It may be a while.

The Phillies placed the reliever on the 15-day disabled list Sunday. Gordon's previous DL stints have been lengthy. He spent more than two months on the disabled list last season with a strained right rotator cuff, though a bout of pneumonia affected his recovery. Gordon spent a little more than three weeks on the DL because of a strained right shoulder in 2006.

He is not expected to pick up a baseball for the next five to 10 days as he begins his rehab program in Clearwater.

"I think what we're looking at is something probably very similar to last year," pitching coach Rich Dubee said. "He was down a long time last year, but I'm talking about being optimistic as far as him coming back and being able to be a vital piece for us. I think the rest will do him good."

Gordon, 40, returned from the disabled list last season and pitched effectively in the final month of the season, when he went 1-0 with a 1.32 ERA in his final 15 appearances.

"We're not going to zip him back here," Dubee said. "We're going to make sure he's feeling right before he gets up and running. I think we probably should have taken the ball away from him the first time" he experienced soreness.

"With his stubbornness and desire to compete, he wasn't always straight up with us," Dubee said. "And I think he tried to work his way through it and one thing led to another. He compensated for one tweak and put stress and strain on his elbow. We're just taking the ball away for him to give him a chance to cool down and get everything to settle again and get him back contributing."

Voting for Pat

Fans can vote at mlb.com until 5 p.m. tomorrow. On cell phones, fans can text the word vote to 36197 to have the final candidates sent to their phones. Voters then can reply with their choices.

Playing with a lead

So far, it has not played well.

The Phillies moved into first place in the National League East on June 1 and have been there ever since. But entering last night, they were just 16-17 (.485) during their 33 straight games in first place, and just 9-16 (.360) since June 8.

"That's not good," Manuel said. "One time we were 13 over .500. People say our offense sputtered. I can tell you a whole lot of things that sputtered. Of course, I'm not into that. I'll leave that up to you. I can tell you how we've lost every one of those if you've got a couple hours. But I don't have that time."

Seanez is sore

He felt better yesterday, but it remained uncertain whether he could pitch last night.

'False statements'

"Those are false statements," the righthander said. "I don't want to be traded. I never asked to be traded. I don't want to go anywhere. I like it here. I have a home here. I have a family here."

Regarding no longer having a chance to close for the Phillies, Myers said, "I'm going to be a starter. I want to be a starter. That's what the Phillies want. I'm going to do it. I'm getting in that mode right now, and things are going well."

Myers, who has pitched two games for triple-A Lehigh Valley, is scheduled to start Saturday for Reading. Because of the all-star break, he could pitch again in the minors July 18 before the Phillies evaluate him.

Who's the boss?

In other words, guys, it seems tomorrow is the perfect time to buy something nice for your girlfriend, fiancee or wife.

Contact staff writer Todd Zolecki

at 215-854-4874 or tzolecki@phillynews.com.

Read his blog at http://go.philly.com/phillieszone.