Phillies Notebook: Phillies acknowledge it's time for alternative to Lidge

Lidge's job as the Phillies' go-to closer has been in jeopardy since Sept. 8, when Manuel removed him from a game against the Nationals with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth inning. But setup man Ryan Madson, who converted three of four save opportunities immediately following that game, has a 5.54 ERA and has allowed 18 hits in 13 innings in his last 14 outings.

Manuel said yesterday that veteran righthander Brett Myers, who spent most of 2007 as the team's closer, would be his first option to fill in for Lidge. But Myers likely will not return to action until the middle of next week at the earliest, thanks to a shoulder strain that has sidelined him since Sept. 12.

"If he's ready he would definitely be [the top candidate],'' Manuel said.

Manuel also said he could envision a situation in which lefthander J.C. Romero, expected to return from a strained forearm early next week, pitches in the ninth inning.

One person who won't be closing anytime soon is veteran righthander Pedro Martinez, who was scratched from his scheduled start tonight as he continues to recover from a stiff neck. While the Phillies will only use four starting pitchers in the postseason and Martinez began his career as a reliever, Amaro and Manuel both indicated that the future Hall of Famer is not being considered for bullpen duty at this time.

"Right now I don't see that happening,'' Amaro said. "Could it change? Maybe. But right now we view him as a starter for us and he's been effective in that role. He's clearly done it before, so that's a plus.''

Lidge entered last night's loss in the seventh inning and allowed a run.

"We'll go over our pitching,'' Manuel said. "We'll talk about every possible scenario we can find, probably. I think [Martinez] can pitch if we give him enough time [to warm up]. I've seen him do it with a sore arm against us in Cleveland in the playoffs. He still did pretty good. He held us and beat us.''

A more likely candidate to shore up the back of the bullpen is lefthander J.A. Happ, who has excelled as a starter this season but who also performed well in a brief stint as a reliever. Earlier this week, Manuel said he thought Happ had the ability to close, and Amaro shared a similar assessment yesterday.

"He hasn't done anything to say he can't [close],'' Amaro said. "But you don't know that until he gets into the situation. As I said before, it may take some guys to step up and pitch in different roles that they are not typically accustomed to doing, and Brad may be asked to do something different than he's been doing for us.''

Ruiz returns

Charlie Manuel said that Ruiz, who suffered the injury in a collision at home plate against the Braves last Friday, could return to the lineup as soon as Tuesday. Ruiz said he plans to hit off a tee on Monday to test the wrist, which hurts him more when batting than it does when he is behind the plate.

Ruiz also revealed that he received two cortisone shots while the Phillies were still in Atlanta. He said he was relieved that an MRI revealed no structural damage to the wrist.

"I want to be a part of the team,'' said Ruiz, who is hitting .311 with a .405 on-base percentage in 39 games since Aug. 1. "When they said it's nothing bad, I was so happy. It's good news.''

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