After the Phillies ended the traditional first half of the baseball season having lost 10 of their last 11, including a 4-3 loss to the Braves Sunday, team president David Montgomery threw some support behind manager Charlie Manuel and G.M. Ruben Amaro Jr.

“I'm satisfied with 'effort',” he said. “I am not satisfied with 'results'. None of us could come close to saying that. They are the same people. Charlie hasn't let seven years of managing success go to his head. Is he doing anything different? I don't see that. Is he trying hard to communicate more? I do see that. We have talked about that. We are not playing fundamentally sound baseball.

“Whether it's David Montgomery, whether it's Ruben, whether it's Charlie, whether it's Charlie's staff, whether it's Ruben's staff of whether it is the 35 people who have played for us, nobody can look in the mirror and say, 'Boy, this is somebody else's problem. It's not mine.' It's all of our problems. And usually the best way to get through this is instead of pointing, it is to stay together.”

Check out my column in the Daily Times Monday and, as always, on delcotimes.com