Lidge says he's ready to return to Phillies

TAMPA - It was nearly 8 months and more than 1,000 miles removed from that memorable night last October when Phillies closer Brad Lidge dropped to his knees as an entire city leaped to its feet.

This time, it was a Class A Florida State League game, Clearwater Threshers vs. Tampa Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Instead of a packed house and a national television audience watching, a few dozen spectators dotted the seating area on a hot, humid night with threatening storm clouds overhead.

For all the contrasts, there was no mistaking the importance of this game to the Phillies' hopes of repeating as World Series champions. Or even making it back to the playoffs.

Lidge was wearing a Threshers uniform with his familiar No. 54 for his second rehab appearance since going on the disabled list June 7 with a sprained right knee. He was eligible to be reinstated last night, but it was decided he needed another tune-up instead while his teammates played the Rays right down I-275 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg.

And after pitching a scoreless eighth inning in a 5-3 loss, he pronounced himself ready to go.

"My guess is they'll probably activate me [tomorrow] but I don't really know for sure," he said. "I'm sure they'll want to make sure I have plenty of rest before I'm activated, instead of going back-to-back days out of the chute. Even though I feel like I can."

There had been some talk of still one more rehab assignment, but Lidge doesn't think it's necessary.

"That's up to them, but I feel pretty darn good right now," he said. "I'm not sure I'd necessarily feel better if I had another outing. I don't think there's a whole lot more I have to do.

"It went real good. Once again, I didn't feel anything. It's real encouraging. I know that results aren't necessarily what I'm looking for down here. Being able to drive the ball to my location is the most important thing right now. And I feel like I'm able to do that. So that's a big step for me."

Lidge needed only 12 pitches to get through the inning, throwing seven for strikes.

He got the first batter, third baseman Gerald Laird, to fly out softly to right, then walked first baseman Kevin Smith. He came right back to shatter second baseman Matt Cusick's bat on a popup to second, then got shortstop Luis Nunez to ground out to third to retire the side.

Then, as is the tradition when a big-leaguer stops by for a rehab assignment, he paid for a lavish postgame spread. Last night, he ordered from Outback.

"I don't know what I was throwing velocitywise [he topped out at 93], but, again, if I can drive the ball to my target and I can hit my spots, I'll take my chances," he said. "Before, when I was struggling a little bit, I'd try to throw a fastball away and it might end up in to a hitter. But now, it's staying on line. So, obviously, control is the biggest difference when can use your back side."

He insisted he felt no discomfort.

"My legs are feeling pretty strong," he said. "Obviously, we'll see what happens when I get back out there [in a big-league game]. My guess is the adrenaline is going to be a lot more. But when you're not throwing with tons of adrenaline and you're still feeling good, that's a good sign."

Trotting in from the leftfield bullpen into the eerie quiet - no crowd noise, no entrance music - was an adjustment.

"It's a lot different," he said. "You have to tell yourself, 'Hey, it's a one-run game out there.' It's hard to fake, that's for sure. Your mind knows what's going on, and it's not like you have a one-run lead and you're facing the Mets. But I try to duplicate it as best as I can."

Before the Phillies game at the Trop, manager Charlie Manuel said that as soon as Lidge is ready to be activated, he'll be thrown right back into the closer's role.

Since Lidge has been sidelined, Ryan Madson has struggled. In eight appearances, he's 0-2 with two saves, two blown saves and a 5.62 ERA.

"Do we want the Lidge of last year? Of course. But at the same time, I've never looked for Lidge to be perfect like he was," Manuel said. "Somewhere along the line, somebody is going to score some runs off him, somebody is going to hit [him] and that's all part of the game.

"When Lidge comes back, I just want him to pitch good and feel healthy and feel good, and I think his talent will take care of itself."

General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said that the reports from Lidge's outing were positive, and that he and Manuel would meet this morning to discuss the possibility of activating him from the DL.

How do they know whether he is ready?

"One, with his mechanics; two with what he tells us," Amaro said. "The reports about his direction and mechanics were good."

Lidge has hardly resembled the guy who was 41-for-41 during the regular season last year and 7-for-7 in the playoffs. This year, bothered by right knee inflammation, he has blown six save opportunities in 19 chances and is 0-3 with a 7.27 earned run average.

He's hoping that his outing last night will be a big step toward recapturing the electricity that, last night, seemed so long ago and so far away. *

Daily News sports writer David Murphy contributed to this report.