They would have liked to have ended the suspense in a ballpark where the Sausage Race still wows the crowd every time, but it could have been wurst.
There was nothing artistic about their 6-5 win over the Brewers yesterday. They had to white-knuckle their way through the final innings largely because the lineup went 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and left 14 runners on base, nine of them on second or third.
Unfocused, undisciplined at-bats are often a telltale sign of physical and mental fatigue. And Charlie Manuel has been around long enough to get that. "We are tired," the manager said.
At the same time, he's old-school enough to believe that you don't sit your regulars until after the clincher.
"If we can do something, we can give them a couple days. We'll definitely do that," he said. "Once we get something done I plan on resting guys like Chase [Utley], [Jimmy] Rollins, [Shane] Victorino and guys like that."
It was interesting, though, that the Phillies took a full batting practice yesterday morning even though they were playing a day game after a night game. Manuel defended that decision, while adding that he could look for ways to give players a breather without giving them a full game off.
"Stuff like that we can do," he said. "But you know something? Hitting on the field to me is better than hitting in the cage. To me, you get on the field and you get your adrenaline pumping. It gets your blood going and everything."
Rollins conceded that he's bone weary and would love to take a break . . . but not until after the National League East title has been secured.
