RISP Problems

The Phillies have been absolutely atrocious with runners on second and/or third. Since July 26, they're batting .211 with runners in scoring position. Tonight's 0-5 effort with RISP during their 4-0 loss San Francisco added to that lack of effort.

Their lack of offense with these opportunities is the reason the Phillies have only scored 11 runs in their last six games. Thank God the starting pitching and bull pen have been bailing them out when it's usually the other way around. They luckily are 20-14 in that span but it is unacceptable that they have had to rely on their starters to squeak out wins.

Charlie Manuel had this to say:

"They know," Manuel said. "They definitely know when they don't knock somebody in from third. I played 20 years. I knew every time I didn't get somebody in from third. And if they don't know, please come and see me."

How do you fix this problem though? Do you shake up the line up again? Jayson Werth has cooled off and so had Ryan Howard. Shane Victorino isn't getting anything going and hasn't had a multi-hit game since August 19. And here is the kicker: Raul Ibanez batted .193 in August with one homer and four RBI's and only six extra base hits.

At this stage in the season, tweaking the line up is not an option. Like all year, the Phillies will need to swing out of their slump and if they don't, they could be cooling down at the wrong time and get bounced early in the playoffs.