Matt Stairs will fly to Philadelphia tonight and be in uniform when the Phillies face the Cubs Saturday afternoon, according to Stairs' agent.

Earlier today the Phillies agreed to a deal with the Blue Jays to acquire the veteran lefthander, who is hitting .250 with 11 home runs this season.

The original thought was that Stairs would join the team Sunday or Monday. But Stairs could play as soon as tomorrow after joining the Phillies in Chicago.

"Matt is definitely on the Phillies," Bob Garber, Stairs' agent, said in a text message.

Phillies general manager Pat Gillick said he had nothing to report before today's game at Wrigley Field -- "I can't comment on that," Gillick said when asked about Stairs -- but the Phillies are expected to announce the deal shortly.

Stairs is currently in Tampa where the Blue Jays are playing the Rays.

FoxSports.com's Ken Rosenthal first reported the deal late last night in the wake of the Phillies' crushing loss to the Cubs.

Stairs, 40, is a 16-year veteran who has made his mark as a DH/OF/1B type with good power. He was hitting .250 with 11 home runs and 44 RBI this season for the Blue Jays. He carries career averages of .266 and 25 home runs per 162 games played.

Stairs can fill in in rightfield when needed, but the Phillies view him primarily as a much-needed addition to their bench.

The club looked at veteran Mike Lamb, who was designated for assignment by the Twins, but decided Stairs was a better fit.

The move likely spells the end of the Fabio Castro era. The lefty reliever was called up yesterday from Triple A to replace Drew Carpenter, who was called up from Double A to replace Andy Tracy when the Phillies needed an extra arm following a 13-inning win over the Mets on Tuesday.

The Phillies have been looking for a lefthanded bat for some time. Currently, Greg Dobbs is the only option off the bench.

The deal is for a minor league player to be named later.

Last night was not a good night to be a Fightin' Phil. It wasn't a good night to be a writer, either. It's never fun to completely re-write your game story in the bottom of the eighth inning. But as the kids say, it is what it is.

The No. 1 question this morning, of course, is why Charlie Manuel decided to pull Cole Hamels from the ball game after the bottom of the seventh inning. Hamels had retired six of his seven previous batters and and the last time he was pulled after the seventh with a slim lead, the Dodgers took advantage of the Phillies bullpen and pulled out a 4-3 win on Aug. 12.

But. . .

Hamels had thrown 108 pitches on a hot, sticky night in Wrigley Field. He'd thrown more than that on eight occasions this season, but Charlie Manuel said pitching coach Rich Dubee spoke with Hamels and got the impression that he didn't have much left.

"He was absolutely spent," Manuel told us afterward.

I didn't get a chance to talk to Hamels after the game. By the time I was done talking to Ryan Madson and Chad Durbin, Hamels was already gone. So it's unclear how he felt about the situation. It's been a frustrating season for him. This is the eighth time the Phillies have lost a start in which he allowed three or fewer runs.

I've received a couple emails asking why Charlie Manuel did not bring in J.C. Romero in the eighth to retire one batter and get the Phillies to the ninth. Carlos Delgado ended up tying the game with a home run off Rudy Seanez and the Mets went on to win.

It's natural in hindsight to wonder, but consider the following:

1) Romero had pitched in three straight games and in four of the last five.

2) Romero had thrown 66 pitches in those three games, the most he has thrown on consecutive days this season without a break.

3) Romero had never thrown that many pitches in consecutive games without a day off since becoming a reliever in 2002.

4) Romero had never before had three consecutive appearances throwing 20 or more pitches in each.

5) Seanez had easily retired the first two batter he faced.

I'm not saying you can't make an argument that Romero should have been in there. But after considering the aforementioned five facts, it's hard to do.

II. Other bullpen facts:

One of the big keys for the Phillies down the stretch will be getting the same performance out of a bullpen that dominated for the first three-quarters of the season. Certainly, the pen has shown some cracks lately, particularly with Tom Gordon and Rudy Seanez spending time on the disabled list. Charlie Manuel has said he is concerned about keeping his bullpen fresh.

As a whole, you wouldn't think the Phillies bullpen is "tired":

1) The Phillies bullpen has pitched 396 2/3 innings this season, the third fewest of any bullpen in the National League (Arizona, Milwaukee)

2) The average National League bullpen has thrown 419 innings.

However. . .

1) Chad Durbin has thrown 73 2/3 innings, the second most in the NL.

2) Ryan Madson has thrown 68 1/3, tied for sixth-most in the NL.

3) Madson and durbin have combined to throw the second-most innings of any pair of relievers in the league (Washington's Joel Hanrahan and Saul Rivera have combined to throw 147 2/3).

Here are some of the Phillies' more utilized relievers' statistics since Aug. 1:

Durbin: 2-0, 3.14 ERA, .294 BAA, 14 1/3 IP
Madson: 1-1, 1.93 ERA, .224 BAA, 14 IP
Lidge: 0-0, 3.12 ERA, .265 BAA, 5 Saves, 8 2/3 IP
Eyre: 1-0, 0.00 ERA, .087 BAA, 7 2/3 IP
Condrey: 0-1, 3.00 ERA, .353 BAA, 12 IP

Some other things to keep in mind:

1) Chad Durbin's 1.95 ERA is the third-best in the NL among relievers with at least 40 innings pitched.

