The Phils enter tonight's game at Wrigley Field just 3 1/2 games up of the Florida Marlins (and 4 1/2 in front of third-place Atlanta).

It's the closest the division race has been in a month - they were up 4 on July 12. The Phils grew that lead, however, to as large as 7 games as recently as Thursday.

So what the heck has happened? Although the focus recently has been on the pitching - the Cliff Lee acquisition, the swap of Pedro Martinez for Jamie Moyer and the ongoing inconsistency of Cole Hamels (wake up, Cole) - the culprit during the current losing spell isn't the arms.

It's the bats. Namely, the middle of the order bats, which to quote a former Phils manager, "are killing them."


Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Raul Ibanez and Jayson Werth, who all represented the Phils at the All-Star Game four weeks ago, have taken a two-week holiday, all at the same time.

The middle-of-the-order foursome is hiting .224 with three home runs and 14 RBIs, while striking out 52 times, in the last two weeks (12 games).


Let's break 'em down individually:

Utley - .205 (8-for-39) with one home run, three RBIs and 11 strikeouts.

Howard - .234 (11-for-47) with no home runs, three RBIs and 19 strikeouts.

Ibanez - .256 (10-for-39) with no home runs, one RBI and 11 strikeouts.

Werth - .200 (9-for-45) with two home runs, seven RBIs and 11 strikeouts.


Just as the Phils offense can't roll without Jimmy Rollins firing at the top, they can't possibly get the most out of their talent if those four guys are sleepwalking at the same time.

But the guess here is it can't be possible for this to continue. Even if one or two of them continue to struggle, odds are the other two will take up.

Although facing right-hander Rich Harden can't help, perhaps Werth will be the first to get going. The last time the Phils paid a visit to Wrigley Field, Werth had arguably his best series of the season: he hit .538 (7-for-13) with three home runs and seven RBI in four games.