Another trip to the confessional booth. I was throwing dirt on the Phillies yesterday afternoon. Go ahead, admit it. You were, too. Maybe that’s why there were so many empty seats at Citizens Bank Park after the Phils fell behind 10-3.

In fact, I already had a Back Page in mind as smeared what had been a lovely ring ceremony by then starting the game, and offering further proof that their heads were still in 2008, instead of three games into 2009.

I envisioned a headline something like this: A FAMILIAR RING, Phils fall to 0-3 after being swept by Braves.

The Phillies trailed 10-3 in the seventh, and appeared to be well on their way to another one of their infamous slow starts.

Then a strange thing happened. The Braves bullpen took a page out of last year’s New York Mets. Suddenly none of the Braves pitchers could throw a strike.

They walked four guys with the bases loaded, and the Phils rallied for a
12-11 win.

Even last year’s guarantee, Brad Lidge, suffered a bit of a hiccup. The Phils’ stopper out of the pen gave up a home run in the ninth inning, but then held.

The win masked a couple of things. The Phils have now played three games and gotten three shaky starts from their pitchers. Not good.

Cole Hamels goes to the mound Friday in Denver. If he grabs his elbow in the first inning, you’ll know the karma from yesterday at Citizens Bank Park is not carrying over.