LOS ANGELES - Joe Blanton is a low-maintenance pitcher. Wake him up, roll him out of bed, and tell him what time the game starts. So, even though the veteran righthander hasn't been told he is starting Game 4 on Monday at Citizens Bank Park, he sees no reason he won't be effective if and when he gets that call.
"I've had plenty of work," said Blanton, who went 12-8 with a 4.05 ERA in 31 starts during the regular season, but spent the National League Divsion Series pitching out of the bullpen. "I'm not rusty. Two-hundred innings into the year, for the most part you are either there or you are not."
Manager Charlie Manuel said he likely would not announce his starter for Game 4 until today at the earliest. But yesterday, there were strong indications that Blanton would get the call. Unlike lefthander J.A. Happ, who started Game 3 of the NLDS and was 10-4 with a 2.99 ERA in 23 starts during the regular season, Blanton has yet to pitch in the NLCS. The Phillies looked at him as an insurance policy of sorts for veteran righthander Pedro Martinez, who started yesterday for the first time since Sept. 30. But Martinez pitched seven scoreless innings, eliminating the need for long relief.
Happ, meanwhile, has appeared in the first two games of the series. Yesterday, he walked Andre Ethier on seven pitches to force home the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. The day before, he threw 11 pitches to two batters, walking Jim Thome and getting Rafael Furcal to ground out with the bases loaded.
Manuel said before yesterday's game that both Happ and Blanton are candidates to start, and that a Happ appearance in Game 2 would not necessarily preclude him from starting Game 4. But Blanton has not pitched since Oct. 11, when he threw 34 pitches in 2 2/3 innings of relief in Game 3 against the Rockies. And if his presence is not required in Game 3, when Cliff Lee will start, he is the likely choice to start Game 4.
"I think that how we use him will dictate one of those guys starting on through the series here," Manuel said.
Boys of October
Once again, the Phillies' offense was led by Ryan Howard and Carlos Ruiz, who accounted for four of the team's five baserunners. Howard's solo homer off Vicente Padilla in the fourth inning was his first of the postseason and his first-ever postseason home run on the road. Ruiz, who hit a three-run homer in Game 1, went 1-for-2 with a walk and threw out Matt Kemp attempting to steal second in the fourth.
Park OK
The two warmup pitches Chan Ho Park threw under the supervision of pitching coach Rich Dubee during the eighth inning were not related to the hamstring strain that sidelined him from the middle of September to the start of the NLCS. Rather, Park said, he was testing out his pitching hand, which he had jammed into the ground while making a sprawling attempt to field Ronnie Belliard's crucial bunt single. Park deemed himself OK, and faced one more batter, getting Russell Martin to ground into a fielder's choice (second baseman Chase Utley threw wide of Ryan Howard while relaying to first for the attempted doubleplay, allowing the tying run to score).
Phillers
Two league officials said they did not anticipate that the 8:07 p.m. start time for Game 3 tomorrow would be impacted if there is a postponement of today's ALCS Game 2 in New York, where there is a chance of inclement weather . . . Vicente Padilla and Phillies lefthander Cliff Lee are the only two pitchers with two starts of seven innings or more this postseason . . . The Phillies are hitting just .197 in the first two games of the series.
