Sept. 3 -- FLOPPING LIKE A FISH

ATLANTA -- As bad losses go, yesterday's in Florida was one of the Phillies' worst this season.

Jimmy Rollins wasn't happy with home-plate umpire Rob Drake's expanding strike zone in the ninth inning, and he shouldn't have been. But the bigger transgression came in the middle innings, when Adam Eaton squandered a five-run lead and Kane Davis gave up back-to-back homers to Hanley Ramirez and Dan Uggla. A 5-0 laugher turned into a 7-6 loss, and the Phillies dropped to four games behind the Mets in the NL East, dampening the mood from that big four-game sweep last week at the Bank.

So much for momentum.

And there's danger on the horizon. I stepped off an AirTran flight early this morning, picked up the paper and read this quote in the third paragraph of the game story from the Braves' 3-2 loss to the Mets yesterday: "Had to win today if you want to have any chance, any glimmer of hope," pitcher John Smoltz said. "We had to win today." The Braves' playoff hopes are on life support. And, if the Phillies don't match Atlanta's desperation, this series could get ugly.

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Wondering why Charlie Manuel went with Davis in the seventh inning instead of Antonio Alfonseca or Jose Mesa? Check out these numbers: Alfonseca has allowed nine runs on eight hits and six walks in his last 2-1/3 innings (34.71 ERA); Mesa has allowed 11 runs on 11 hits and four walks in his last four innings (24.75 ERA). It strikes me that the Phillies really, really miss Ryan Madson. That would've been a vintage Madson situation yesterday against Florida, but he hasn't resumed throwing after straining his right shoulder July 29. Manuel just said he doesn't expect Madson to be back this season.

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Shane Victorino won't play again until at least Friday, maybe longer. Also, within the notebook, you'll see that Phillies hater Scott Olsen doesn't fare well against the Phillies.

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Let's check some NL East math: the Mets are 76-60, and the Phillies are 72-64. If the Mets go 13-13 in their last 26 games (a big "if" considering they play only Florida and Washington in the season's final two weeks), the Phillies would have to go 17-9 just to tie them.

That's a tall order, don't you think?