May 6 -- GAME 24 WRAP: VICTORINO HOT, MYERS NOT

BY SCOTT LAUBER

ST. LOUIS -- Good morning, all. We're sitting at Gate A15 in Lambert International Airport, still several hours before sunrise, awaiting the boarding of a US Airways flight to Pittsburgh, where we'll hop a connecting flight to New York.

Ah, the joys of travel.

Anyway, here at the mobile office of Philled In, I'm still thinking about the game that was played here just a few hours ago, a 10-7 Phillies win that completed an impressive (albeit brief) two-game sweep of the Cardinals. I say it's impressive because of how well the Cardinals had been playing. When the Phillies blew into Baseball Heaven on Monday, Albert Pujols and Co. were 17-8 and had the best record in the National League. But, thanks mostly to their offense, the Phils cooled off the Cards and moved into first place, a half-game ahead of the up-and-down Marlins. It would've been easy, I think, for the Phillies to overlook this series in St. Louis. It was sandwiched between two series against their big rival from the Big Apple, and we know how (over-)hyped those Phillies-Mets battles can be. For Ryan Howard, though, games in St. Louis trump anything else. He grew up here, and he had another superb series in his old stomping grounds, smackinga grand slam Monday night before reaching base three times again last night.

That said, Howard is hardly the hottest Phillies hitter. That would be Shane Victorino, who went 4-for-4 last night, extending his hitting streak to 14 games and hiking his average to .311. Victorino, suddenly superstitious, doesn't want to jinx himself by discussing the hitting streak, especially with the prospect of having to keep it alive tonight against Johan Santana. But Charlie Manuel hasn't been shy about heaping praise upon his sparkplug center fielder. "Victorino is a high-talent player," Manuel said. "He gets into a streak, and he hits as good as anybody in the game. He's an electrifying player."

It's not all positive in Manuel's universe, though. He has some concern, though not much, over Chase Utley's bruised right foot, which is detailed within the notebook in today's News Journal. I'm not a gambling man, but if I had to wager, I'd say Utley will be in the lineup tonight against The Johan. Of far greater concern to the Phillies is their starting pitching. After Joe Blanton gave them a rare quality start Monday night, Brett Myers nearly coughed up a pair of four-run leads last night and gave up two more homers, bringing his majors-leading total to 10 in only 37 innings. Manuel noted that Myers' velocity was down last night, topping out at about 88 mph on the Busch Stadium radar gun. Myers countered by saying the radar gun was inaccurate (it may well have been, according to people who watch games here all the time). He also said he felt ill during the fifth and sixth innings. Nevertheless, considering Myers' first-half struggles last year landed him in the minors for three weeks in July, there has to be some concern over his 5.35 ERA through five starts.

So, Brett, what gives?

"I'm just trying to get to the point where I can repeat my pitches," Myers said after the game. "Right now, I'm making three good ones, and then I make three bad ones."

That's true of all the starters. The Phillies are 14-10 despite a rotation that has a major-league-worst 6.54 ERA. That's fairly amazing, and of course, it can't last. Cole Hamels is set to return to the mound Friday night against the Braves, so that should help, but I'll ask you this: What's your level of concern about the pitching? Are you comforted by the strong track records of Myers, Jamie Moyer, Blanton and Hamels? Or are you writing letters to Ruben Amaro Jr., telling him to make some upgrades?

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With any luck, I'll be in New York by 11:30 a.m., ready and able to host our weekly live Phillies chat at delawareonline.com at noon. So, please stop by and join me. Also, I'll throw together a post on Chan Ho Park's big start tonight and my impressions of Citi Field (a.k.a., the New Shea) once I get there.

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In case you're wondering, here's how Phillies hitters have fared in their careers against Santana:
Ryan Howard: .429, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 14 AB
Carlos Ruiz: .429, 7 AB
Raul Ibanez: .353, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 34 AB
Jayson Werth: .313, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 16 AB
Matt Stairs: .267, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 15 AB
Miguel Cairo: .250, 12 AB
Eric Bruntlett: .250, 4 AB
Chase Utley: .167, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 18 AB
Pedro Feliz: .158, 1 RBI, 19 AB
Shane Victorino: .083, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 12 AB
Jimmy Rollins: .059, 17 AB
Chris Coste: .000, 8 AB

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