Tom Gordon is a Heartbreaker, and Not the Good Kind

The Phillies were cruising. They were working on a combined one hitter through 26 outs at the Great American Ballpark. All Tom Gordon needed to do was get one more out. With all that has happened to the Phillies this young season, they could have really used something to spark them. Instead, the Reds got the spark as Scott Hatteberg's game tying home run sent them to extra innings, where they beat the Phillies 2-1 in the tenth.

"It's definitely a hard game to swallow," said Gordon, who has a 5.68 ERA. "To get to that point where it's right there - it's a tough one."

That's the second day in a row where the Phillies and Gordon struggled in the ninth inning and beyond. Thursday, Gordon allowed two inherited runners to score in the ninth, but the Phillies had enough cushion to survive 4-2. Friday, there was no margin for error.

Earlier in the game, Charlie Manuel looked like a genius for replacing Brett Myers in the rotation with Jon Lieber. Lieber went 5 and 2/3's innings of scoreless baseball, and the much maligned bullpen, which included the man Jon Lieber replaced (Brett Myers), was phenomenal ... until Gordon. So does Manuel have another pitching shuffle in his future that he will announce at the end of another rambling press conference?

"Right now, Gordon's our closer," Manuel said. "He's been our closer, we signed him as a closer. That's something we haven't even discussed. We've got to get him sharp."

Color me not convinced.

Previously on The Fanhouse:
Charlie Manuel vs. Howard Eskin: Who Ya Got?
Phillies Send Brett Myers to Bullpen
Charlie Manuel is Full of Surprises