PHILLIES NEWS

After a series with the Mets that was pretty hard to swallow at times you would think that starting a new series with a last place team like the Devil Rays who are struggling just as much as the Phillies have been lately, would be a break for the Phils, but even the Devil Rays are too much for the Phils these days. Tonight's game was supposed to be the glorious home debut for Phillies rookie sensation Cole Hamels, but faster than you can say homerun, leadoff man Julio Lugo had hit two of them through three innings and the Devil Rays were up 6-0 as a shellshocked Hamels was mercifully pulled from the game just two-thirds of the way into the fourth inning. It didn't get much better from there as the Devil Rays went up 7-0 before the Phillies finally got on the board with a three-spot in the fifth inning and and RBI single by Ryan Howard in the sixth inning to cut the lead to 7-4 but that would be as close as the Philles would get. The Devil Rays went on to score three more runs in the ninth inning to cap 10-4 laugher. Nearly lost in the Maelstrom, were the first and second career hits of hopefully many more to come for 33 year-old Phillies catcher Chris Coste. Maybe now that Coste has finally recorded his first hit we will see the Coste that was hitting the ball over the place in the Spring training, instead of the nervous Coste who just seemed a little overmatched in starting his career 0 for 13. The only good news for the Phillies tonight, is the site for sore eyes that appeared on the Phillies bench today. Yes, that's right Randy Wolf returned to the Phillies clubhouse today for the first time since July of last year. He is currently 4 rehab starts away from returning to the Phillies presumably following the All-Star break. At this point, with the way the Phillies are playing , he can't get through those starts and return to the rotation fast enough.