PHILADELPHIA -- Ryan Howard ambled into the Phillies' clubhouse with his elbow iced from where he was recently hit by a pitch. It obviously didn't affect his hitting, as evidenced by the slugger's three-homer performance in Game 1 of Sunday's doubleheader split with the Braves.

The weary slugger looked embattled after 38 innings of baseball broken out over four games in two days. He smiled only sparingly when discussing Sunday's 3-1 Game 2 loss that left Philadelphia 1 1/2 games behind San Diego in the National League Wild Card race.

"It's taxing," Howard said. "That's a lot of baseball."

"You definitely saw two teams who played four games in two days," manager Charlie Manuel.

After smacking three homers in the opener, Howard watched as the Phillies dropped the second game in 11 innings. Catcher Carlos Ruiz's cannon arm misfired at the wrong time, and it cost the Phillies a chance for the sweep at Citizens Bank Park.

After Atlanta's Scott Thorman doubled to lead off the 11th against reliever Geoff Geary, Pete Orr laid down a sacrifice bunt. Ruiz bolted from behind the plate, fielded the throw and opted for the low-percentage play. Instead of taking the sure out at first, Ruiz wheeled and threw to third baseman Jose Hernandez, who was late retreating to the base.

Ruiz's throw sailed into left field, allowing pinch-runner Tony Pena to score the go-ahead run and putting Orr on second base. Orr moved to third on a groundout by Edgar Renteria -- which might have scored Thorman from third, assuming Ruiz made the correct decision -- and scored an insurance run on a wild pitch.

"It was the right play," Geary said. "It just didn't work out."

The Phils, who overcame bullpen problems for a 7-6 win in Game 1, had to settle for a split. Braves closer Bob Wickman, who suffered the loss in the opener, tossed a scoreless 11th in Game 2, ending it by getting Jeff Conine to fly out to the right-field corner.

The Phillies couldn't take advantage of the brilliant pitching of starter Brett Myers and reliever Rick White. Myers allowed one run on three hits in eight innings with 10 strikeouts, while White chipped in with two perfect innings of relief.

Atlanta starter Lance Cormier matched Myers through the first seven innings, allowing one run on three hits.

Howard added two more hits in Game 2. His one-out double in the ninth brought the tying run to the plate.

"We want to win every game," Myers said. "We can't let this loss get us down. We're still in the thick of things ... and we have to remember that."

The Phillies face a daunting challenge on Monday afternoon, when they host future Hall of Famer Roger Clemens and an Astros team they haven't beaten in two years.

"We can hit him," Manuel said. "I don't see any reason why not."