It’s one thing to lose. It’s one thing to lose at home. It’s another entirely to lose at home and be sloppy and lackadaisacal while you’re at it.

That’s what Charlie Manuel has on his hands today, after the Phils got swept by the Blue Jays, who capped things off with an 8-7 yesterday afternoon.

It wasn’t so much that the Phils lost again at Citizens Bank Park, dropping their home record this year to a less-than-scintillating 13-19.

It’s how they looked while they were doing it.

I saw something happen in yesterday’s game I literally have not seen since Little League.

Blue Jays shortstop Marco Scutaro drew a walk in the third inning. But Scutaro wasn’t walking, he was running. He turned the corner at first and kept right on going. In the meantime, most of the Phils were either asleep at the switch or hanging their heads. No one seemed to notice that Scutaro did not stop at first until it was too late. Scutaro promptly scored on a Vernon Wells double.

This is a team that desperately needs a wake-up call. And there’s only one man who can deliver it. Manuel needs to deliver a quick kick in the pants to his slumping World Champs.

It will be very interesting to see the lineup Manuel trots out there tonight when the Orioles come to town. These are the same O’s who did the Phils a huge favor last night by ralling to beat the Mets, thus preserving the Phils lead in the NL East at three games.

Manuel has been pretty good about letting his team know it when he’s not pleased with the effort. Tonight would be a good time to remind them.