Still wanting to ease their star reliever back into action, the Phillies tapped Bastardo for the ninth inning and he responded with three straight outs for his eighth save in eight opportunities.
"We just started working Ryan last week, really," Manuel said. "He's slowly getting to where we want him to."
Bastardo was impressive, particularly since he was coming off his worst outing of the season, when he allowed two walks and two runs while recording just two outs in the eighth inning of an 8-6 win on Saturday.
"He came back good," Manuel said. "He came back very good. He was really getting a good angle on the ball downhill. He was popping the ball better today."
Oswalt to rehab
Roy Oswalt could be back on the active roster sometime during the first week of August if all goes according to plan.
The righthander threw a 45-pitch bullpen session prior to yesterday's game. He said everything went smoothly and that he will make a rehab start at Triple A Lehigh Valley on Wednesday; the Phillies later confirmed the start.
After that outing, when he expects to throw about 60 pitches, he and the team will decide whether he needs to make another appearance in the minors before he is ready to rejoin the active roster. Oswalt suggested earlier this week that he could be ready after just one rehab outing. But the Phillies want to play it safe with the 33-year-old who has not pitched since late June due to a sore lower back caused by a couple of bulging discs.
Five days after Wednesday will be Aug. 1, which is when the Phillies open a 10-game West Coast road trip through Colorado, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Decisions loom
