Kendrick or Moyer? Phillies manager Manuel still not saying

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The questions came quickly, and by the time the topic of conversation shifted, Charlie Manuel's voice carried with it more than a hint of impatience.

Clearly, the Phillies manager is not ready to discuss his decision-making process when it comes to one of the few jobs up for grabs on his Opening Day roster. But at some point, he will have to pick either Jamie Moyer or Kyle Kendrick to round out his rotation, and with 16 days remaining before the season-opener in Washington, that time is fast approaching.

"It's kind of how we set up, and it boils down to what we think is our best rotation," Manuel said yesterday.

It might sound simple, but identifying that ideal combination could be more complicated than the Phillies figured as they headed into the offseason. Last night, Kendrick once again gave the team little reason to look elsewhere, allowing his first two runs of the spring in a five-inning performance against the Orioles.

He struck out four batters, all on changeups - a pitch he spent the majority of last season refining at Triple A Lehigh Valley.

By the end of the night, Kendrick had a 1.29 ERA in four Grapefruit League starts, with just two remaining before the end of spring training.

"All in all, I think I was satisfied with it," Kendrick said. "It was something to build off the next time."

At the moment, the next time is scheduled to come Wednesday against the Braves, by which time Moyer will have made his Grapefruit League debut.

Moyer, the 47-year-old lefty who lost his spot in the rotation to Pedro Martinez last season, has started three "B'' games, all against the Blue Jays. He did not allow a run in his first two outings, but was hit hard in his third game, which took place against a lineup composed of several Toronto regulars.

"Just because he gave up runs and everything . . . I've seen that before out of Jamie, and you guys have, too," Manuel said. "That doesn't mean a whole lot. We're still in spring training and we're still getting ready for the season and different things. That doesn't bother me at all. I want to see Jamie healthy, physically and mentally, and ready to pitch."

What criteria will Manuel use to make his final decision? Whatever gives the team the best rotation, he said. But he also said he could take into consideration which pitcher is more suited to pitch out of the bullpen.

Kendrick, for one, said he doesn't care what role he has, as long as he gets a chance to contribute on the major league level.

Yesterday, he continued to earn that chance.

Baltimore, which he faced 5 days earlier in Sarasota, made more solid contact against him than any of the three previous teams he had faced in Grapefruit League play. But Kendrick also had the opportunity to pitch out of trouble for the first time this spring, and he mostly succeeded.

After allowing a double to Robert Andino to lead off the game, he got Ty Wigginton to line out to third baseman Greg Dobbs, then struck out Nolan Reimold and Luke Scott to end the inning.

With two outs and a man on third base in the third inning - Kendrick issued his first walk of the spring to Andino, who stole second and advanced to third on catcher Brian Schneider's throwing error - Kendrick struck out Wigginton on a changeup to end the threat.

His stickiest situation arrived in the fifth, when a couple of singles and a walk loaded the bases with no outs. Nevertheless, he limited the damage, allowing two runs before getting Wigginton to line out to end the inning.

"If it would have been smooth sailing the whole way through spring training, I don't know how good that would have been," said Kendrick, who entered the night having thrown nine scoreless innings. "You try to stay out of those situations, but I haven't had them all spring, so it was nice to have."

The Phils lost the game, 2-0, getting their only hit in the eighth inning by John Mayberry Jr.

Third baseman Placido Polanco (knee) is scheduled to play in a minor league game today, his first action since Monday . . . Lefthander Sergio Escalona, at one point a contender for the final spot in the bullpen, was optioned to minor league camp along with infielder Brian Bocock . . . Righthander Roy Halladay is scheduled to start today against the Tigers.

For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese.