"The top of our lineup the last two days got on base," manager Charlie Manuel said. "That makes all the difference in the world."
Rollins has failed to get on base in the overwhelming majority of his at-bats this season, and recently ended a career-high hitless streak of 28 at-bats.
"It's always a big key," he said of reaching base in the leadoff spot. "Any time you can get the pitcher in the stretch for the big bombers, it's more likely he'll make a mistake. We have to keep this going, especially me."
Manuel has experimented with numerous strategies to ignite Rollins this year, and recently resorted to a four-day benching. Rollins struggled in his first two games since returning Tuesday, but he has not seemed as lost this weekend.
Lidge's struggles have been as well-documented as Rollins', and both players received a forced vacation in June. After blowing six saves, and two in a row in Los Angeles in early June, Lidge was placed on the disabled list with a knee sprain. After a tentative but productive return June 26 in Toronto, when Lidge pitched ineffectively but gained confidence that his knee had improved, the closer has been 2 for 2 in save opportunities.
Today, he struck out two in a dominant ninth. "Obviously, we have a long ways to go, and I have a lot of outings to kind of get back to where . . .," Lidge said, pausing and shaking his head while noting his ugly statistics up to this point in the season.
He chuckled and continued: "It is going to be difficult to get back to where I was last year in terms of numbers. But right now, I'm not at all concerned about that because I feel like I did last year - able to drive off my back side. It's going to make a big difference, and location will be the biggest difference."
Lidge said that the knee injury affected his confidence.
"I became tentative, just because I didn't know where the ball was going," he said. "If I push off a little bit right here, is it going to hurt? Is that going to affect my control? Is that going to affect where this pitch ends up?"
Today, most of Lidge's pitches went where he wanted them to go, and Rollins looked increasingly comfortable at the plate. Those performances helped the Phils defeat a Mets team that dropped pop-ups, swung early in the count, and did not look like a contender.
After a terrible stretch of games, the Phillies remain in first place, and two missing stars are hopeful that their long-awaited turnarounds have begun.
Said Lidge: "It's a chance to say, 'OK, we're going to start over.' "
Contact staff writer Andy Martinoat 215-854-4874 or amartino@phillynews.com.
