Phillies manager Pete Mackanin is an eternal optimist, but this stretch of bad baseball by his struggling outfit has him in the dumps. He let his team know about it after Friday's 5-3 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park.
Mackanin called a team meeting after the game, and while he didn't want to divulge what was discussed, it didn't take much guess work as to the contents of the conference.
"He just wants to see us play with a little more fire and a little more energy," outfielder Aaron Altherr said. "You know, it's something we've got to do.