A step for Myers?

Brett Myers was better last night, without question. Call it a step in the right direction, perhaps only a small step.

"He pitched good enough to win if we scored some runs," manager Charlie Manuel said.

But the Phillies didn't, and lost their third straight, falling by 4-0 to Washington.

Myers is now 2-5. The Phillies are 3-7 in his starts and 21-15 in the other games, as Paul Hagen writes.

Add that all up and what do you get?

Well, the pitching probably looks worse than it seems because the Phillies are not hitting. The Phils are 12th in the NL with a team batting average of .256, even though they have scored the fourth most runs. They are sixth in team ERA in the NL at 4.07.

The good news, Cole Hamels is back on the mound tonight, coming off his first career shutout. The Nationals send out Jason Bergmann and his 7.45 ERA, although he pitched seven scoreless in his last outing, a 1-0 win over the Mets.

Here is more on last night's game and the notebook features Kyle Kendrick's night in the bullpen and updates on Kyle Drabek and Kris Benson.