loss to Akron. He is 5-7 with a 4.18 ERA for Reading.
Righthander Chad Durbin is 2-1 with a 1.47 ERA in 30 appearances, so Manuel is reluctant to move him. Durbin also is just 19-33 with a 5.83 ERA as a starter.
Righthander Kris Benson is making his first start for triple-A Lehigh Valley tomorrow, but he needs to show much more than he has before he becomes an option.
"I don't have an answer right now," Manuel said. "I've got to think it over."
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