Phillies Notebook: Phillies need something extra

IT DOESN'T TAKE an advanced degree in statistics to know that the odds of a team stringing together enough singles to build a significant lead are limited in the sport of baseball. Big chunks of runs require big extra-base hits, and in the Phillies' 9-8 loss to the Royals on Sunday, they did not get one until Jimmy Rollins connected on a three-run homer in the ninth inning.

As shaky as the pitching was during the first week of the season, so too was the power production of a lineup that does not have a clear rightfielder and is missing catcher Carlos Ruiz. And while two of the Phillies' four losses came in games in which they scored at least five runs, the 16 runners they stranded in those two contests are a good indication of the need for more power.

Michael Young's two-out double off James Shields in the fifth inning Sunday was the first extra-base hit produced by the Phillies' No. 4 or No. 5 hitters. Particularly glaring has been the slow start by $25 million-a-year first baseman Ryan Howard, who contributed a single to the four-run rally in the ninth inning but started the game 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and a weak groundout to first base. In 26 plate appearances this season, Howard has yet to record an extra-base hit, the deepest he has gone into any season without doing so. While Chase Utley continued his torrid play, going 2-for-5 with an RBI to improve to 9-for-23 with two walks and four extra-base hits, Howard is 4-for-24 with eight strikeouts and two walks through six games.

"Howie and I were talking about it, for a while we were getting guys on base but not getting the big blow," said Young, who went 4-for-5 and has now reached base in 11 of his 25 plate appearances. "But that's all right. Those things come around. I think the biggest thing is getting guys out there. If we get guys out there, eventually we are going to bring them in. The biggest thing is making sure that we stick to our approach. It's a very veteran offense, so we've all been in these situations before. Make sure we keep the game relatively simple and stick to the fundamentals."

At the end of the season's first week, the Phillies' approach at the plate has been one of their positives. They entered Sunday with 17 walks, having drawn one in 9.1 percent of their plate appearances, the fourth-highest rate in the National League. They were averaging 4.00 pitches seen per plate appearance, which also ranked fourth and represented a marked improvement over 2012, when they ranked 10th in the National League with 3.78 P/PA. Last year, the Phillies did not draw their 17th walk until the ninth game of the season. Conversely, they entered Sunday with the fifth-lowest percentage of extra-base hits in the NL.

Young and manager Charlie Manuel both express a belief that the big hits will come. As has been the case for the last 5 or 6 years, Howard is the biggest key to making that happen.

Ezequiel Carrera, claimed off waivers from the Indians after the season opener, was in the starting lineup for the first time. He went 0-for-3 with a walk while becoming the third player to start in rightfield in the first six games. Defensively, Carrera's performance was relative to your expectations. In the second inning, he was forced to make a diving catch of a sinking Lorenzo Cain line drive after he hesitated on his break off the bat. In the fifth, he was unable to track down a missile off the bat of Chris Getz. Although not an easy play, a good jump and route would have put him in better position to make a catch instead of having the line drive sail over his glove for a double.

In leftfield, Domonic Brown contributed an RBI single to the Phillies' four-run first inning then struck out with runners on first and third in the third and grounded out with a runner on second in the fifth. Manuel double-switched Brown out of the game with Cole Hamels in the sixth as the Phillies faced a 6-4 deficit, replacing the young outfielder with John Mayberry Jr., who doubled in his first at-bat and struck out in his second.

Ben Revere's single up the middle in the fourth inning was the first ball he hit out of the infield in 10 plate appearances . . . The official attendance was 39,451 . . . The grand slam that Hamels allowed to Billy Butler was the first he has surrendered in his major league career. It was also the first grand slam that Butler has hit . . . The Phillies' bullpen has allowed 10 of the 11 runners it has inherited this season to score . . . The last time Hamels started the season 0-2 was 2009.

Blog: philly.com/HighCheese