The Phils won ugly on a bases-loaded walk to Jason Werth in tenth in their is my TV out of focus or are they wearing slightly retro uniform. Along the way they fell behind 5-0 in the first and were trailing by five run into the top of the sixth, they committed four errors, and used seven pitchers, including newly acquired Rudy Seanez, who was in line to pick up the win after their sixth inning rally until Ryan Madson gave up a game-tying run in the eighth.

On the plus side, the Phils bullpen allowed just five hits and one run in their six and a third innings of work. Every starting position player got a hit. Even Tom Gordon had some plusses: he pitched a scoreless ninth to keep the game tied including working out of an admittedly self-induced (2 walks) bases loaded stuation.

For two-thirds of the game, the Phils were on track to join an elite group of teams. They were on track to become the first team since the 1992-'94 Royals to start three, count 'em three, straight seasons with three consecutive losses. It's something that aside from the Royals hasn't been done in 28 years and has only occurred eight times since 1900.

Here are the only clubs to do it. The 1904-'07 Dodgers did it four straight years:

The seven errors that the Phillies have amassed in their first three games is the most since the 2000 White Sox. The last time that a team collected more in their first three games was thirteen years ago (9 by the 1995 White Sox).

Here are the teams that collected at least seven errors in their first three games in the last twenty years.

Speaking of Seanez, it should be remembered that while he is yet another recycled veteran brought in to stop the bleeding in the bullpen, he is a cut above the typical pickups like Joe Table, Roberto Horrendous, El Pulpo Alfonseca, or Mike Williams. Seanez has had two very respectable seasons in the last three, which either means that he still has something left in the tank or that he is due for a bad year, especially at 39. Seanez also struck out 73 in 76 innings and had a park-adjusted ERA 21% better than the league average last year. In '05 he was even better: 84 Ks in 60.1 innings and an ERA 43% better than the park-adjusted league average.

He might be another bust, but he has a much better resume than the typical Phillies pickup.