Asked what part of the body was nagging Polanco, Manuel said, "All over."
Polanco, who leads NL fan voting for the All-Star Game at third base, was hitting .320 with a .367 on-base percentage and .398 slugging percentage on June 5. Twelve games later, he is hitting .295 with a .342 OBP and .375 SLG. Yesterday was the third time in eight games that Polanco has not started.
"He's just got some aches and pains," Manuel said. "He hasn't been hitting good. I figured it'd be a good day for him to rest."
Bad hop
One of the two runs the Mariners scored off Cole Hamels in their 2-0 win yesterday was set in motion by an Ichiro Suzuki chopper that took a bad second hop on Ryan Howard, catching the first baseman off guard, for a leadoff single in the sixth.
"It was bad," said Howard, who has only been charged with one error this season. "I was kind of going back because I saw the first [hop], and then once it hit again it just kind of shot up and I wasn't able to handle it."
Schneider rehab
Brian Schneider played his third rehab game yesterday at Double A Reading, catching seven innings and going 2-for-4 with an RBI against New Britain. Schneider, who has been on the disabled list since straining his hamstring while rounding third in Florida on May 11, is scheduled to play again today. He is hoping to rejoin the active roster on Friday, when the Phillies return from St. Louis to start a six-game interleague homestand against the A's and Red Sox.
Good timing
The Phillies, who start a three-game series in St. Louis tomorrow, could be catching the Cardinals at a good time. Superstar first baseman Albert Pujols sprained his wrist yesterday when Kansas City's Wilson Betemit collided with his arm after running out a sixth-inning groundout. Pujols left the game, raising some doubt about his availability for the upcoming series. The Cardinals will know more after evaluating their first baseman today.
Pujols appeared to have awakened from a slow start to the season. He entered yesterday hitting .313 with a 1.179 OPS and eight home runs, 16 RBI and 19 runs in his last 18 games. He then went 3-for-3 with his 17th home run of the season before the mishap with Betemit.
The Phillies also will not have to deal with Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford (out until at least early July with a hamstring strain), or starter Clay Buchholz (on the DL with a back injury) during their three-game series against Boston June 28-30.
Phillers
Cole Hamels (9-3, 2.51) said the back stiffness that knocked him out of his last start in the eighth inning was not a factor at all during his preparation for yesterday's start . . . Ryan Howard has reached base safely in 19 consecutive interleague games . . . Jose Contreras got the last two outs of the seventh and David Herndon pitched a scoreless eighth. The Phillies bullpen has not allowed a run in its last 17 innings, a stretch that spans eight games . . . Yesterday's loss was the Phillies' sixth in 23 day games this season . . . Of the last 55 runs the Phillies have scored, 27 have come on home runs (49 percent). In their first 61 games, only 30 percent of their runs came via home runs.
