… all we needed Howard to do in the bottom of the 8th was either walk or get a base hit. Had that happened, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.

My God, the pitching staff is starting to resemble the late-90s Phillies instead of the late-aughts.

We are starting to get a little stinky.

is like my mood swings. They both constantly change and are inconsistent with what I want at the time. Seriously, fail.

The first inning by Moyer certainly fits that category and the eighth and ninth inning by the bullpen were awful, too. But I think your frustration at the outcome is changing your perception of what Moyer did. After the first five batters, he shut down the Mets for the equivalent of six shutout innings and then gave up one run on one hit in the 7th inning. He left with a four-run lead. If that fits your definition of utterly awful then your standards are way above mine. Moyer’s overall rating by game score was exactly the same as Cliff Lee’s on Wednesday when he beat the Nationals 6-5. That was not an awful performance, and the reason no one called it that was the bullpen did the job that night. They didn’t today.

That was the worst loss since the Chris Roberson game in Atlanta two Septembers ago, which I’m convinced did long-term damage to my well being.

What made it particularly agonizing was that they did yesterday something they haven’t done in a month: hit well with guys on base. Well, except for Howard vs. Feliciano, which you could see coming that whole inning. I almost wanted Utley to expand the zone against the LOOGY, as he occasionally gets Feliciano; Howard is simply, agonizingly helpless against him. He can’t hit that sweeping breaking pitch—which isn’t a strike—and he can’t lay off it. I’d almost tell him not to swing when he’s facing that guy.

But it was about the bullpen. I think Myers had two strikes on everyone who reached against him; while his physical return from the injury is impressive, he seems as painfully dumb on the mound as ever.