Aug. 21 -- CRICKETS IN THE CLUBHOUSE

So, I wish I could share with you what the principle players -- Ryan Howard, Pat Burrell -- had to say about the eighth inning tonight. If you missed it, after the Nationals scored twice in the top of the eighth to take a 4-3 lead, Jayson Werth walked and Chase Utley singled. Then, Howard, 3-for-35 with 18 strikeouts in his last 36 plate appearances, whiffed Burrell grounded into a double play.

Inning over.

Rally over.

But neither Howard nor Burrell were at their lockers for 30 minutes after tonight's game. Jimmy Rollins briefly stopped at his before moseying to the shower. So, poor Jamie Moyer was forced to field questions about the offense, something he has nothing to do with.

"It's probably out of my jurisdiction," he said, fairly. "I'm not a hitter, so you're probably asking the wrong guy."

If only we could've asked the right ones.

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Manuel on Howard's slump: "He's got home runs and he's got RBIs, but it seems like he's really had to fight to be consistent. He has to really fight hard to find his swing and keep his swing."

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OK, what bothered you most about tonight?

a) That the Phillies couldn't finish a sweep of the pitiful Nationals, who had lost 12 straight games, the longest streak in Washington/Montreal franchise history since the Expos dropped 12 in a row in August of 1976.

b) That Ryan Madson, this week's setup man who hadn't allowed a run in seven innings, gave up two in the eighth on an infield single by Ryan Zimmerman, a bloop single by Lastings Milledge, a sacrifice bunt by Ronnie Belliard, an infield RBI single by Jesus Flores and a clean single to right field by Austin Kearns.

c) That the Phillies' offense couldn't score after getting the tying run to second base with no outs in both the eighth and ninth innings.

d) That the Mets, who swept the Nats last week, beat the Braves in the ninth inning at Shea Stadium.