Phillies Notes: Phils' Manuel seizes chance to use bullpen

WASHINGTON - At 88 pitches after seven innings, Roy Halladay could have kept going. But the Phillies led, 11-1, and manager Charlie Manuel saw an opportunity to ease his young bullpen into the regular season.

"I think it was a good time to get some of our bullpen guys in the game, because they're young and they need experience," Manuel said.

First, he called for lefthander Antonio Bastardo. He faced four batters - three lefties - and allowed two of the lefties to reach base. It's still a work in progress for Bastardo, the only lefthander in the Phillies' bullpen.

"I wanted to get him in the game and get him out there," Manuel said. "I felt like the lefties were lined up pretty good. It was a good situation for him."

Bastardo allowed a leadoff double to lefty Nyjer Morgan. He got Willie Harris to fly out, and struck out Ryan Zimmerman, but then walked Adam Dunn on four pitches. At that point, Manuel came out with the hook and went with Danys Baez to end the inning.

Bastardo had an up-and-down spring, struggling against lefties at times. And when the Phillies don't have a 10-run lead and need Bastardo, it could be for only one batter. Morgan hit his double on the second pitch of the at-bat.

In the ninth, Manuel turned to Rule 5 pick David Herndon. He allowed a double to Ivan Rodriguez and a single to Mike Morse, but came back to strike out Cristian Guzman looking and induced a grounder to short by Willy Taveras to end the game.

"He did a good job," Manuel said.

Commissioner Bud Selig, in a brief meeting with reporters, said the popularity of baseball has never been higher - even with the current economic problems the country faces.

"A year ago, I had a lot of trepidation," Selig said. "We're in the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. I went back and looked at attendance numbers. Of course, we wound up last year having a marvelous year. . . . I feel good about where we are this year. I really do. The sport has never been more popular."

Selig, who attended Monday's game, also said the special committee for on-field matters has more potential changes for the coming postseason, but not for this season. And the committee is currently leaning toward not expanding instant replay.

The commissioner also praised Phillies fans. He said he was on the field with President Obama and Nationals owner Ted Lerner before the game when he first heard the "Let's go Phillies" chants.

"There's enormous interest, obviously, in Philadelphia and the fact that people travel as much as they do now," Selig said. "You've never seen intensity like this. I don't know if a third of this crowd is from Philly. It's hard to tell. But they bused and drove from Philly and it's only a testament to this game's popularity."

The victory was the first for the Phillies on opening day since April 4, 2005, also against Washington. . . . Ryan Howard's two-run home run in the fourth inning tied him with Greg Luzinski for fifth place on the franchise's all-time list (223). . . . Hitting coach Milt Thompson coached first base in the absence of Davey Lopes, who has left the team following the death of his brother in a house fire. Manuel said he expects Lopes to miss the entire six-game road trip. . . . The Phillies have baseball's fourth-highest payroll at $141.9 million, according to USA Today. They trail only the Yankees, Red Sox, and Cubs.