Phillies can't shake offensive funk vs. Fish

PHILADELPHIA -- The news that Roy Halladay is likely headed for the disabled list with shoulder problems all but obscured another piece of bad news for the Phillies in Sunday's 14-2 loss to the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park.

Their offense continues to take an unexcused absence.

After they were shut out on one hit Saturday night, the Phillies were content to credit Marlins starter Jose Fernandez. On Sunday, however, they got only two hits in seven innings against right-hander Kevin Slowey and just four overall. Slowey earned his first win since Sept. 18, 2010.

"Let me tell you something," said manager Charlie Manuel. "I sit there and watch our guys. When the game starts, we're up and ready to play. Then we have trouble scoring runs and hitting the ball consistently. And we're going to struggle until we start hitting the ball better and making better contract. Yeah, we're going to struggle. We've got to come out and get runners on base and hit the ball.

"And I'll say this: With the lineup we've got, we'd better get some extra-base hits. Because we're not getting a whole lot out of our speed right now."

The Phillies have scored three or fewer runs in 18 of their 32 games this season and have been shut out five times in their last 19 games. When the Phillies broke a 20-inning scoreless streak with a pair of cosmetic runs in the eighth, what remained of the sellout crowd of 45,276 responded with mock cheers.