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Phillies answer some questions in 9-1 loss

Turns out the lineup isn't any better without Ryan Howard - or any other owners of 2008 World Series rings.

Ben Revere says the Phillies are just going through a rough stretch and will get better. (Steven M. Falk/Staff Photographer)
Ben Revere says the Phillies are just going through a rough stretch and will get better. (Steven M. Falk/Staff Photographer)Read more

ZIP THAT North Face up over your chin.

Roll your hands halfway up your sleeves.

Close your eyes and . . .

Dream, baby, dream.

The game-time temperature of yesterday's Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park was announced at 49 degrees. This was actually 2 degrees warmer than at the start of Game 5 of the 2008 World Series, but there were 45,940 people in the stands that night. Human body heat - and the anticipation of a world championship - can numb you up real good.

So can runs and big hits and key pitches. Which is one reason there were 17,097 in the stands at the start of Game 16 of the 2015 season, and much, much less - maybe 097 - when it ended in an 9-1 loss to a Marlins team that came to town with fewer wins than the Phillies had.

Not that the 097 weren't excited they stayed. They even stood and roared - OK, it was more of a purr - when Cesar Hernandez's sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth brought home Jeff Francoeur and cut into the Marlins' nine-run lead.

The other 17,000 had to be content with thawing out on the SEPTA trains and in their cars, and with some hints to the questions that dominated many discussions this past winter. Such as:

Would the lineup be more potent without Ryan Howard in it?

Answer: Not yesterday.

Would it be better to just play the young guys and see what you've got?

Answer: Not yesterday.

Veterans Howard, Chase Utley and Carlos Ruiz did not play. The young guys kicked the ball around, had a hard time hitting balls past infielders or over their heads and didn't pitch particularly well, either.

Pushed into a starting assignment because of injury and a lack of depth, much-repaired 33-year-old Dustin McGowan gave them everything he had over the first three innings before a trio of walks ignited Miami's four-run fourth inning.

That inning could have been far less damaging had Cody Asche corralled a hard-hit ball and minor league call-up Hector Neris not drilled the first batter he faced - Marlins pitcher David Phelps. And McGowan might have been fresher if he didn't have to pitch through a couple of miscues in the first two innings.

"We've got some work to do," manager Ryne Sandberg said. "We've got to tighten up the defense. We have to play a little bit smarter. Tighten up the fundamentals."

"We're better than this," Ben Revere said. "We've been in games. We've faced some great pitching . . . Been hitting it right on the money. There's just some things we've got to be better at hitting-wise, runners in scoring position, making the fundamental plays. We can do that, we'll be all right. It's one of those deals where we're right there, we're just not completing the package right now."

Prepare to hear this a lot this season, amid declarations they are not nearly as bad of a team as their play on the field would indicate. You have to feel that way if you have any chance of coming to the ballpark every day with the right attitude.

But let's recap what we've seen so far. The Phillies have the lowest batting average in the majors (.213), the fewest runs scored (41), and the lowest runs-per-game average (2.56). They were charged with two errors yesterday and were cut breaks on a couple of others by the official scorer - who was clearly not a pitcher in his previous life - giving them 17 over their first 16 games.

And the great pitcher who throttled them for seven innings yesterday? That would be 28-year-old swingman Phelps, who was 15-14 in his three previous major league seasons with the Yankees.

This was the 13th of 25 games the Phillies are playing against the National League East from April 10 to May 10, interrupted only by next week's trip to St. Louis. They are 4-9 in a division that could again be the weakest in the league, with three wins over the slow-starting Nationals and one more against the combined forces of the Mets and Marlins.

This is not a team trying to find its groove, as Revere suggested. It is a team trying to find its future. Yesterday, the Phillies sent out a lineup so devoid of veteran names that if they tried it in a road game during spring training, MLB would fine them.

It was, in fact, the first time their lineup did not include at least one name from that 2008 championship team.

For those who have clamored for a turning of the page from this team, maybe that's your slice of sun.

For the rest of us, though, it just felt like another cold day in baseball hell.

On Twitter: @samdonnellon

Columns: ph.ly/Donnellon