Sept. 4 -- 'WE WERE KIND OF DOWN'

ATLANTA -- Did the Phillies play with a hangover yesterday after blowing a five-run lead Sunday in Florida?

Charlie Manuel thinks so.

"We looked kind of down. Dead," he said.

Over the course of a 162-game season, that happens sometimes. But Labor Day was a bad time for the Phillies' bats to take a holiday against middling Braves starter Lance Cormier. The Phils mustered only four hits (three by Chase Utley) in yesterday's 5-1 loss at Turner Field. It wasn't only the Phillies' bats, though. They had a few defensive lapses yesterday, including Utley's off-line relay throw to the plate and Aaron Rowand's air-mail to the plate on a sacrifice fly.

With three losses in the last four games against Florida and Atlanta, the Phillies have all but erased the ground they gained last week during that four-game sweep of the Mets. And, now, they can all but kiss the NL East goodbye. If the Mets, who play only patsies Florida and Washington in the season's final two weeks and got Pedro Martinez back yesterday, go 13-12 in their last 15 games, the Phillies still would have to go 18-7 (.720) just to tie them.

Yeah, that's not happening.

The Phillies still are only three games off the pace in the wild-card race, which is now their best hope of making the playoffs for the first time since 1993. But they've let the Dodgers creep back into the race. The Rockies aren't out of it. And the Diamondbacks and/or Padres are going to be tough to overtake.

"It's not going to be easy," Utley said. "But nobody said it was going to be easy."

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If Ryan Howard doesn't stop striking out at a record-setting rate, they have no chance. I wanted to ask Howard about it yesterday, but he left the clubhouse like he was late for a Labor Day barbecue.

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Ruben Amaro Jr. will interview Thursday for the Astros' general manager vacancy.

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Jimmy Rollins is putting up MVP numbers, but to me, the Phillies' offense revolves around Utley, who is opening a big lead in the race for the NL batting crown. Here are the leaders:
Chase Utley -- .340
Edgar Renteria -- .336
Matt Holliday -- .335
Hanley Ramirez -- .333
Dmitri Young -- .333