Manuel calls on Madson, who records second straight save
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Manuel calls on Madson, who records second straight save
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
The call came just before 10 o'clock tonight. Bullpen coach Mick Billmeyer answered. Brad Lidge was already beginning to get loose, still wearing his warm up jacket but stretching his legs for what until now had been the inevitable notification that the save situation was his.
But this time, Billmeyer relayed the message to Ryan Madson, who Tuesday night relieved Lidge with the bases loaded and one out in a 5-3 game, retiring the final two batters to record the save. Madson walked to the mound to warm-up. Lidge, meanwhile, disappeared beneath the stands, then re-emerged a few moments later. He took a drink of water, then walked to join the rest of the relievers seated in plastic folding chairs as Madson readied to enter the game.
Is Ryan Madson the new Phillies closer, replacing a struggling Lidge who has blown 10 saves while posting an ERA of more than a touchdown? He was tonight.
After allowing a leadoff single to Justin Maxwell, he struck Cristian Guzman out looking, then got Adam Dunn to line into a game-ending double play, preserving the 6-5 victory.
Comments (25)
" A closer, A closer , my kingdom for a closer!" ... hey! matt stairs finally hit one and A BIG ONE if ryan could've gotten a hit that would be a thing of beauty. At least the rain would'nt be such a drag today.— 4u2digest- I think that whoever can close affectively should get the job regardless of where they sit in the bullpen. The marlins are picking up steam and the braves are fading but they are not going to wait for us to fix the closer mess. every time we lose and the fish win gives them hope, and we still have 6 games against them.— 4u2digest
- Philbert, "seriously bad spelling"? ... The guy typed 2 letter i's where it should have been o's. Those keys are next to each other, so they are obvious typos. If you must nitpick, hammer the guys who have no clue when to use fair vs fare, role vs roll, their vs there, moot vs mute, etc (including the "journalists" on this site)!— jman
- Four of Lidge's 7 full major league seasons can fairly be described as outstanding, and a fifth as solid. And the other two years, he's stunk. So he is what he is. It seems that Lidge, more than most, is undermined by confidence/emotional issues -- because I still see a 96 mph fastball and that nasty slider (though not with the same frequency). Hopefully altering his role for a time will help clear his head; that might, however, require waiting until next year. But a Brad Lidge on his game is the best closer we have and the most likely to handle the likes of Jeter and ARod in the post-season. If he can't find himself via this partial demotion, I hope Myers or Madson can step it up. But you're not going to find many pitchers out there with 4 outstanding seasons at the back end of the bullpen.— PhilaLogic
- Charlie finally made the move, let's be thankful! Lidge may get his command back before the playoffs or he may not, at least the Mgr. is going for the wins now! Raul is getting his swing back - amen to that! Now, play a little small ball and we're golden (I know we don't do it well but let's at least try to move the runners over). Why complain about the ground ball pitch from Madson, if you don't get a strike out that's what you want, yeh some hits will have eyes and get through but ground outs are baseball 101, chill out, just sayin'...— FireChief
- BallsDeep, you simply need to read what you type before you press Submit. Good points, but seriously bad spelling. dfrancis was simply going for the world record for run on sentences. Again some good points made. At least the posts appear to be made by Phillies fans and not the NY Mutts fans.— Philbert
- Get a sweep tonight and they have a 3-4 road trip. Not bad given how it started.— sla6yer
- BUBBLEGUM DUMMY finally got it right!!!— ronjra
- I think you use Lidge in spots here and there but rely on Madsen, Myers and Park to close by committee until they clinch. Then go with Lidge if you can in the beginning of the playoffs and hope he rises to the occasion. Last year I couldn't stay in the room when Madsen went into the game because of watching him the first half. Now I'm pretty sure that now he's closer to the second half pictcher of last year than he is to the first half pitcher of 2008. I think Myers can be a savior.— RichieAllen64
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- Good thing utley ended the game. Two of the nats runs were utleys fault! The botched grounder ti end the inning and the botched double play later in the game. Bith resulted in runs.— BallsDeep
- Did somebody just name-drop "comma splice"? That warms my heart. And, yeah, Madson's gotta stay until he blows up and everybody calls for Myers. Until he blows up and everybody calls for Park. Until...— e4stringer
- what about chan ho in the 9th?— canada51stSTATE
- Madson's just warming up the pitching rubber until Myers gets his legs back. Phils salaries: Howard 15M/yr., Myers 12.3M/yr, Lidge 12M/yr, Utley 11.3M/yr-----Which doesn't seem right?— flyfantx
- dfrancis, do you know what a comma splice is? Jeez, end a sentence correctly already. At least end a sentence.— phillyinsd
- madson is not the answer... he will break our hearts soon enough... lidge is not the answer... we may not have an answer... trouble trouble— EndTheDrought
- when the phillies lost in 93, i was more upset at fregosi than i was at mitch williams, because he kept running him out there when he didn't have it, pulled roger mason in game six, and brought mitch in, it's amazing to watch people bury lidge after last year, i realize you have to go in a different direction [myers or madson]i think lidge will be better next season,this team has other issues that go beyond lidge, and it's going to be a struggle in the playoffs, [bench]— dfrancis1958
- This really is a joke. How is there any indecision when you are talking about a pitcher with an ERA of over seven?— Frindless Coyote
- What was Maxwell thinking? How he got doubled off in that situation is beyond me, but thank goodness it did happen. No wonder the Nats may not even win 50 games this year.— catnameddomino
- Too bad Lidge re-emerged after his disappearance.— rollskreet
- We need the wins...gotta go with the hot hand.— Grazman
Chase Utley- You are the Man! He single handedly saved the game for Madson and the Fightins this evening. I also enjoyed Howard's smash single up the middle in the 9th inning-I thought it was gonna take the Nats' pitcher's head off! This win was a steal for sure...— kjuggs77- Charlie's gut told him to use Madson tonight.— krupps58
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High Cheese is your place for the best Phillies coverage from the Daily News.
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