Despite loss to Mets, Phils clinch playoff spot

FROM THE MORNING CALL

PHILADELPHIA — There could have been soaking wet goggles, the unmistakable triumphant smell of champagne and deafening chants from the crowd, all of which would have put enormous smiles on players' faces.

Instead, the Phillies had to make do with some quick laughter in the clubhouse provided by costumes the rookies wore on the train to Washington, D.C. as part of some light-hearted hazing.

The Phillies, who clinched the NL East Division title each of the last three years at Citizens Bank Park, lost to the Mets 7-3 in their final, regular-season home game Sunday.

However, while sitting on the train en route to Washington, D.C., the Phillies got word that San Diego lost, which gave the Phillies a postseason berth.

The thought of getting into the postseason is certainly exciting for Northampton graduate Brian Schneider (he's never been there), but he has bigger plans.

"We have other goals in mind right now," the Phils backup catcher said. "We want to win and celebrate for the East, not the wild card."

Philadelphia (93-63) will be forced to try to capture the NL East crown at Nationals Park.

"You'd much rather do it in front of home fans, and that was our focus over the last couple games," said reliever Chad Durbin, who threw a scoreless seventh inning. "Now that's not an option; winning on the road is our only option."

The rookies weren't given an option on Sunday. David Herndon, Vance Worley, Mike Zagurski, Antonio Bastardo, John Mayberry Jr., Dom Brown and Brian Bocock were wearing costumes that had a "Village People" theme.

Worley's busty cop costume was so tight that Brad Lidge and Mike Sweeney had to rip parts of the top just to get one button buttoned. Mayberry, impersonating Lolo Jones, had a towel wrapped around his extremely fitted spandex shorts until the second he walked out the door. Brown, a raunchy cowboy, made light of it and called himself, "The Black Knight."

But nobody could make light of what happened on the field.

For the fourth straight game and fifth time in their last six, the Phillies scored three runs or fewer. They left nine runners on base, including six in scoring position, and were only 2-for-8 with RISP.

On the nine-game homestand, they hit just .128 (6-for-47) with runners in scoring position.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel is trying to keep his team's recent offensive woes in perspective.

"You can't hit every day," he said. "That's just kind of how it is. I know this: I was a player and there are some days you go up there and the guy, you don't have to give him a lot of credit, but he's still getting you out. It happens. It's the nature of the game."

Hamels strayed from what had become second nature to him.

The left-hander, who was 5-0 with a 0.68 ERA (2 ER, 36 2/3 IP) in his last five starts, made it through just 4-plus innings, his third-shortest outing of the year.

Hamels (12-11) lost for the first time since Aug. 18, which also marked the last time he allowed more than two runs in a game (he gave up five against the Giants that day).

The five earned runs Hamels gave up (in four-plus innings) was more than his last six combined starts when he allowed a total of just four.

"It was just one of those games where I wasn't able to locate, and I wasn't being consistent," Hamels said. "I just threw a few too many pitches out of the zone, and then when I was throwing strikes I left them up and there were able to hit them."


The offense, though, did little to help the cause.

Other than Chase Utley's three-run home run in the fifth, the Phillies were leaving runners on base left and right.

They had the tying run at the plate in the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings when the Mets had just a two-run lead, but couldn't get it done.

In the fifth after Utley made it 5-3 with his two-out homer, Ryan Howard doubled. But Jayson Werth, who has one of the worst batting averages with two outs and runners in scoring position, struck out to end the rally.

One inning later, Raul Ibanez was at third with one out, but Wilson Valdez grounded out and pinch hitter Ross Gload was robbed of a hit when Carlos Beltran made a diving catch in center field.

In the seventh, Placido Polanco was at second with two outs, Howard hit a fly ball to left that Nick Evans made a diving catch on.

Werth was at second base with one out in the eighth, but Carlos Ruiz swung at Manny Acosta's first offering and flied out. Jimmy Rollins, who hadn't played since straining his right hamstring on Sept. 8, pinch hit and grounded out on the first pitch he saw to end the inning.

"We didn't do what we were trying to do and what we wanted to do," Ibanez said.

The Mets increased their lead to four when Beltran homered for the second time (this one came off Ryan Madson).

After a 1-2-3 first inning, the Mets went after Hamels. From the second to the fifth innings (he faced one batter in the fifth), the Mets tagged him for nine hits, including two home runs, and walked three times.

The Phillies had won nine consecutive series but lost two of three to the Mets..

DINGERS: The Phillies sold out every regular-season home game and had a total attendance of 3,647,249, which set a single-season club record. They surpassed 3 million in home attendance for the fourth consecutive year and fifth time in seven seasons at Citizens Bank Park. The only other year they reached 3 million was in 1993 at Veterans Stadium when the Phils went to the World Series. … Rollins remained in the game at shortstop and said this about being in Sunday's: "Yes. I'll be playing [Monday]."

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