Manuel stays with hot bats
ST. LOUIS -- After sending out a lineup that put up 10 runs and 18 hits during Thursday night's exhausting 10-9 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, manager Charlie Manuel opted against tinkering much with his lineup for the second game of the series Friday against righthander Kyle Lohse.
Manuel stays with hot bats
Bob Brookover, Inquirer Baseball Columnist
ST. LOUIS -- After sending out a lineup that put up 10 runs and 18 hits during Thursday night's exhausting 10-9 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, manager Charlie Manuel opted against tinkering much with his lineup for the second game of the series Friday against righthander Kyle Lohse.
The only change in personnel was Juan Pierre, who will start in left field instead of John Mayberry, who went 0-for-4 with a walk in Thursday night's win. Mayberry, after getting his average to .257 with a three-hit game Saturday against Boston, is hitless in his last 11 at-bats with six strikeouts.
Pierre will bat second and third baseman Placido Polanco, who is hitting .337 (31-for-92) since April 24 was moved to seventh in the order.
The full lineup: Jimmy Rollins, SS, Pierre, LF, Hunter Pence, RF, Carlos Ruiz, C, Shane Victorino, CF, Ty Wigginton, 1B, Polanco, 3B, Freddy Galvis, 2B, and Cliff Lee, P.
Lee is facing the Cardinals for the first time since surrendering a 4-0 lead in Game 2 of last season's division series. He surrendered five runs on 12 hits in six innings in that game. Lee's regular-season record against the Cardinals is 3-1 with a 1.48 ERA in four starts.
Jimmy Rollins, who returned with a two-hit game after missing
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after missing......is something missing??????— Mark1npt
Comment removed.- last time Luna played LF in the majors was in 2006. they could use some help in the outfield position though.— ESFjellin
- Comment removed.
- Luna earned a spot out of spring training but guaranteed contracts cost him. The guy can flat out rake. He will produce if given a chance.— tommazza
- They must have somebody who can hit better than Mayberry. He is lost.— Ssteve115
- Charlie almost got the lineup correct tonight, but we'll let 'em play it out, 'cause that's what they are payin' him to do. An identical support play for Lee with the offense might help to get him a win! But brief ex-Phil Lohse will have a lot to say about that, of course, and he's been pretty sharp this year. Hope he's off a bit tonight.— ocpizza
- Too bad on Mayberry. I really like him, but boy he's looking like Dom Brown right now.— Sackbutt
- Unfortunately for Mayberry, you must produce when given the chance. Pierre, of course, hitting .299 with .348 OBP, should be leading off but we know that will never happen with JRoll, hitting .233 with .296 OBP, in the lineup and thus the hot-hitting Polanco, now at .284 with .316 OBP, but with the ability to hit behind the runner, gets dropped to 7th, all to protect JRoll's over-inflated ego. Too bad Charlie lacks the guts to drop JRoll to 7th in the lineup as a typical good field, no-hit shortstop.— chuckw
- how is it that rollins has such control over manuel and amaro.. he is a selfish lazy egotistical player who hasnt had a good year in 5 years, yet he gets to hit leadoff.. there was ZERO interest from teams in jimmy as a free agent this offseason, yet out of nowhere amaro hands him 3yrs 33million...— zwarte piet
- "Manuel Stays With Hot Bats" Sounds like a 'no-brainer,' doesn't it? But tassumng your Mgr HAS a brain and uses it. Rollins still leading off?, and Polanco batting 7th?.... Really now?
- Whats with the love affair with Juan Pierre? Chollie threw Mayberry on the scrap heap pretty abruptly.— wo_fat
- Mayberry gets hot and raises his average to .257, then goes 0 for 11 and all of a sudden he's riding the bench? That's loyalty and patience for ya. Wigginton went 0 for 9 from Boston to Washington, but he had a couple good games before and after, so why the double standard?— The K Man
- This Mayberry love affair is ridiculous. The guy is a minor league player at best. After watching him try to hit, and saw him throw from the outfield, his arm isn't any better than Pierre's. Time to package him up along with some other underachievers, and let some other team have the problems. We need a good left fielder, and half of the infield replaced, and that includes Howard. Catching is great with Ruiz, but his body is taking a beating. He needs help. There is a lot to do, but I wonder if we have a GM that can see the problems, then act to correct them. We've been 'Blue Skyed' long enough by management when in fact dark clouds were covering the sun. The barometer has been dropping since the end of last season with no one watching it. This team, and it's fans need a little sunshine for a change.— phineas
- Mayberry is 29 yrs old, if he has not got it by now it is doubtful he is ever going to get it. He and pence for that matter look LOST at the plate. You have to include Greg Gross in this conversation because pence is a proven commodity. I have been harping for weeks to bat Ruiz 4, and drop pence down to get his swing back. Won't drop pence thru thick headedness...Here is my lineup yet again, rollins or pierre 1, polanco 2, vic 3, ruiz 4, wigginton 5, galvis 6, pence 7, rollins or pierre 8. Try it you might like it....— Trot
- What a load, if Manuel is staying with the hot bats, what is Rollins doing in the line-up? He has never been a lead-off hitter and probably should not even be playing right now. The old guy is way-way over the hill. He should retire with dignity like Schmidt.— chucksf
