The Zo Zone

Tom Gordon is hurt.

Charlie Manuel announced after last night's 4-3 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field that Gordon has a sore right shoulder. So while the Phillies flew to San Francisco to open a four-game series tonight against the Giants, Gordon is headed to Philadelphia to see team physician Michael Ciccotti.

That means Brett Myers is the closer.

Last night's announcement begs the question: was Gordon ever healthy to begin with? Gordon flew to Philadelphia in March for what the Phillies termed a "routine exam." But Manuel said last night that Gordon had some stiffness in his shoulder at the time, which is the real reason he flew home. It's worth noting that the only reason anybody knows of this exam in the first place is because an Inquirer reporter and Daily News reporter just happened to be at the Tampa airport at the same time as Gordon.

"Uh, why is Tom Gordon at our gate?"

I remember that day vividly. I talked with numerous Phillies front office officials, Manuel, pitching coach Rich Dubee, etc., about Gordon's surprise trip to Philadelphia. Lots of people.

"Everything is fine," assistant general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said.

"Seriously, there's nothing wrong there," Manuel said.

"Tom Gordon is doing fine," Dubee said. "Flash? I'm fine with Flash's health. "

But according to Manuel last night, everything wasn't fine with Gordon's health.

I think the most anybody said that day is that Gordon has his usual spring training tightness in his forearm and elbow. Definitely not the shoulder. The Phillies might not have wanted to tip their hand because they were trying to trade Jon Lieber for bullpen help. Certainly any chance they had to make a deal would have become impossibly difficult if teams learned Gordon had a bad shoulder.

Gordon had the exam in Philadelphia on March 12 and returned to the mound March 17. Everything seemed OK. But then Gordon wouldn't throw his curveball and the Phillies moved Myers into the bullpen, something that had been kicked around for months. I thought at the time that it meant the Phillies were more worried about Gordon than they had let on.

It turns out they probably were.

But then Gordon (1-1 with a 4.87 ERA and three blown saves in eight opportunities) said something that struck me April 20 in Cincinnati after he blew a save in a 2-1 loss to the Reds.

"I've been able to get a lot better strength-wise," Gordon said that night. "I'm still battling it a little bit, but not as much as I thought I would be. I'll get there eventually. I'm just hoping that it happens very soon."

Wha ...?

It was April 20 and Gordon still wasn't at full strength?

Now we know why.

Hopefully, we'll learn more today.

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So far Freddy Garcia has looked nothing like the pitcher they thought they acquired in December for Gio Gonzalez (4-1, 1.91 ERA for double-A Birmingham in five starts) and Gavin Floyd (1-2, 3.94 ERA in five starts for triple-A Charlotte).

Could this be another Kevin Millwood/Johnny Estrada situation: a trade that looked promising at the time but never fulfilled the hype?

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Shane Victorino didn't start for the second-straight night, and he' s not happy about it. I'm sure he will be in the lineup tonight.

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The Phillies continue their march toward 10,000 losses. It's Phillies righthander Adam Eaton (2-2, 7.71 ERA) vs. Giants righthander Matt Cain (1-1, 1.54 ERA). How in the world does Cain have just one win? He has pitched no fewer than six innings in any of his five starts, and hasn't allowed more than one run in his last four.

Meanwhile, Eaton has allowed fewer than four runs in just one of his five starts.