Utley, Polanco flip spots in lineup
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Utley, Polanco flip spots in lineup
Daily News staff
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel will flip second baseman Chase Utley and third baseman Placido Polanco in the lineup for tonight's Game 2 of the NLCS.
Utley will move up to second; Polanco will drop to third. The remainder of the lineup will remain the same.
The move is designed to split up the lefthanded hitters Utley and Ryan Howard.
"Same reason I always do it: I want to kind of just have a right-handed hitter in between them," manager Charlie Manuel said when asked why he made the move.
Manuel was also asked if he considered moving Jimmy Rollins.
"When I looked, I liked him right where he was at, because I look at how he's been doing and also the fact that how we lined up against Sanchez," Manuel said. "Victorino's got some hits on Sanchez. I think he's like 5 for-16 or something; Jimmy's 1-for-16. Utley's got a few hits. Howard's got -- the way we lined up. I like Jimmy down there where he's at right now."
1. Shane Victorino, CF
2. Chase Utley, 2B
3. Placido Polanco, 3B
4. Ryan Howard, 1B
5. Jayson Werth, RF
6. Jimmy Rollins, SS
7. Raul Ibanez, LF
8. Carlos Ruiz, C
9. Roy Oswalt, P
For the Giants, shortstop Juan Uribe is a late scratch from tonight’s lineup and has been replaced by veteran Edgar Renteria.
Renteria will hit eighth and the red-hot Cody Ross will move up to sixth. Ross slugged two homers in Game 1 after hitting one in the Giants clincher against the Braves in the NLDS. The rest of the lineup is the same as Saturday.
Giants manager Bruce Bochy sounded optimistic that Uribe will be back in the lineup for Tuesday’s Game 3. Uribe injured his left wrist in the Game 1, when he singled in the Giants fourth run in the 4-3 win. He advanced to second base as the throw from Shane Victorino went to home plate and injured his wrist diving into the bag.
Uribe, has struggled this postseason, but is 6-for-16 (.375) in his career off Roy Oswalt, tonight’s starter for the Phillies. Renteria has come off the bench to go 2-for-2 in the playoffs and is a .281 hitter off Oswalt (9-for-32).
J Roll's main problem is pitch selection---he can not hit the high fast ball--but keeps swinging at it---his strength is a knee high pitch which he crushed for a bases loaded double— richweb- J Roll's main problem is pitch selection---he can not hit the high fast ball--but keeps swinging at it---his strength is a knee high pitch which he crushed for a bases loaded double— richweb
Comment removed.- Very disturbing that The Missing Piece and the Straw thet Stirs the Drink came up so small last night with 6 ks between them. I doubt that Wilson Valdez or Mike Sweeney would have done that......— Mark1npt
- i don't really have a prob,with the lineup change,as long as they can win this game 2 nite..........GO PHILLIES!
— t_darb_56 - still wish Rollins would re-aggravate that leg injury and milk it thru October...— advantasux
- ruiz is slow. but clutch when hes needed most: when were down a run or two and need to turn our lineup over.— theeman
- Moving Ruiz out of the 8th spot would be the stupidest thing a manager could do. You people seriously have no clue about baseball. First of all, you shouldn't do anything drastic with the lineup. This isn't the time for an experiment. Second, Chooch does a great job getting on base, keeping rallies going, turning the line up over- all the things you need from a number 8. Don't knock the 8th spot. We got beat by a #8 last night.— Rombo
- Comment removed.
- I think Valdez has played and hit very well and should start. This will irritate Jimmy and he'll come back hitting better. This is the McNabb strategy.— ras#2
- I honestly think the left hander's have a better shot at hitting Sanchez than right handed hitters. If you look at that Steve Carlton like slider, the left hander has a better shot at it before it breaks than the right hander. Who knows.— thomasg
Always been a Rollins fan, but have to give the edge to Valdez. Valdez has been stellar filling in at any position, and was becoming a factor offensively with the bat. Rollins is not producing at the plate; don't know if it's his head or physical problems, but he has become the albatross of the team at the plate. Howard needs to stay away from Eagles games on game day and concentrate on his opposing pitcher and batting practice. If he swings at balls bouncing off the plate today, and continues to strike out, I'd put Sweeney in. (Usually when I criticize his play, he comes through big, so.....)— dogman5- Big mistake putting Ibanez in the lineup against a lefty. His numbers are terrible against lefties. Francisco should be starting he can hit lefties. I can see it now both Howard and Ibanez with 3 SO apiece.— Joey0210
- I would not mind seeing Rollins/Valdez batting 8th. Jimmy is killing the team right now. Also guys, don't be afraid of small ball. We don't need a 6 run homer during every at-bat.— AreaMan
- Should be: Vic, Utley, Polanco, Howard, Werth, Raul, Ruiz, Rollins (or Valdez), Oswalt. At this point, the SS should be whoever Charlie thinks is playing the best defense cause neither give you much offensively. Tonight's gonna be another tough one... why do I see 1-1 in the 7th? Ugh.— NJguy
- I think Manuel made the right switch. I would be okay with him leaving the lineup as is. I don't think major changes are a good idea right now. That's something you try in June or July. Send them out there and let the chips fall where they may. Have faith people.— p-diddy
- Give Valdez a start Chollie.— CMc62480
- Jimmy has to do something, anything.............anything???— Conshy04
- terrible that rollins continues to suck yet doesn't move from 6th. he killed the team yesterday. terrible— Menace.II.Sobriety
- Last week Andy Reid sent an under performer to another team to get a player of like quality. Does anyone believe these players want to sit on the bench? If you drop them in the order do you think they are ok with that? There are ways to create incentives. I've noticed out of the regulars there are 3 players who are close and are not playing well at this point. Could 2 be protecting the one? Interesting question. Probably wrong too but stranger things have happened.— Wally 24
- Polanco, Utley, Ruiz, Howard, Werth, Ibanez, Victorino, Rollins, pitcher would work too, but it ain't gonna happen.— Wally 24
- Comment removed.
- I think Ibanez and Rollins should flip. I'm cool with Ruiz batting eighth. Hitting eight's not easy to do cuz pitchers will pitch around you. If we're trying to get Jimmy hot, we need him in a spot where he'll see pitches to hit. He would at #6 or #7, he wouldn't at #8. Also, Chooch's ability to get on base out of the #8 spot turns the lineup over so we don't have a pitcher leading off the inning.— phillyfaninstpete
- Besides the fact that Rollins should be batting 8th, why does Charlie continue to bat his best average and postseason hitter, Chooch, eighth?!
If you want to split up the lefthanders, this is the best lineup:
Victorino
Utley
Werth
Howard
Ruiz
Ibanez
Rollins
Polanco— VicM
