PHAIR AND PHOUL

Circle the date: Nats phenom Stephen Strasburg should pitch against the Phillies in Washington a week from tomorrow. There had been some talk of giving him extra rest to allow him to pitch deeper into the season before reaching his innings limit, but team officials decided to keep him on a regular turn. Barring rainouts, that would mean he would be scheduled to start at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday, Aug. 22 . . . if he hasn't been shut down by then.

Carpenter's convention: When Chris Carpenter started for the Cardinals Tuesday night and Drew Carpenter came in to relieve Jamie Moyer for the Phillies in the second, it was the first time in baseball history that two major leaguers named Carpenter pitched against each other.

For starters: Roy Halladay has made 20 starts this season and has pitched at least six innings while allowing two or fewer runs an amazing 14 times. And how does that compare to the rest of the rotation? Cole Hamels: 10 times in 20 starts; Jamie Moyer nine times in 19 starts; Kyle Kendrick seven times in 18 starts and Joe Blanton zero times in 15 starts. In fact, Blanton has allowed at least three earned runs every time he's pitched this season.

Did you hear the one about . . . : Coaches normally don't spend a lot of time in the clubhouse. But before Wednesday night's game at Busch Stadium, bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer, a genuinely funny man, was practically doing a stand-up routine in the middle of the room. It seemed like a blatant attempt to lighten the mood. Sadly, Billmeyer's performance was better than the lineup, which then went out and was held to one run on four hits.

Same old story: Of course, there's nothing new about the Phillies having trouble scoring runs. A team that's built to outslug its opponents has been held to two or fewer runs an astounding 32 times in 95 games already this season. That's more than once in every three games. And that's bad.

Break time: The way the Phillies are swinging, they can't take any pitcher lightly. But facing Ubaldo Jimenez tomorrow isn't quite as scary as it could have been. The National League's All-Star starting pitcher had an 0.93 earned run average in his first 12 games of the season. In seven starts since: 5.20 ERA.