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Inside the Phillies: Sign of life: Phillies scoring runs

It's the job of every media-relations department to find the good news even in the worst of times.

Michael Martinez hit a three-run home run against the Rockies on Wednesday. (Steven M. Falk/Staff Photographer)
Michael Martinez hit a three-run home run against the Rockies on Wednesday. (Steven M. Falk/Staff Photographer)Read more

It's the job of every media-relations department to find the good news even in the worst of times.

The Phillies succeeded in their Wednesday game notes.

Right there near the top was the "Gone Batty" headline. Highlighted with a bullet, underlined, and in boldface type, the note revealed the following information: Since May 1, the Phillies lead all National League teams and rank fourth in the majors in runs scored with 221.

More information followed, but the gist of the note was this: The offense is doing well.

When you consider that this team is still without Chase Utley and Ryan Howard, it is a remarkable statistic.

Even as this team has been going bad, the bats have shown signs of life, and they did so under dire circumstances Wednesday night in the stifling heat at Citizens Bank Park.

Down by a run and down to their last out with nobody on base in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Phillies pulled out a 7-6 victory over the lowly Rockies.

It was their second walk-off win of the season and their second consecutive victory, a modest but much-needed streak for a team that has watched the opposition win in walk-off fashion eight times this season.

"We are scoring more runs," third baseman Placido Polanco said. "We are finding ways."

A combination of power, hustle, and an inexplicable error by a three-time Gold Glove first baseman accounted for the two ninth-inning runs off Rockies closer Rafael Betancourt.

"They all count, no matter how you win," Polanco said. "We had tough at-bats and then the error."

After Ty Wigginton singled with two outs to keep the game alive, Hunter Pence doubled off the left-field wall to account for the tying run. Pence, after an intentional walk to Carlos Ruiz and a two-strike infield single by Shane Victorino, scored when Polanco reached base as Rockies first baseman Todd Helton couldn't find the bag when he caught a throw across the infield from shortstop Marco Scutaro.

"We hustled," manager Charlie Manuel said. "That helped win the game for us. We came back and finally won one. Hopefully, that's a good omen."

Certainly the way the Phillies have scored since the beginning of May is also a good omen.

"It tells you we've been doing better, although we can still do better at knocking runs in, especially with less than two outs from third base," Manuel said. "I think we can still improve that."

They executed that maneuver in the first inning, when Juan Pierre tripled with one out and scored on an infield grounder by Pence, drawing reaction from a fan walking toward his seats with a beer and two bottles of water. (It's important to hydrate when it's 95 degrees).

"They scored with a runner on third and less than two outs," the fan observed. "I thought I saw a flying pig this morning."

The runs, hustle, and execution are all good signs for the offense.

Now, the Phillies need better pitching, and that's proof of how unpredictable this game can be.

There was no "Gone Bad" headline in the team notes, but if there had been it would have contained the following information: Since May 1, the Phillies rank 14th in the National League with a 4.45 ERA. They have allowed a league-worst 63 home runs in that stretch, including three by Joe Blanton Wednesday. The Phillies are 17-6 when they have scored five or more runs. They were 61-5 when they scored five or more a year ago.

Pitching was supposed to keep the Phillies afloat until the offensive reinforcements rode in from Florida.

Instead, it has been the biggest barrier in putting together any sort of lengthy winning streak.

Three starters have spent time on the disabled list, and even when they have pitched, the results often have been less than desirable.

This wasn't in the team notes either: Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels are 6-7 with a 4.26 ERA since May 1.

Blanton has a 5.68 ERA since May 1 and allowed five more runs against the Rockies. As five-run outings go, this one was better than most because Blanton covered seven innings and finished strong, retiring the final 11 batters he faced.

The bullpen issues probably can be fixed with a decent trade or two before the deadline.

Optimism can be found in other places, too.

The obvious one is that Halladay could be about a month from returning to the rotation. If he is really Roy Halladay and not the injured impostor who posted a 6.11 ERA in six May starts, things will look up in a hurry.

A look to the north also reveals that the New York Mets had one of the worst team ERAs in May and have one of the best in June.

With their aces, the Phillies are capable of a similar turnaround.

Until that happens, they will have to continue to go batty on offense.