2) J.C. Romero's 2.29 ERA is seventh best.

3) Brad Lidge's 2.30 ERA is ninth-best.

As far as the bullpen goes, the Phillies called up lefthander Fabio Castro today from Triple A Lehigh Valley and sent Andrew Carpenter back to Double A Reading. Carpenter pitched a scoreless inning in his major league debut last night against the Mets.

Castro was 0-2 with an 8.10 ERA in three games for the IronPigs after going 8-2 with a 4.40 ERA in 27 games at Reading. 

The Phillies departed after last night's loss to the Mets for Chicago, where the Cubs are waiting with baseball's best record at 83-50.

Chicago has won five in a row, eight of its last 10 and has an amazing 49-19 record at home. The Cubs have won nine straight series. It's the first time they have done that since 1907, when they took the first of their back-to-back titles.

Tonight, Cole Hamels (11-8, 3.20) faces the Cubs' Ryan Dempster (15-5, 2.85) in what should be a great pitching matchup. Hamels has won back-to-back starts for the first time since May 9-15. In those games, he allowed 12 hits and no walks in 15 innings and has a 1.80 earned run average. Dempster is 12-2, 2.66 in 16 home starts this season while holding opponents to a .209 batting average. In his last seven starts overall he's 5-1, 1.76. He's already matched his career high in wins (15-12 for Florida in 2001) .

Here are the pitching matchups for the rest of the weekend: Phillies RHP Joe Blanton (1-0, 4.03) vs. Cubs RHP Rich Harden (4-1, 1.47) tomorrow afternoon, RHP Brett Myers (7-10, 4.49) vs. LHP Ted Lilly (13-7, 4.23) Saturday afternoon and LHP Jamie Moyer (11-7, 3.81) vs. RHP Carlos Zambrano (13-5, 3.53) Sunday afternoon.

The road trip continues with three in Washington, a day off Thursday and then three at Shea -- the Phillies' final trip to that ballpark -- concluding with a Sunday night ESPN game.

After that, the Phillies have home series against Florida and Milwaukee, a road trip to Atlanta and Florida and then close out the season with a homestand featuring Atlanta and Washington.

Twenty-nine games to go and plenty at stake. And it's not going to get an easier.

*

Rich Hofmann looks at what could be a tight race between the Phillies and the Mets coming down the stretch.

Also, remember that instant replay in baseball debuts on boundary calls with today's games, so the Phillies and Cubs go be the first guinea pigs for the new system.

First baseman Andy Tracy’s stay with the Phillies was short-lived.

The Phillies designated him for assignment today and purchased the contract of pitcher Andrew Carpenter from Double A Reading.

Carpenter is being called up largely because the length of last night’s game leaves the bullpen thin. It seems unlikely that Clay Condrey would be available and the Phillies used everyone else. Tonight’s starter, Kyle Kendrick, ended up warming up in the 13th inning and threw about 40 pitches in the bullpen.

Carpenter is 6-8, with a 5.67 ERA in 16 games for Reading.

Tracy, 34, was back in the big leagues for the first time since 2004 when he was called up from Triple A Lehigh Valley over the weekend to replace the injured Geoff Jenkins. Tracy was batting .288 with 21 home runs and 84 RBI at Lehigh Valley.

Newspapers are like life in that they have deadlines. They are unlike life in that if you miss that deadline hundreds of thousands of people won't be able to read about the Phillies game while staining the sports section with the milk ring on the bottom of their bowl of Apple Jacks. There is a good chance you are one of them, thanks to the fact that last night's game lasted a brisk five hours and 17 minutes. But even if you did get the story in the paper, or haven't heard of the internet - which would be fairly difficult considering the fact that you are currently on the internet reading this story - here are a number of news, notes and analyses that may or may not have gotten into the paper, but even if they did are worth expanding on.

1) Kyle Kendrick threw about 40 pitches while warming up in the bullpen last night. Charlie Manuel was all set to bring him in had Chris Coste not one the game with a walk-off base hit in the bottom of the 13th. Rudy Seanez could not pitch more than an inning, Manuel said. It did not come to that, and both Kendrick and Manuel said the young righthander should not be impacted at all when he starts tonight against Johan Santana. I'd expect the Phillies to bring up another arm anyway. Maybe. . .

2) As Kendrick was warming in the bullpen last night, I was cruising MinorLeagueBaseball.com trying to figure out who the Phillies would end up starting tonight if Kendrick got into the game. J.A. Happ started last night, Carlos Carrasco started recently, as did minor league veteran Brian Mazone. The two options I came up with? Andrew Carpenter, who pitched well in his lone spring training appearance and has seemed revitalized since returning to Double A from a brief demotion. And. . .drumroll please. . .Kris Benson, the veteran righthander who has spent most of the past couple months pitching for Triple A Lehigh Valley. Benson last pitched on Aug. 22, so he was scheduled to start tonight for the IronPigs. Would have been interesting to see what they would have done.

