Bullpen

The Giants' bullpen shut down Phillies batters after manager Bruce Bochy removed starter Jonathan Sanchez, who had hit Chase Utley with a pitch in the third inning, leading to both benches clearing. Pitcher   IP    H   R   ER   BB   K     Jeremy Affeldt   2    0   0   0   0   2    Madison Bumgarner   2    3   0   0   1   1    Javier Lopez   1    0   0   0   0   1    Tim Lincecum   1/3   2   0   0   0   1    Brian Wilson   12/3   0   0   0   2   1   

The Phillies' bullpen has had its problems recently. It entered last night's doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field looking a little wiped out, as if 143 games had been just about enough. In its previous 11 games, the bullpen had gone 3-5 with one save, four blown saves and a 5.94 ERA. The Phillies lost six of those 11 games, with five of the losses coming in the ninth inning or later. That made the bullpen's contribution last night in a sweep of the Braves more notable.

When John Rocker sprinted out of the bullpen to face the Phillies at Turner Field in Atlanta Tuesday and Thursday nights, he got standing ovations. They were the Atlanta Braves' reliever's first games back from the suspension imposed on him for his stupid, bigoted remarks in a Sports Illustrated interview. Just as he didn't deserve the suspension, he also didn't deserve standing ovations. Some of those cheering were just happy to see that arm back in the home team's lineup.

With closer Brad Lidge back from the 15-day disabled list, the Phillies' tired bullpen recovers an important member, although it will continue to miss Scott Eyre and Clay Condrey. "It's going to be really big for our bullpen," to have Lidge back, said manager Charlie Manuel. "I think we're going to be able to put our guys in the right position. " Pitching coach Rich Dubee said earlier that while Lidge's return will solidify the late-inning structure - Lidge assumes ninth-inning responsibilities, Ryan Madson returns to the eighth inning, and J.C. Romero can pitch the seventh inning or face tough lefthanders in the eighth - the middle-relief situation remains murky.

There are many reasons why the Phillies are in last place in the National League East, but none is bigger than the pitching staff, which had the worst earned run average in the league entering yesterday's game against the Detroit Tigers. It has been suggested in recent weeks that one way to improve the pitching would be to recall top prospect Brett Myers from triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and move Terry Adams to the bullpen. The move would not be so much a demotion for Adams as a way to improve the bullpen.

Jerry DiPoto and the rest of the New York Mets bullpen have been waiting for weeks to show they could come through. Last night, they finally did. DiPoto (2-1) replaced starter Pete Harnisch, who left after three innings, and the bullpen combined to blank the visiting Cincinnati Reds over the last six innings in a 9-4 win. The Reds led, 4-0, when Harnisch left. DiPoto pitched three scoreless innings and Dave Mlicki closed out the Reds for his first career save. "Getting in there was the big thing," said DiPoto, whose last victory came on Opening Day against St. Louis.

Chan Ho Park doesn't agree with the assessment by Phillies manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee that he's better suited to be a reliever than a starter at this stage in his career. But the 35-year-old righthander, who lost his spot in the starting rotation to J.A. Happ a month ago, said he was willing to embrace his role as a middle reliever. Lately, he has been proving it. "I'm getting used to it and I'm learning," Park said before last night's game against Toronto at Citizens Bank Park.

Hideki Irabu, the Japanese-born pitcher who was signed earlier this season to a $12.8 million contract by the Yankees, was sent to the bullpen yesterday. Irabu, who was hit hard in his last three starts, has a 2-2 record and a 7.97 ERA. With Irabu's next start scheduled to fall on Thursday - a day off for the Yankees - manager Joe Torre said the pitcher would be skipped in the rotation. Torre did not say when he would make his next start. The Pirates announced that catcher Jason Kendall had agreed to a new contract that will pay him $7.2 million over four years, beginning next season.

Pitcher Charles Nagy, on the heels of signing a $24 million, four-year contract extension, could be headed to the Cleveland Indians' bullpen to get himself straightened out. Nagy leads the majors with 26 homers allowed. He is more than halfway to breaking Bert Blyleven's major-league record of 50. In his last outing, on Sunday, Nagy gave up six runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings in an 11-6 loss to Minnesota. The New York Yankees were 17-8 at Cleveland's Jacobs Field after last night's loss there.

The outlook for the Phillies' bullpen this season is similar to the 10th day of a 10-day weather forecast. You really don't know whether to expect sunshine or rain. The greatest concern, of course, is the health of closer Brad Lidge and late-inning lefthander J.C. Romero, both of whom will remain in Clearwater when the Phillies begin the regular season a week from tomorrow. "We have to get Romero and Lidge healthy and pitching," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said after yesterday's 8-4 exhibition loss to the Minnesota Twins at Hammond Stadium.

