"Have I Mentioned That Things Aren't Going Well?" - Rays 7, Phillies 3

Many thanks to Larry Anderson for providing the perfect quote for tonight's recap title.

This afternoon's loss was easy to sugarcoat. This one is not, so much. The Phillies pretty much gave this one away, the culprit being the dreaded walk. Phillies pitchers gave up eight free passes tonight. Eight. They gave up more walks than hits. Cliff Lee walked three, BJ Rosenberg walked four, and Jake Diekman walked one. Both Rosenberg and Diekman walked in runs.

To be fair, All three looked good at one point or another. After giving up three runs in the second inning, Cliff was locked in until he gave up two runs in the sixth. BJ Rosenberg recorded outs until he completely imploded. Jake Diekman struck out the side in the ninth inning after he walked in that run. Though to be fair in a completely different way, Brooks Conrad, who hit .075 in 44 plate appearances with Milwaukee, had two hits, one walk, and four RBI tonight. There's that.

In non-pitching news, Hunter Pence walked three times. Placido Polanco had two hits. Shane Victorino had a walk and a bunt single. And Sean Rodriguez felled the mighty Schneider during a nasty home plate collision. Schneider left the game and Chooch came in to replace him. In all, the Phillies managed four hits and three runs against Tampa Bay's bullpen.

It's June 24 and Cliff Lee is still winless. Not much else to say, folks. Woof.

Source: FanGraphs