3) Unheralded hero of the game? Jayson Werth. I still can't believe he managed to score from first base on Eric Bruntlett's double in the ninth. The ball was cut off by the center fielder in the gap, but Werth chugged around thrid and tiptoed across the plate. Werth also had one of the game's great defensive plays when he barehanded a bouncing ball that looked destined to be a double and gunned David Wright out at second base. Oh yeah, he also had three hits.

4) Unheralded hero of the game, No. 2? Steve Smith. Smith sent Werth, one night after he sent him from second base on a groundout, manufacturing a run.

5) Remember way back in the fifth inning when Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard connected on home runs? That wasn't my favorite hit of the inning. That designation belonged to the double Clay Condrey - Clay Condrey! - laced down the left field line.

6) Mark Kotsay is a Red Sock (I think that's the singular of Red Sox, though I confess I'm not completely sure), so cross his name off your wish list. Adam Eaton will be back as a Phillie by the end of the season.

7) Big ups to the crew over at the Philadium for staying open late so myself, Rich Hofmann, Kevin Roberts, Paul Hagen, and Billy Sample could grab a few much needed brews after last night's game.

Several times a week I'm asked for my predicition on how this season will end for the Phillies. It happens on radio shows, on television, via email, and occasionally while I am waiting in line for a Hoagie. Two months ago, I would provide an answer and pretend like I knew what I was talking about. Now, however, I happily admit that I have no bleeping idea. A couple of weeks ago, I was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, the Phillies offense was what it was, and that things were not going to get better, and that even the overachieving pitching staff wouldn't be able to overcome the deficiencies the team had displayed at the plate.

I thought this after the Dodgers swept the Phillies, and Mets took a 2.5 game lead in the National League East.

But then the Padres series started, and for whatever reason I got the feeling that this team was not, in fact, finished. I remember sitting in the dugout at Petco Park for the first game against San Diego and being amazed at how loose the players and coaches seemed. They were coming off a four game sweep at the hands of the Dodgers, had fallen as far out of first place as they'd been in quite some time, yet had an air about them. I was talking to one of the Phillies PR people and I told him that I had a feeling they were about to go on a run. Seven out of the next 10, I said. Turns out it was nine of 11.

So now its time for the Mets, and I was just asked 45 minutes ago what I think, and to be very honest, I have no clue whatsoever. If somebody binded my hands behind my back and walked me to the edge of the Ben Franklin Bridge and forced me to make a prediction under threat of my life, I would say that the Phils and Mets will split, that the offense will jump all over Pedro tonight -- he's due for a stinker -- and then get shut down by Santana tomorrow night. And then on Thursday as they fly out to Chicago everything will be back where it began.

But don't take that to the bank by any means.

^

I appeared on Daily News Live yesterday and had the chance to speak with Fox's Ken Rosenthal, who is always pretty plugged in when it comes to the Phillies. One topic he broached was the possibility of trading Ryan Howard in the offseason. He didn't say the Phillies were likley going to make a deal, or even that they should make a deal. Just that they "could explore" the possibility. Now, a lot of things could happen in the offseason. The state of New Jersey could break off into the ocean and we could all have beach front property by this time next year. But a lot of what Ken said makes sense: Howard could command upwards of $14 million next season. From a contract standpoint, his trade value will creep downward as he grows closer to free agency. And he has obviously struggled this season.

That said, the Phillies have in many ways built this team around guys like Howard, at least from a marketing standpoint. Yeah, he has struggled this season. But he is also among the league leaders in home runs and RBIs, and if he can accomplish that in a year in which he is hitting under .230, there's no reason to think he won't continue to do it for the forseeable future. This guy has a chance to put up some record home run and RBI numbers, and I'm sure a lot of people would like to see him do it in a Phillies uniform.

What do I think? I think its way too early to even be talking about any of this. Lets see what happens over this next month, first.

Pedro Feliz is the obvious choice here. He had four RBI in the final three innings, including a game-tying single in the ninth and a walk-off three-run home run in the bottom of the 11th.

He also turned a double play that probably saved the game, grabbing a hard-hit ground ball with the bases loaded and no out in the 10th, then stepping on third and throwing home.

Kudos for Charlie Manuel for having him in there (Greg Dobbs started the game at third).

But I don't think the Phillies win this game without Shane Victorino, either. He led off the ninth with a single, putting himself in position to score on Feliz's hit. He then stretched what should have been a single into a double in the 11th, which put a ton of pressure on Dodgers righty Jason Johnson, who ultimately allowed the game-winning blast to Feliz.

And don't forget Victorino's great defensive play to chase down a long fly ball off the bat of James Loney in the sixth. That easily could have been a leadoff double that could have led to a huge inning, especially considering the fact that Joe Blanton walked the next two batters he faced.

Who's the bigger hero, Feliz or Victorino?

How about this: both.

Phils are now a half game behind the Mets.

Quick injury update from the Ol' Ballyard, where the Ghost of Phillies Offense Past has decided to drop by.

Geoff Jenkins, who left the game prior to the fourth inning, was examined by Dr. Michael Ciccotti and was diagnosed with a hip flexor or a high quad strain. He is going to have an MRI tomorrow.

We'll keep you posted.