Phillies, John Lannan pounded by Braves, 6-3

ATLANTA - After temporarily taking a break from their second-half swoon as Cole Hamels pitched a gem and Charlie Manuel collected a milestone win on Monday, the Phillies reverted back to their losing ways last night to complete another forgettable road trip.

John Lannan was bludgeoned for the second time in 6 nights as the Phils dropped their second straight game in Atlanta: a 6-3 defeat on a rain-soaked night at Turner Field. Lannan gave up five runs in 1 1/3 innings and left the game with a left knee injury.

The Phillies have lost 19 of 24 games since the All-Star break. After entering the break 6 1/2 games behind the Braves in the National League East standings, the Phils' free-fall now has them a season-worst 20 1/2 games behind Atlanta.

Since the All-Star break, Phillies starting pitchers have a 6.39 ERA. Lannan has anchored that ghastly number from the rotation every fifth day: He has a 9.14 ERA in five starts since the break. He added injury to insult last night.

Lannan faced just four batters in the second inning, walking two of them, before the training staff, pitching coach Rich Dubee and Manuel came out to the mound to remove the starting pitcher. It's the second time this year Lannan's left knee has become an issue. Lannan went on the disabled list on April 18 with a left knee injury and didn't return for 2 months.

"I had the quad strain, but I also had some structural damage that's happened over the years," Lannan said afterward. "This time it wasn't the quad tendon, but the other thing that flared up. It happened before [my previous start] and I thought it just flared up. I did the things I thought I needed to do to get it ready, and I just came to the point tonight where I was just trying to fight through it. But it obviously was affecting the way I was pitching."

The Phillies medical staff will examine Lannan today but, with 6 weeks left in the season, there's a fair chance his 2013 is over.

"I want to get this thing fixed is what it comes down to," he said. "It's disappointing because I thought I got it under control the first time. It's something that needs to be fixed."

Lannan, 28, is 3-6 with a 5.33 ERA in 14 starts this season. He signed a 1-year, $2.5 million deal as a free agent this offseason.

The Phillies have control over him as Lannan has another year of arbitration.

"It's tough," Lannan said of a lost season. "I want to help this team out tremendously, go out there every 5 days. I know when I'm healthy I can go out there and do my job. I feel like I'm letting everybody down — letting myself down, my family down — but you have to look at the silver lining. Hopefully I can get this thing fixed."

One start removed from getting beat up by the Nationals — he allowed eight runs in a 9-2 loss to his former team last Friday in Washington — Lannan struggled to record an out in Atlanta.

Braves leadoff hitter Jason Heyward started the first inning with a home run. Lannan walked the next batter, Justin Upton, and already appeared to be laboring as Freddie Freeman stepped to the plate.

Before Lannan's night was through, he allowed four hits and three walks to the 11 batters he would face.

If the Phillies need a starter to replace Lannan, Triple A Lehigh Valley righthander Tyler Cloyd could be an option. Cloyd (5-9, 4.89 ERA) allowed one run on three hits in a complete game effort in the IronPigs 4-1 win over Syracuse last night.

Roy Halladay and Jonathan Pettibone could eventually become options. Both are beginning minor league rehab assignments today, in Clearwater and Reading, respectively. Earlier this week, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Halladay may be able to rejoin the Phillies after two minor league starts.

The four pitchers who took over for Lannan last night, Zach Miner, Cesar Jimenez, Luis Garcia and Raul Valdes, allowed just one run in the final 6 2/3  innings.

But for the second straight night, the Phillies couldn't muster up enough offense. Their three runs came on two swings: a two-run homer from Domonic Brown in the sixth and a solo shot from Darin Ruf in the ninth.

"Brown and Ruf hit the heck out of the ball tonight," Manuel said. "We were battling trying to get back in there [like Tuesday night, too], but we got behind early both games."

Ruf's homer was his seventh in 32 games this season. He has hit five in 13 games in August.

Brown, meanwhile, is two home runs behind the National League lead. Brown (3-for-4, a triple shy of the cycle) has 27 home runs on the season.

The blossoming of two young power bats in the Phillies lineup was the silver lining of a 1-5 road trip through Washington and Atlanta.

"Hamels pitched a good game for us and we got a win — that about sums it up," Manuel said of the trip.

The start of the game was delayed for 1 hour, 48 minutes because of rain, the second rain delay in 3 nights.

Blog: ph.ly/HighCheese