Phillies Notebook: Phillies need production from Ibanez

SAN DIEGO - Ruben Amaro Jr.'s prescription for the Phillies' offense is simple.

"Hits," the general manager said after his team improved to 15-6 despite riding a 13-game stretch in which they have failed to score more than four runs in any game.

And he is confident that manager Charlie Manuel has enough quality personnel to make those hits appear?

"Yes," he said.

One player with the ability to show Amaro's faith to be well-placed is Raul Ibanez, who spent yesterday working out in the batting cage while trying to shake a funk that has seen him hit .187 with a .265 on-base percentage and .253 slugging percentage in his first 20 games.

Last year, Manuel's patience with Ibanez was rewarded when the 38-year-old leftfielder rebounded from a disappointing first half to hit .303 with an .853 OPS, 10 home runs and 47 RBI over the last 3 months of the regular season.

So there is no reason to think that his decision to start John Mayberry Jr. against Padres lefthander Wade LeBlanc was anything other than a routine break for a struggling player. But if the Phillies are going to break free of their offensive slump, they are going to need more production behind Ryan Howard. And if that means more starts for Mayberry, who contributed an RBI double in the sixth inning yesterday, against lefthanded pitching, Manuel says he will have to consider it.

"Any time you hit, you can earn more time," the manager said.

While Manuel wants to give Ibanez - who is in the last year of a 3-year, $31.5 million contract - every opportunity to swing his way out of his funk, he has acknowledged the possibility of giving Mayberry another start tomorrow against Arizona Diamondbacks lefty Joe Saunders.

Amaro said yesterday that he does not think the key to the Phillies' offensive resurgence lies in the performance of the hitters behind slugger Ryan Howard, among them Ibanez and rightfielder Ben Francisco. Rather, he said, the most important thing is getting runners on base in front of Howard.

But heading into yesterday's game, Howard had come to the plate with a total of 77 runners on base. The average for a player with the same number of plate appearances as Howard was 53, according to Baseball-Reference.

In yesterday's victory, leadoff hitter Shane Victorino hit an inside-the-park home run - the first of his career and the first by a Phillie since Chase Utley on July 6, 2009 - and now has an .818 OPS that ranks fourth among NL leadoff hitters. Two-hole hitter Placido Polanco went 1-for-3 and is now hitting .366 on the season. Jimmy Rollins, batting third, went 1-for-3 and drew his team-leading 11th walk (he is hitting just .256).

Behind Howard, however, there has been a big dropoff. Phillies five-hole hitters have posted a .570 OPS, six-hole hitters a .665 OPS and eight-hole hitters a .622 OPS, all three of which rank them among the bottom five teams in the NL.

A hot Ibanez would go a long way toward correcting things.

"More than likely, he's in there [tonight]," Manuel said. "You try to put guys in the field who can help us win that day. I think Raul, from a mental standpoint, needed a day off."

Utility man Michael Martinez was in the starting lineup, at second base, for the first time since April 10. The 28-year-old Rule 5 pick, who entered yesterday with two singles, a walk and three strikeouts in 12 plate appearances this season, went 1-for-4 with a single . . . The Phillies have won a season-high five straight games. They have won 14 of their last 16 games against the Padres and 11 straight at Petco Park . . . Phillies pitchers are 8-3 with a 2.25 ERA over the last 11 games . . . Roy Halladay's 14 strikeouts tied a career high, first set with Toronto on June 2, 2009, against the Angels. Halladay threw 130 pitches, most in the majors this season, but will have an extra day off before his next start. He said he might cut down on his workload between starts to compensate. "If you are prepared," Halladay said, "it shouldn't affect you."