The scoreboard has been kind to the Phillies. While they slip, slide and fall in their modest pursuit of reaching .500, the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals have failed to pull away. It's hard to believe that any team could have a worse on-base percentage than the .304 the Phillies have posted through 41 games. But five teams do, and the Nationals, at .292, are one of them. The Braves, meanwhile, started 13-2 and have gone 9-16 since. The misfortune of others will not matter if the Phillies cannot fix their myriad problems.

PHOENIX - Jimmy Rollins never shed his batting gloves. With the tying run 90 feet away, he tapped one to first base that sealed a 3-2 Phillies loss. Rollins retreated to the clubhouse with the rest of his downtrodden teammates and went straight to one of the five laptops in the middle of the room. For 16 minutes, Rollins watched. Dressed in full uniform, he moved the mouse with his right glove. He tapped on the keyboard with his left glove. He stood up, pretended to swing, and pulled off his No. 11 jersey.

ON MONDAY, the Phillies called on a 22-year-old from Triple A to start against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Jonathan Pettibone was more than effective in his major league debut, taking what little offense his teammates provided and making it hold up in a one-run win. The bullpen was also instrumental in the victory. In the three games since, the Phillies sent Cole Hamels, Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee to the mound in succession. The Phils lost all three games. Although the All-Star starting pitchers did their part, the offense continued to be mostly M.I.A.

CHASE UTLEY stood at his locker Wednesday more than 3 hours before the first pitch was thrown and was asked about a play that happened 3 nights earlier. Utley, it was assumed, forgot how many outs there were during Sunday night's game against St. Louis when he dashed off second and toward home with one out in the first inning. He was doubled off, ending a rally. Utley, however, didn't forget the number of outs. He read the ball as a blooper, took his chances and took off. Major league veterans with All-Star credentials usually aren't prone to mental or physical gaffes, and Utley, as it turns out, was guilty of neither.

When a surgeon removed one of Mike Adams' ribs last winter, the pitcher finally felt at ease. His right arm, which could once throw a fastball at an average of 93 m.p.h., was no longer numb. The Phillies paid him $12 million to provide stability in the eighth inning. Then a 5-3 Phillies loss to Pittsburgh happened Wednesday, and it resembled the nightmares of a season ago for both pitcher and team. Adams could barely top 91 m.p.h. He never looked comfortable during the span of four batters, all of whom reached base.

TAKE AWAY a gem of a performance by Cliff Lee and a bases-clearing, pinch-hit double by Kevin Frandsen and the Phillies would be 0-6 heading into Roy Halladay's scheduled start against the Mets on Monday night. So things could be worse. But in the wake of a 9-8 loss to the Kansas City Royals that featured their second implosion in 3 days, they also could be much, much better. The root cause of the Phillies' fourth loss of the season was simple: Cole Hamels did not have as much success adapting to umpire Eric Cooper's strike zone as did Royals righthander James Shields, who allowed four runs in the first inning and then put up zeroes in the next five.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The view from the bullpen was Mick Billmeyer's primary domain during his first nine seasons as a big-league coach with the Phillies. Out there, he was mostly anonymous except for the 15 minutes of unwanted fame he received in May 2010, when the Colorado Rockies complained to the commissioner's office that he was using binoculars to steal signals while the Phillies were hitting at Coors Field. "That got a little too much play," Billmeyer said recently before a Phillies Grapefruit League game at Bright House Field.

DUNEDIN, Fla. - Charlie Manuel wants Phillippe Aumont in his bullpen. At least, that's what it sounded like on Monday afternoon after the hulking righthander threw a nine-pitch scoreless inning against the Blue Jays in one of his last Grapefruit League outings of the spring. Manuel talked about the potential of pairing the hard-throwing, 24-year-old with lefthander Antonio Bastardo in the seventh inning, while also pointing out that it might take some time for some of the players on the lower end of the bullpen totem pole to get into a regular-season groove.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - After quickly recording the first two outs of the fourth inning, Mike Stutes turned and watched. And waited. The third batter of the inning, Atlanta Braves' third baseman Juan Francisco, squared up one of Stutes' pitches and launched the ball over the fence in leftfield. The home run was one of five hit Monday between the Phillies and Braves, even though it felt like there were a dozen. The homer was one of 36 hits between the two teams, even though it felt like 66. "The ball was carrying a little bit," Stutes said at his locker at the tail end of a wild, 17-10 loss to the Braves.

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Roy Halladay entered the home clubhouse at Bright House Field on Tuesday morning and sat at his locker, less than 3 feet from Cliff Lee. That was the first good sign for concerned fans back home. If he was still ill and contagious, as the team said he was a day earlier, Halladay was not going to jeopardize another member of the rotation. The second positive sign came about 3 hours later when Halladay sat at a table in the middle of the same room and had a cup of soup.