Phillies Notebook: Contreras shows Phillies he has a closer's stuff and mentality

SAN DIEGO - Walking back to home plate, Carlos Ruiz had a change of heart. Moments before, he and Phillies closer Jose Contreras had chatted on the mound about how to pitch Brewers superstar Ryan Braun, and the decision was mutual.

"We need to pound him inside real good," Ruiz said yesterday as he recalled the situation, which came with the tying run on first base and two outs in the ninth inning of Wednesday's 4-3 win at Citizens Bank Park. "If we hit him, we hit him."

But as he strode through grass between the mound and the plate, Ruiz started thinking about what might happen if Contreras missed his spot. Flashing through his mind was the image of a fastball catching too much of the strike zone and Braun driving it to leftfield. And so Ruiz audibled. Instead of calling for a fastball, he flashed a sign for a slider, and Contreras unleashed a wicked one: 90 miles an hour, low in the zone, prompting a big swing-and-miss from Braun.

Ruiz smiled yesterday when recalling the sight of Braun's bat flashing through the zone and hitting nothing but air. The at-bat would last five more pitches, but in Ruiz' mind, it already had been decided.

"He thought, 'Now I have to worry about the slider,' " Ruiz said.

Contreras unleashed another slider, then two straight sinkers, all of them for balls. With the count 3-1, Braun fouled off another sinker, which set up the clincher: a four-seamer up in the zone. Contreras let it fly at 95 mph, and Braun could not catch up, swinging and missing to end the game and clinch Contreras' fourth save.

It is sequences like this that underscore the unique weapon the Phillies have decided to put on the mound at the end of close games. The two players who preceded Contreras as closer at various points over the previous three seasons - Brad Lidge and Ryan Madson - both rely on an arsenal that consists of two main pitches. Lidge throws a fastball and slider. And while Madson occasionally mixes in a cutter and a curveball, his bread-and-butter is his fastball/changeup combination.

Contreras, on the other hand, complements his two-seamer and four-seamer with a splitter and a slider, either of which can be unhittable on a given day.

"He has three pitches that are out pitches," manager Charlie Manuel said yesterday, prior to the first game of a four-game series against the Padres.

Thus far, the Phillies' decision to use Contreras to fill in for the injured Lidge has paid dividends. While the move came as a surprise to some people - Madson had served as the backup closer in the past - Contreras has converted all five of his save opportunities, allowing two hits and four walks with five strikeouts in five scoreless innings. That includes last night's ninth inning, when he allowed a hit and a walk but preserved a 3-0 victory over the Padres.

Dating to last season, when he spent a short stint as closer with Lidge and Madson both on the disabled list, Contreras has converted eight consecutive saves, with 11 strikeouts, four walks and four hits in 7 scoreless innings. The veteran righthander hasn't been at his sharpest, averaging 4.15 pitches per plate appearances while throwing just 56 percent of his pitches for strikes. But Ruiz thinks Contreras will only get better as a closer.

"You can see it in his face," Ruiz said. "He's ready to get people out."

Phillies reliever Danys Baez, who saved 96 games for the Indians and Devil Rays from 2003-05, said that look is the most important part of closing games. Being able to control the adrenaline that comes with being the last man standing before victory is a skill that comes easily to Contreras, who was teammates with Baez on the national team in Cuba before both defected.

"He's pitched before in really tough games through his life," Baez said. "That guy is a two-time Olympic champion, four-time world champion. He's been around a lot of pressure and in really short-term tournaments where one game means everything."

Now, it's one inning that means everything. Thus far, Contreras has thrived. *