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Frustrated Phillies manager Pete Mackanin calls team meeting after Friday's loss

He wants them to play with more fire and energy, outfielder Aaron Altherr said.

Phillies manager Pete Mackanin is an eternal optimist, but this stretch of bad baseball by his struggling outfit has him in the dumps. He let his team know about it after Friday's 5-2 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park.

Mackanin called a team meeting after the game, and while he didn't want to divulge what was discussed, it didn't take much guess work as to the contents of the conference.

"He just wants to see us play with a little more fire and a little more energy," outfielder Aaron Altherr said. "You know, it's something we've got to do."

A sagging offense and inconsistent rotation has sapped a lot of that fire and energy from the team. The numbers are grimmer each game. The Phillies are 5-21 in their last 26 games. They haven't won two in a row since April 27, when they earned their sixth straight victory.

Mackanin has tried changing the batting order. He ha benched players. He has encouraged his players. He has challenged them. Nothing has worked, but he wanted to let his struggling 16-30 team know that he expects more.

"We need to step it up," Mackanin said. "We are better than this, I know we are better than this."

He appeared to be trying to convince himself.

"We have to start playing as aggressive as we can and take it to the other team," Mackanin said. "Be aggressive at the plate and pound the strike zone."

The Phillies were held to three hits Friday, which has become a common occurrence. It was the fourth time since Sunday that they have been held to three hits.

"It is definitely not from a lack of effort," first baseman Tommy Joseph said. "Everybody is busting their [butt], and it is a matter of sometimes it goes our way, and sometimes it doesn't."

Pitcher Aaron Nola, who had allowed only one home run in his previous 41 innings dating back to last year, surrendered two home runs in two innings. He left after six innings with the Phillies trailing, 5-0.

It's been that kind of stretch.

"The only way to fight out of this is to fight out of this and be more aggressive than you normally are," Mackanin said.

The players and Mackanin insist they will snap out of it, but it has become more difficult to maintain a positive attitude as they dig themselves deeper and deeper.

"We're trying to stay positive, as positive as we can throughout this stretch," Altherr said. "You know, it's tough sometimes when things are going the way they are. We're just going to keep being positive, keep trying to bring as much energy as we can to win some games."

mnarducci@phillynews.com

@sjnard