Athletes are a superstitious bunch. The Sports Illustrated jinx. The Madden curse. The Cubs' billy goat, and, well, you get the picture.

But what about "The Pen"? Two days after the airing of the second episode of the MLB Network reality show featuring the Phillies' relief corps, the team placed righthander Clay Condrey on the disabled list with a strained oblique. Joining him on the DL are closer Brad Lidge, who hopes to return later this week from a knee injury, and lefthander Scott Eyre, whose strained calf will likely sideline him into next week.

"I don't think it has anything to do with it," said righthander Chad Durbin, who, along with Ryan Madson and J.C. Romero, is one of only three healthy members remaining from last year's dominant bullpen. "But the Madden [video game] cover comes to mind."

Durbin was smiling when he said this, of course.

Rather than jinxes, the Phillies are experiencing what often is a normal part of a major league season but was largely lacking during last year's title run. One of the big reasons for the bullpen's NL-best 3.22 ERA was the unit's sparkling health. Only veterans Rudy Seanez and Tom Gordon spent more than four regular-season games on the disabled list. Lidge, who missed the first four games of the season while recovering from knee surgery, was the only other reliever to spend time on the DL.

This year, Phillies relievers already have missed 28 games on the DL.

"It's the nature of the beast," Durbin said. "We were very fortunate [last year]. You have to have a lot of things go right to succeed in a full season and in a postseason, and we were fortunate last year. As far as long-term type of injuries, as of right now, everything is temporary. At any point, anything can happen. We don't take it for granted. Guys are going to work hard and work with the training staff and get ready."

The good news, as Durbin alluded to, is that the bullpen has suffered no long-term injuries this season, such as the elbow problem that ended Gordon's season in early July last year.

Lidge, who made his second rehab appearance last night, is expected back soon. And Eyre, who was placed on the DL after straining his calf June 11 against the Mets, is eligible to return Saturday, although he has not yet begun a rehab stint.

The Phillies will miss Condrey, whose attempt to battle through back soreness might have contributed to the oblique injury. The righthander was 4-1 with a 2.14 ERA before his final two outings, during which he allowed seven runs, six earned, and recorded only one out. To replace him, the team recalled rookie lefthander Sergio Escalona, who has allowed two runs in 4 1/3 innings in two big-league stints this season.

Condrey said the team's training staff told him that his strained oblique is "mild," although that does little to offset the disappointment of landing on the DL for the first time in his career, particularly with Lidge and Eyre already sidelined.

"With the things that were going down, I definitely didn't want to join them," he said. "My biggest fear is not being able to be used at all."

That will be the case until at least July 4, when he is eligible to return. In the meantime, the Phillies' increasingly patchwork 'pen will attempt to fill the hole. MLB Network was looking for reality in its programming. And, for the time being, that is what it is getting.

Howard returns

 

It is hard to remain inconspicuous on an airplane, particularly when you are a 6-4, 259-pound slugger nursing a well-publicized sinus infection. So it should come as no surprise that there were more than a few elbow nudges and whispers on a Florida-bound flight yesterday morning as Ryan Howard headed south to rejoin his teammates in time for the start of their game against the Rays last night.

But there were no surgical masks - although the same can't be said of the Phillies' clubhouse, where hitting coach Milt Thompson jokingly wrapped a sock around his mouth and nose.

The acute sinusitis Howard has battled is not contagious.

"Am I 100 percent? No," Howard said before starting at designated hitter in last night's game. "But I'm a lot better. I'd probably say about 75, 80 percent. Right now it's mostly congestion. Those 2 days really helped, actually, getting better and whatnot."

Howard hit an RBI double in his first at-bat, part of a six-run first inning against vaunted Rays lefthander David Price. Combined with his three-run pinch-hit homer Saturday night that followed an early-morning trip to the hospital, Howard was 2-for-2 with four RBI in his first two at-bats since coming down with the infection.

Combined with his two-home run effort against the Reds in May 2006 after a bout with food poisoning, he has proved quite adept at playing when less than 100 percent.

Ibanez update

 

Raul Ibanez (groin) is eligible to return from the disabled list July 3. And after taking swings during batting practice and performing some light running drills yesterday, the leftfielder is optimistic he will be ready by that date.

"The good thing is, in my mind, I couldn't have done anything [5 days ago] that I did today," Ibanez said. *

For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese.