Phillies bail out Lidge, rally for win over Reds in 10 innings

CINCINNATI - You could hear it in their voices, you could see it in the decisions they made, and you most certainly could read it on the lips of Charlie Manuel as he stood forehead-to-forehead with home-plate umpire CB Bucknor and earned an early trip to the clubhouse while arguing a low called strike in an oh-so-pivotal 10th inning.

The Phillies didn't just want this one. They needed it.

As the front office organized its contingency plan in the wake of injuries to Chase Utley and Placido Polanco, the players did their best to assuage their bosses' fears, as what should have been a crushing blown save by Brad Lidge instead set the stage for a wild 10th-inning rally and a 9-6 win over the Reds last night.

"We all need to step up right now," said Lidge, who allowed a game-tying, three-run homer to Joey Votto with two outs in the ninth inning before the Phillies scored three runs off previously unhittable Arthur Rhodes to improve to 41-34. "I didn't get my job done tonight, but the team picked me up and did a great job. They bailed me out. That's the sign of really good things."

Most of the team started the day by hearing the news that its No. 2 and No. 3 hitters were headed to the disabled list - Utley with a sprained thumb and Polanco with a sore elbow.

For the time being, the Phillies will give recently recalled Greg Dobbs a look at third, perhaps mixing in Juan Castro vs. lefthanded starters, while playing utility man Wilson Valdez at second.

Depending on the eventual prognoses for Utley and Polanco - the team said it would have a better idea of both players' futures after doctor visits today - the Phillies could turn their attention toward the trade market.

"We'll see how that plays out and how they perform," said assistant general manager Scott Proefrock, "and quite frankly, we've got a bunch of good players on this team - four guys who were All-Stars last year, a couple of former MVPs, a former Cy Young Award winner, a couple of 20-game winners, a World Series MVP. The cupboard's not bare. We're still a good team."

They looked like one last night. Valdez and Brian Schneider, both of whom were part of a Mets team that drowned in an ocean of injuries to their regulars last season, each hit a three-run homer to give the Phillies a 6-1 lead after four innings. Valdez, who entered the season with one home run in 342 career at-bats, hit his third home run in eight games and finished with a career-high four RBI. Schneider, filling in for injured catcher Carlos Ruiz, set a season high with three RBI, all of them coming on his second-inning home run.

"If it's not said, we're all definitely thinking it - those guys are irreplaceable and we've got to have guys pick each other up," Schneider said.

With a resurgent Joe Blanton holding the Reds to three runs in 7 2/3 innings - he has a 3.80 ERA in his last three starts after going 1-5 with a 7.28 ERA in his first eight of the season - the Phillies looked poised to seize an easy win and pull to within 2 1/2 games of the Braves in the NL East.

But after retiring the first two hitters he faced in the ninth, Lidge threw sliders on 11 of his final 14 pitches, resulting in a walk to Brandon Phillips, a single to Orlando Cabrera and Votto's game-tying homer.

"Obviously, it's been a big pitch for me, but for whatever reason this year we've been using it too much," said Lidge, who has two blown saves in seven chances. "It kind of ruins an element of having a slider if you're always throwing it."

His lineup bailed him out, thanks in large part to Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez, both of whom doubled off Rhodes, a lefty who entered the night having thrown 30 straight scoreless innings.

Ibanez' double - which came one pitch after Manuel was ejected for arguing what he thought was a ball - broke the game open, sparking a three-run rally that included an RBI on a squeeze bunt by Valdez.

Lefthander J.A. Happ (strained elbow) allowed two runs in four innings while throwing 100 pitches in a rehab start for Triple A Lehigh Valley, his fifth since going on the DL . . . Reds third baseman Scott Rolen had the night off . . . After Charlie Manuel ripped into CB Bucknor, the umpire motioned to his head as if to say the brim of Manuel's hat struck him in the forehead during the argument. Did it? "I don't know," Manuel said . . . Ryan Howard's double off Arthur Rhodes was his first hit in four career at-bats against the veteran, who entered the night having allowed six hits in 40 at-bats against lefties.