ALLENTOWN - The Phillies locked in their roster for Opening Day at 3 p.m. yesterday, the deadline for clubs to finalize their squads for the season openers.

As of last night, the only remaining question about the identity of today's lineup involved rightfield, where Geoff Jenkins ended the spring on fire and where Jayson Werth and his .375 average against lefties also reside.

Manager Charlie Manuel said yesterday he still hadn't decided who would get the start today against Nationals lefthander Matt Chico.

Werth, who struggled at the plate throughout the spring, hitting under .200, is expected to see a lot of playing time this year against lefthanders. But in his last nine exhibition games, Jenkins went 12-for-28 and hit three home runs, including a two-run shot yesterday in a game against the Triple A IronPigs in Lehigh Valley.

Neither Jenkins nor Werth has extensive action against Chico, who made his major league debut last season.

"I haven't made my mind up," Manuel said.

This could be an indicator of which way he is leaning: While most of the regulars, including Jenkins, were limited to two at-bats against the IronPigs, Werth played the whole game, going 0-for-4 and reaching on an error.

 

Eaton to pitch Saturday

 

Adam Eaton will start Saturday against Cincinnati, which means the Phillies aren't planning on juggling their rotation to take advantage of tomorrow's off-day. Because of the day off, the team could have sent Opening Day starter Brett Myers out for the fifth game and pitched the No. 5 starter, Eaton, Sunday. That's what they did last season, when Myers started the fifth game and Zack Segovia started the sixth.

Eaton starting Saturday also means Myers won't face the Mets in next week's three-game series.

 

Rollins running

 

It was a meaningless exhibition in 50-degree weather in a minor league baseball stadium, but Jimmy Rollins made sure fans got the big-league product. After leading off the game with a single, he stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. He then tried to score on a shallow fly to centerfield by Shane Victorino, but was thrown out at home by IronPigs outfielder Brandon Watson.

Rollins said afterward he was determined to play hard.

"It's an exhibition game and they came out to see us perform," said the shortstop, who added an RBI single in his second at-bat. "That's part of being a player, entertaining. I wanted to go out there and do that, and I was able to do that."

 

Phillers

 

General manager Pat Gillick said he expects Brad Lidge to be ready to pitch once he comes off the disabled list Saturday. Lidge, who will miss the first four games of the season while completing his recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery, could pitch as early as Saturday against Cincinnati . . . Mayor Michael Nutter will throw out the first pitch today. *