Puzzling Phils fall to Royals, 17-5

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The tease continues.

The Phillies swept the Braves in Atlanta two weeks ago, only to lose five of seven at home to Arizona and San Francisco. They continued their tug-of-war with .500 last week when they swept the Mets in New York, only to lose two of three this weekend to the Kansas City Royals, including yesterday's brutal 17-5 defeat at Kauffman Stadium.

Up and down. Down and up. That has been the Phillies way.

"They beat us," manager Charlie Manuel said. "They totally beat us. You act like we're supposed to win every game. It isn't going to happen if you measure out our club. If you think we're going to win every game, that's not going to happen. There are going to be days when we get hammered."

Jimmy Rollins offered an optimistic take on the Phils' just-completed road trip through New York and Kansas City, in which they finished 4-2.

"You know sports," Rollins said. "That's why they call it beautiful."

Does it feel beautiful?

"For them it does," he said. "That's all that matters. It was a successful road trip. You can't say we went to New York expecting to sweep, but we got it. We only got one win here, but they played better ball this series. There wasn't anything that wasn't successful about this road trip. It's just that you look at the team, and on paper you think you should do something. But paper doesn't pitch or hit or throw."

But the numbers don't lie. The Royals are a bad baseball team. They started the afternoon with the worst record in baseball. They had the second-worst offense in the American League. They had the fourth-worst pitching staff in the AL.

And they torched the Phillies twice in one weekend.

They pounded injured righthander Freddy Garcia in Friday's 8-4 Phillies loss. They scored six runs in 32/3 innings against lefthander Jamie Moyer (5-5) yesterday.

"I didn't throw the ball well," Moyer said. "I stunk. What can you say? You think that we'd give them better games. I can only speak for today. I didn't throw the ball very well at all. I made some mistakes in the middle of the plate. I got behind hitters. I walked too many people. I didn't help the cause at all. It starts with pitching."

The Phillies trailed by 6-3 in the top of the fifth inning when Ryan Howard hit a two-run home run into the Royals' bullpen in right field.

"When Howard hit his homer, I felt like we still had a good chance to win the game," Manuel said. "I felt like we were in the game. That's why I brought [Ryan] Madson in the game. He could go a couple innings."

Madson had retired four straight batters when he walked Ryan Shealy to start the sixth. He walked Joey Gathright with one out and hit David DeJesus with a pitch to load the bases. Mark Grudzielanek singled to score two runs and Mike Sweeney singled to knock in another run, making it 9-5.

Sweeney hit a ball off Madson's hand in the fifth inning, but Madson said that did not affect him in the sixth. Regardless, Jose Mesa allowed two runs in 11/3 innings in his Phillies debut and Geoff Geary allowed five runs (two earned) in a third of an inning. Francisco Rosario also allowed a run.

The Phillies had not allowed 17 runs since May 13, 2002, when they lost, 17-3, to the host Houston Astros.

Brandon Duckworth took the loss that afternoon. He allowed the two-run homer to Howard yesterday.

So the Phillies continue to frustrate their fans.

Are the Phillies just as baffled?

"It doesn't baffle me," Manuel said. "I sat there and watched the game. It didn't baffle me at all. I see a team with 17 runs and 14 hits. I expect to play better, yeah. But what the hell?"

But why does the inconsistency continue?

"I don't have any answers to that," Moyer said. "It is [frustrating]. We worked so hard to play well in New York."

And then this.