Phils unable to back Myers' solid effort

In his first home start since his June 23 arrest on domestic assault charges, Myers came off to a big ovation after pitching into the ninth inning on Sunday night.

The boos, on the other hand, were reserved for Philadelphia's offense, which didn't support Myers, leaving seven runners on base and hitting into three double plays as the Phillies lost, 5-1, to the Braves.

Myers made his second start since a 2 1/2-week leave of absence following his arrest in Boston. The right-hander went eight-plus innings, giving up three runs on four hits, walking one and striking out seven.

"I've got to go out there and do my job," Myers said. "I've got to go out there and pitch."

And that he did. Through eight innings, Myers had given up just three hits and no walks, with the lone blemish being Edgar Renteria's solo shot to left-center field in the fourth. After eight, it became decision time.

"I felt like he had good stuff," manager Charlie Manuel said. "That's why I let him go out there for the ninth."

Myers did not last long in the ninth, however. He issued his first walk of the night to leadoff man Marcus Giles on a borderline 3-2 pitch. Renteria then drove a 1-2 pitch down the left-field line for an RBI double, which ended Myers' night.

Three batters later, Jeff Francoeur took the first pitch he saw from Tom Gordon into the left-field seats for a three-run homer and a 5-1 Atlanta lead.

"I thought I could do it tonight," Myers said. "But it just didn't work out for me. It wasn't my night."

"It wasn't my night" could apply to a lot of the Phillies, as the offense got a trio of Braves pitchers off the hook on numerous occasions.

The Phils got hits every inning from the second through the eighth, but scored their lone run on a Mike Lieberthal RBI groundout in the second.

"We outhit them [11-5]," Lieberthal said. "We'd like to see more runs on the board with the hits that we had."

Philadelphia missed two opportunities in the late innings that could have broken a tie. In the seventh, Lieberthal was on first with a base hit, and Myers missed a bunt sign, grounding into a 3-6-3 double play upon swinging away.

"I should have bunted Lieberthal over," Myers said. "I missed a sign, and Jimmy [Rollins] came up and got a hit. It could have been 2-1 there."

The following inning, Bobby Abreu tried to stretch a single into a double and was thrown out by Francoeur's cannon of a right arm.

The loss does not take away from the fact that Myers has looked superb in his first two starts since his leave of absence, including a win in San Francisco.

Despite the circumstances, "tonight's game didn't surprise me at all," said Lieberthal, who caught Myers in both starts. "Brett's got great stuff. If anything was really bothering him, his stuff alone would get him through it."

Now Manuel and the Phillies are looking forward to putting the incident in the past, and Myers is grateful for the reaction of the fans, who took it easy on him with the exception of a mixed reception during the introduction of the starting lineups.

"They did a heck of a job tonight," he said of the oft-critical Philadelphia fans. "They were supporting me, and I appreciate that a lot."