Phillies' fans give up again

PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- The chant started quietly in the left-field bleachers and got louder as it went around the stadium: "E-A-G-L-E-S!"
Only problem, the Phillies were playing the Colorado Rockies.
By this time most years, fans in championship-starved Philadelphia have already given up on the Phillies and turned their attention to football and their beloved Eagles.
It wasn't supposed to happen again this year -- in the Phillies' first season at Citizens Bank Park.
With a $93 million payroll that included a new All-Star closer, a revamped bullpen and a promising starting rotation, the Phillies were favorites to finally overtake Atlanta in the NL East.
But injuries and inconsistency has left manager Larry Bowa's bunch in a familiar spot: looking up at the Braves, who have won an unprecedented 12 straight division titles.
The Phillies were eight games behind Atlanta going into today's games. They were fourth in the NL wild-card race, trailing the Chicago Cubs by 41/2 games.
"We're looking just to get in," All-Star first baseman Jim Thome said. "Once you get in, anything can happen. We're not counting the division out, but we're just trying to get in."
Expectations were high coming into the season, especially after the Phillies added pitchers Billy Wagner, Tim Worrell and Eric Milton, and the rest of the division lost star players. Greg Maddux, Gary Sheffield, Javy Lopez and Vinny Castilla left the Braves. World Series champion Florida didn't retain Ivan Rodriguez, Ugueth Urbina, Derrek Lee and Juan Encarnacion.