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Phillies Notes: Martinez goes in Game 2; Myers reportedly off roster

LOS ANGELES - Pedro Martinez will start Game 2 of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers tomorrow, several sources told The Inquirer.

LOS ANGELES - Pedro Martinez will start Game 2 of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers tomorrow, several sources told The Inquirer.

The 37-year-old Martinez, who has not pitched in a game since Sept. 30 and has not lasted more than three innings since Sept. 13, threw a simulated game Tuesday.

"He's did enough work that I'm confident sending him out," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said before the decision was revealed. "I think he is capable of throwing anywhere from 75, 90 pitches, maybe 95, maybe even 100. But I think that gets us into the sixth inning or the seventh, and I think that where we're at with our pitching and everything, that would work. . . . He threw a simulated game yesterday, and what I saw, I liked his stuff."

Joe Blanton was another candidate to start Game 2, but Manuel said that Blanton and J.A. Happ would spend the "first few games" in the bullpen. Cliff Lee pitched on Monday and would not be on full rest until Sunday's Game 3.

"I definitely look at Joe Blanton as a starter," the manager said. "[But] he is the guy who can really set our bullpen up. In front of [Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge], he gives me some leverage in the back. . . . He is the guy who can mentally go get 'em, and [has] the grit and the desire and whatever you want to say."

Blanton was not sure what his role in the series would be. "I have no idea," he said. "I'll do whatever they want me to do."

The Dodgers said yesterday that their playoff rotation would consist of Clayton Kershaw tonight, Vicente Padilla tomorrow, Hiroki Kuroda on Sunday and Randy Wolf on Monday.

Sources: Myers off roster

Multiple team sources told The Inquirer yesterday that righthander Chan Ho Park and utilityman Eric Bruntlett would be added to the NLCS roster, and righthanders Brett Myers and Kyle Kendrick would be left off.

Park (hamstring) threw three bullpen sessions in Clearwater, Fla., in the last week and said yesterday that he was ready to pitch.

"Feels good," he said. "Yeah, I'm ready. Really ready."

"I think health-wise, he's there," said general manager Ruben Amaro Jr.

The Phillies must announce their roster by 1 p.m. today.

Myers never appeared to recover from a muscle strain in his upper back suffered in September. He also underwent hip surgery in June.

Bruntlett gives the team another option for late-inning defense and pinch-running.

No closer

Lidge earned two one-run saves in the division series, but the Phils enter the NLCS without a clearly designated closer.

"I don't want to sit here today and say one guy is going to be the closer on our team yet," Manuel said. "I don't feel like I have to do that. I feel like our guys accept when I'm going to put them in the game. Madson and Lidge and all those guys, believe me, they'll get all the work they want."

Job interview

First-year bench coach Pete Mackanin will interview on Saturday for the Houston Astros' managerial job, vacated when the team fired Cecil Cooper in September. Mackanin, 57, has served twice as an interim manager in the major leagues.

When the Pirates fired Lloyd McClendon in September 2005, Mackanin took over and finished the season 12-14. Two years later, he replaced Jerry Narron as manager of the Cincinnati Reds and kept the team in contention, guiding it to a 41-39 record.

Mackanin will fly to Houston after Friday's game, returning to Philadelphia late Saturday. The Astros interviewed Al Pedrique and Dave Clark yesterday.