Worley
He's pitching like someone who should wear this uniform. (Photo: Phuture Phillies)

Look… I understand the Phillies are 10 games back with 33 games to go. I get it when ESPN tells me that their playoff chances are 0.1 percent… those aren't very good odds.

But there's still a reason to watch, and Phillies fans will hold on to any hope so long as there is a chance, and I'm a part of that contingent of folks. Going into Tuesday night, they won four in a row including a sweep of the best team in the league the team with the most wins in Major League Baseball.

And then losses like this last night happen… against the Mets, and it's a reminder of how things this season have just not gone right.

You can blame B.J. Rosenberg last night for giving up four runs in the 10th, but there's a bigger culprit and his name is Vance Worley.

It's not just last night, either. The Phillies have lost four of the last five games Worley has started, with the lone exception being an 11-inning victory against the Cardinals, something Worley had nothing to do with.

He hasn't been able to pitch into the seventh inning in any of those starts and gave up four runs four times. Last night, he gave up three base hits to start the game and only lasted 60 pitches after being pulled. All of this happening after Ryan Howard gave him plenty of insurance with a first inning grand slam. Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer provides some more discouraging numbers.

The 24-year-old pitcher's ERA climbed to 4.20. His ERA over a five-start span is 6.75 and 5.80 in his last 11 starts. Whatever way the numbers are twisted, ugliness persists.

 

So… instead of putting the Phils in a position to gain a game on the St. Louis Cardinals, who lost last night to the Pirates, Worley fell short of the mark again. The bullpen faltered late to a guy named Kelly, and… you've read this before, haven't you? Well… maybe the "guy named Kelly" part is different.

It's not like the Phillies are playing terribly. Their play since the All-Star break is, if nothing else, encouraging. It surely could be worse… you could look like this chick.

AH

h/t ellendoc87