Schneider, signed to a 2-year deal in the offseason after 8 years with the Expos/Nationals and 2 years with the Mets, has hit .262 with a .348 on-base percentage and two home runs while starting 21 games this season. He was replaced by journeyman backup Dane Sardinha in the fourth inning on Thursday. Sardinha, who was called up on June 19, is 5-for-21 with a double and two homers in eight games since his promotion.
The Phillies have no immediate plans to have another catcher join them on the road trip. Schneider said he would have been able to play last night if Sardinha got hurt.
"We'll try to stay away from him," manager Charlie Manuel said, "unless, of course, Sardinha gets hurt. He's banged up. We'll just wait and see what happens. Kind of a day-to-day thing."
Lineup shift
Wanting to give the struggling Shane Victorino a day off, Charlie Manuel moved Jayson Werth to centerfield and started Ben Francisco in right. Shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who has hit third since second baseman Chase Utley injured his right thumb in a loss to the Reds on Monday night, returned to his usual spot at leadoff. Veteran leftfielder Raul Ibanez, who has hit seventh most of the season, hit at No. 2 with Pirates righty Ross Ohlendorf on the mound.
"I was looking for some balance in our lineup," Manuel said. "I wanted to give Victorino a blow, get him away from the left side of the plate and work on his hitting. He's kind of pulling off the ball, and he's not picking it up on the inside part of the plate. He's hitting on top of it. He's dribbled a lot of balls over the last couple of days."
Werth moved from No. 5 to No. 3 to make room for Francisco, who is 12-for-43 (.279) with four doubles, three walks and eight RBI in his last 17 games, after last night's 0-for-4 effort.
Victorino, a switch-hitter who is hitting .225 against righties and .338 against lefties, finished the Phillies' loss to the Pirates on Thursday with four extra-base hits in his last 72 at-bats.
Phillers
Charlie Manuel, who will manage the NL All-Star team for the second straight year, has until tomorrow to fill out his roster. He is in charge of selecting eight players who were not voted in by the fans or players, along with the five-player pool from which fans will pick for the final roster spot . . . Righthander Ryan Madson allowed two hits and struck out one in two scoreless innings at Double A Reading last night, his third rehab appearance since going on the disabled list with a broken foot in late April. *
For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese.
