Phillies Notes: Phillies hope to play Saturday - and run

Not only do the Phillies hope to play Saturday afternoon against the Florida Marlins, they plan to catch a charter flight to Cincinnati, where they will watch Hurricane Irene's wrath from afar.

Sure, Roy Halladay is a notoriously quick worker. But even he may not be able to prevent Irene from ruining those plans.

"Even in the last couple of hours, it's gotten bigger," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said Friday evening. "From our original forecast, things have changed. You try to stay ahead of it, but there's only certain moves you can make."

The Phillies have made plenty. First, Sunday's game was moved to Saturday afternoon as part of a day-night doubleheader. Then, Saturday night's originally scheduled game was postponed until Sept. 15. Whether the two teams will even be able to squeeze in one game is not a slam dunk.

Regardless, the Phillies have a packed end to their season. As it stands, they will play 32 games in the season's final 31 days. Sept. 15 was their final off day this season, and now that is eliminated.

The players' union prohibits teams from playing more than 20 consecutive days without a day off. The Phillies players, led by union representative Jimmy Rollins, voted to forgo that rule in this instance.

"Off days are good," manager Charlie Manuel said. "That's something we'll have to play through. If you have to do something, you have to do it."

Easing that arduous task is the expansion of rosters on Sept. 1. There may be only a few extras who report to the Phillies immediately, because triple-A Lehigh Valley could be in the International League playoffs. But fortifications eventually will arrive.

That does not help Rich Dubee right now. The pitching coach already has been forced to juggle his starting rotation because of last week's rain delays and postponements. Halladay is scheduled for Saturday. Beyond that, there are no certainties.  Cole Hamels will pitch Monday in Cincinnati, and Cliff Lee is expected to go Tuesday on eight days' rest.

"Where do you want to push Hamels back?" Dubee said. "Instructional league?"

The rest has eased the heavy workloads of the Phillies starters, but sometimes too much is harmful, Dubee said.

"I think a sixth day is fine," he said. "When you start getting into seventh and eighth days, it's too much. But you can't do much about it."