The Zo Zone

There are night's when the game writes itself:

-- Ryan Howard's pinch-hit grand slam May 9 in Arizona.
-- The craziness in Wednesday's 8-7 victory in 10 innings over Florida.
-- The Phillies sweeping the Braves in Atlanta.

But then there are games like last night's 11-5 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park. I sat in front of my laptop and cursed to myself, "I have nothing to say about this game. Nothing." Jon Lieber served up the Diamondbacks a five-run lead in the second inning. The offense battered Diamondbacks righthander Micah Owings, but had just one run to show for it after five innigs. They made it 5-3 at one point, but imploded in the eighth. To make matters worse, Howard left the game in the top of the ninth inning with ... a leg cramp.

Not exactly riveting material.

But the loss returned the Phillies to .500 -- maybe this team is meant to hover around .500 -- and fell a season-high eight games behind the New York Mets in the National League East. So what, you say? Well, consider for a second the Phillies (26-26) were 27-25 at this point last season and just five behind the Mets, and the Mets cruised to the division title. The Mets, who have the best record in the National League and second-best record in baseball, look unbeatable at this point. Not to say they're flawless, but they're clearly the class of the National League.

It might be time to start talking wild card. The Mets are on pace to finish 107-55 (.660). Say they hit a serious slump and finish 95-67 (.587). The Phillies would have to play 69-41 (.627) the rest of the season just to finish in a first-place tie. The Phillies are 22-15 (.595) since April 20. So if you thought they have played well since they started the season 4-11, they need to play even better the rest of the season just to finish in this hypothetical tie with the Mets -- if the Mets seriously cool down.

Does this up and down madness feel familiar? You're not alone. Phil Sheridan writes about the Punxsutawney Phils.

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Perhaps the most interesting thing from yesterday was what Tom Gordon told reporters before the game. Gordon, who is slowly recovering from an upper respiratory infection that put him in the hospital earlier this month, said his shoulder hasn't felt healthy since last summer, which isn't encouraging. He indicated that it might be something he just has to pitch through.

Gordon makes $5.5 million next season with a $1 million buyout for 2009. But the Phillies have to be wondering how much more they can get out of Gordon at this point. Gordon has no timetable for his return, but said he hopes to be back before the all-star break.

Gulp.