ATLANTA - No matter how remote the chances are to stick in the rotation for 2014, Tyler Cloyd understands that every time he takes a major league mound it's an opportunity to increase his chances of keeping a major league job.
It's why he used words like "disappointed" and phrases like "figure out a way to make myself better" after giving up five runs and 10 hits in a start against the Washington Nationals earlier this month.
Unfortunately for Cloyd, who replaced high-ceiling reliever Ethan Martin in the rotation, he has looked less and less like a big-league pitcher with each start this month.
Cloyd's first pitch last night at Turner Field was annihilated by Jason Heyward. The home run started an inning in which the Braves batted around en route to a 7-1 victory.
"I just wasn't executing," Cloyd said. "It was just bad. I wasn't executing any pitches and they hit the ball hard."
Heyward went 5-for-5, complementing his leadoff home run with a booming double off Cloyd to begin the second inning.
"Cloyd had a hard time with his first-pitch strikes and he also had trouble with two strikes," manager Ryne Sandberg said. "They were still able to barrel balls up pretty good and before you knew it was 7-0."
Cloyd threw 57 pitches and retired just three batters. He allowed seven runs on eight hits and two walks and was yanked after allowing two walks and two doubles before retiring a batter in the second inning.
Cloyd, 26, who went 15-1 with a 2.26 ERA in 26 starts between Triple A and Double A a year ago, has a 6.37 ERA in 12 games (11 starts) with the Phillies this year.
In September, he arguably has been the worst pitcher in baseball.
Cloyd has a 15.43 ERA this month; he's allowed at least five runs in each of his four starts. Cloyd has allowed 24 earned runs in 14 innings.
Perhaps deflated by Cloyd's first-inning nightmare, the Phillies offense was a no-show for the fourth straight game on the current road trip. They scored one run off Atlanta righthander David Hale, who was making his second big-league start.
The Phillies have scored five runs in four games this week through Miami and Atlanta. They haven't hit a home run in eight games, the longest long ball drought since 1996, when the middle of the order included Greg Jefferies, Benito Santiago and Todd Zeile.
The 2013 Phillies have three games remaining. They have lost seven of their last eight.
"Frustrating," Sandberg said. "I'd say four or five of those games were one-run games that could have gone either way looking back at it. But to look ahead, we have Cliff Lee going to the mound tomorrow. We can look forward to that."
Mutual respect
Ryan Howard's most loyal supporter in both his good days and bad days was his former manager, Charlie Manuel.
Manuel would not entertain the thought of moving Howard anywhere other than the fourth spot in his lineup. He gave the slugger the nickname "the Big Piece" due to his importance in the lineup.
Howard, who hadn't been with the team since the managerial change, said he had mutual respect for Manuel.
"I owe Charlie a lot," Howard said after joining the Phillies yesterday at Turner Field. "He helped do a lot of good things for me in my career, even starting all the way back in Double A and A ball. Charlie always believed in me and I always appreciated him for that.
"I never really thought he got the credit I thought was due. I thought when we were winning all those divisions, that at least one of those years he should have got Manager of the Year. I forget the specific year, but there was one year we had a few different injuries that had taken place and we still managed to pull through with the guys that came up. I didn't think he got the credit he deserved as far as that."
Coincidentally, Sandberg paid Howard the same respect Manuel showed when he was asked yesterday how he would configure a lefthanded-heavy lineup had Howard been healthy.
"There's some possibilities there with Jimmy [Rollins] batting second as a switch-hitter [and] you do that with Ben Revere leading off," Sandberg said. "Jimmy, Chase [Utley], Ryno, a righthanded bat yet to be seen who is the possibility there. Domonic Brown."
It sounds as it Sandberg, too, is content with Howard in the cleanup spot.
Home-run style
Atlanta outfielder Reed Johnson and Milwaukee's Carlos Gomez both received one-game suspensions following a bench-clearing melee at Turner Field on Wednesday night, shortly before the Phillies arrived in town.
Gomez celebrated the home run a little too excitedly for the Braves, who chirped at him as he walked around the bases. Braves catcher Brian McCann, who stood in front of home plate, blocking Gomez' path, and first baseman Freddie Freeman, who threw a punch in the ensuing skirmish, each received undisclosed fines.
Sandberg, who hit 282 home runs in his Hall of Fame career, said he found a way to avoid being at the center of a bench-clearing brawl because he never felt the need to - as the kids say - pimp a home run.
"No, that wasn't my style," Sandberg said. "Because I always knew there was another at-bat coming, whether it was that game or it was 2 weeks from now or next year. I always had that in the back of my mind . . . I always thought I was going to be the one to get beaned, not a teammate. That's how it used to be. Back in the day, you could pitch inside, you could hit guys. There wasn't any rule that you couldn't hit a guy."
