MILWAUKEE - When the Phillies arrived in the visitor's clubhouse at Miller Park yesterday, protective plastic covering already had been installed above the lockers lining the room, rolled neatly and tucked into metal brackets drilled into the drywall. In many ways, it presented the feel of a ball hovering above Times Square on New Year's Eve, waiting to be dropped at the first pop of champagne.
Aside from one key difference: New Year's Eve, except in the most apocalyptic scenarios, is a given each year. A Phillies playoff clinch, on the other hand, will still take some work. While they now hold a seven-game game lead in the National League East with 10 to play and their magic number at 4, manager Charlie Manuel appears to wince every time somebody talks about a playoff berth as a given.
And for good reason.
While the second-place Braves would have to play near-perfect baseball to catch the Phillies, their schedule works in their favor. Seven of their 10 remaining games, including a three-game series this weekend, are against the last-place Washington Nationals. Fresh off a three-game sweep of the Mets, Atlanta is one of the hottest teams in the majors. Their only two losses in their last 13 games have come against the Phillies.
The Phillies, meanwhile, still must play a four-game series against the Astros, who swept them in Houston in early September, and a three-game series against the Marlins, who just finished taking two out of three in Florida.
"Until you clinch something, then the other team has a chance," Manuel said. "You can say anything you want to. The Atlanta Braves, they have what, 10 games left? They've got Florida three and Washington seven. Hey, they can run the board. Colorado went 25-1 or something a couple years ago when they beat us [in the playoffs]. We were hotter than hell last year at the end of the season. That's not out of the question."
If the Braves, who were off last night, win all 10 of their remaining games, the Phillies would need to go 4-6 in their final 10 games to clinch. With each game Atlanta loses, the number of Phillies wins required to clinch drops by one. But even if the Braves went 8-2 the rest of the way, the Phillies would still need to win only two of their final 10 to clinch.
That said, it's been close before. From July 29-Aug. 9, they went 3-8 against the Diamondbacks, Giants, Rockies and Marlins.
"Is it hard? Yeah, it's going to be hard for them," Manuel said. "At the same time, it's not out of the question."
So know this about the plastic sheeting in the clubhouse:
"Let's put it this way," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said, "we didn't order it."
Martinez expected to start
Veteran righthander Pedro Martinez has not thrown off a mound since straining his neck Saturday against the Braves, but the Phillies expect him to be ready to start against the Brewers tomorrow. Martinez, who is 5-1 with a 3.32 ERA in eight starts, was limited to three innings Saturday because of the injury. He had a chiropractic adjustment Monday and has progressed throughout the week.
"All indications are he will be pitching Saturday," Ruben Amaro said.
Ruiz gets injection
As expected, a team doctor administered an anti-inflammatory injection to catcher Carlos Ruiz' sprained left wrist yesterday, which will keep him sidelined for the next several days. Ruiz, who sprained the wrist in a play at the plate against the Braves last Friday, was scheduled to rejoin the Phillies last night. Against the Brewers last night, veteran Paul Bako made his third start in four games.
Bullpen watch
One of the important plot lines the Phillies will monitor over the next week is the progression of their two injured lefthanded relievers. Both Scott Eyre and J.C. Romero, the Phillies' only true options in matchup situations against lefthanded hitters, have taken steps over the last 2 days toward returning to action.
Romero, sidelined since July 19 with a forearm strain, pitched one scoreless inning of an Instructional League game yesterday, striking out two and getting the third batter to fly out. Eyre, who was cleared to play Wednesday for the first time since Sept. 7, warmed up in the bullpen during the seventh inning of the Phillies' 7-6 loss to the Marlins, but didn't appear in the game. Romero is tentatively scheduled to throw in another game tomorrow, after which he could be activated from the disabled list. Eyre's condition, a loose body in his elbow that will likely require offseason surgery, prevents him from warming up more than once in the bullpen or pitching on back-to-back days.
That leaves the Phillies anxiously awaiting the return of Romero, whose velocity averaged between 88 and 91 mph in his appearance yesterday. Romero said last week he would be comfortable pitching with such velocity, although when healthy his fastball sits in the low-to-mid 90s.
The Phillies also are expecting the returns of righthanders Chan Ho Park (hamstring), who could return early next week if he makes it through fielding practice in Clearwater, Fla., this weekend, and righthander Brett Myers (shoulder), who is tentatively scheduled to throw a bullpen session Monday.
Ruben Amaro stressed that the Phillies will keep the best 25 players for any potential playoff roster, regardless of past performance.
"I don't think anyone in our bullpen necessarily deserves to be a slam dunk," Amaro said.
Phillers
Raul Ibanez was scratched with a stomach virus. Ben Francisco started in left in his place. *
