SCORES TWICE AFTER A PUCK TO THE FACE
One day after soreness in his left hip caused him to remove himself from the Phillies’ 5-1 win over the Padres in the sixth inning, center fielder Shane Victorino was out of the line-up for the first of a four-game series against the Dodgers. But the center fielder downplayed any concern about the injury, which he said occurred while rounding first base on a double in the first inning.
“That’s why I did what I did,” said Victorino, who entered last night hitting .300 with 38 runs, 27 RBI and nine stolen bases. “I don’t want it to be a long-term thing.”
Victorino ran sprints and performed some agility tests, but said there were still “certain movements” that bothered the injury. He took batting practice and was hoping to be available to pinch-hit.
“It feels a lot better today,” Victorino said.
Normal right fielder Jayson Werth, who contributed an RBI single in relief of Victorino Wednesday, started in center last night. Utility man Eric Bruntlett, the team’s lone right-handed option for that spot against Dodgers lefty Clayton Kershaw, started in right.
Manuel noted that the situation would have been a nice spot to use outfielder John Mayberry Jr., who was sent back to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Monday after a little over a week with the team. But Manuel said the minor leagues are the proper place for Mayberry to be playing at this stage in his development, although he said the three lefthanders the Dodgers will throw at the Phillies this weekend likely would have given the 25-year-old prospect more of an opportunity to see action.
“John has to play,” Manuel said. “For him just to sit here and not play – he needs to be out playing. . .but if we ran into a stretch where a team had three lefties and stuff, he probably would have gotten to play. But at the same time, he definitely needs to be out playing.”
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