May 10 -- GAME 29 WRAP: MISSING ROMERO

BY SCOTT LAUBER

If you'd like, you can pin today's 4-2 loss in the series finale against the Braves on Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino, and surely, they deserve it. Rollins went 0-for-5, Victorino went 0-for-4, and in the ninth inning, they made the final two outs by swinging at first pitches from Braves closer-for-the-day Rafael Soriano.

That's no way for table-setting, top-of-the-lineup hitters to behave.

But I'm choosing to focus on a different aspect of the game because, as I saw it, the Phillies had the Braves right where they wanted them in the seventh inning. They had just taken a one-run lead on Matt Stairs' RBI double, and with Brett Myers' pitch count having reached 92, Charlie Manuel was poised to turn to his bullpen.

One problem: He couldn't call on J.C. Romero.

After the game, Manuel admitted this would've been an ideal situation for Romero. But, as you know, the high-strung lefty is still serving a 50-game suspension for violating MLB's drug policy. So, instead, Manuel brought in lefty Jack Taschner, who had good numbers against most of the Braves' hitters (Chipper Jones, for instance, was 0-for-7 with four strikeouts against him). Taschner gave up two fairly soft singles to Yunel Escobar and Garret Anderson before issuing a two-out walk to Brian McCann. That walk proved to be a killer because Casey Kotchman, previously 0-for-3 against Taschner, stroked a single up the middle, scoring Escobar and Anderson to give the Braves a 3-2 lead.

"I'm the one to blame for this one," Taschner said later.

Somewhere, thought, Romero must've felt responsible, too.

"Jack has pitched well for us this year, but there's no question you're going to take a hit when you lose J.C. because he's such a great pitcher in these situations," Brad Lidge told me. "You don't remember him giving up a lot of anything. He carves up lefties. Scott and Jack have done a pretty good job, all things considered. But we do miss J.C."

Much more on this -- and Martin Frank's can't-miss column on Rollins -- in tomorrow's News Journal.