Phillies Notes: Sore hamstring shelves Phillies' Victorino

ATLANTA - Before Saturday's game, Phillies centerfielder Shane Victorino felt some soreness in his back and hip but thought nothing of it. Then, when he tried to beat out a grounder in the seventh inning of a 5-3 loss to the Braves, he felt pain in his right hamstring.

"I'm assuming they're all related," Victorino said.

After playing a half-inning in center field following the hamstring tweak, Victorino asked to come out of the game in the eighth inning. He won't play Sunday and could need at least a few days beyond that to heal.

He's just the latest Phillie to succumb to injury. Victorino did not think he would need to go on the disabled list, but that remains to be seen.

"It's sore," Victorino said. "I don't think it's that bad."

He said that he hasn't had significant hamstring issues before and that this was the most soreness he has felt there. When he tried to run in the field, he felt too much pain.

While Victorino is out, the Phillies have a few options in center. John Mayberry Jr. replaced Victorino on Saturday and is a natural centerfielder, having played that position frequently in college. Ben Francisco also has experience in center, as does Michael Martinez.

The 0-for-3 day snapped a 15-game hitting streak for Victorino. Another hit would have tied a career-high streak.

But the injury trumped all other disappointment.

"Rest a couple of days is my gut feeling," Victorino said. "Hopefully, I'll feel better tomorrow."

Initially withheld from play at triple-A Lehigh Valley because of a jammed thumb, Domonic Brown could miss a week with what now is diagnosed as a sprained ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb.

Brown injured the thumb on a dive for a ball in right field during Wednesday's game. The team expects him to miss five to seven days from the initial date of the injury.

The Phillies sent Brown to the minors after a broken hamate bone cost him most of spring training; they said he needed more at-bats. Injuries - a strained quadriceps last September, the hamate bone in the spring, and now the thumb - have slowed Brown's progress.

The clamor for the Phillies to promote the 23-year-old prospect is growing because of Ben Francisco's lack of production. After an 0-for-4 day, Francisco is 3 for 32 (.094) in May. His last extra-base hit was April 27.

But the leash on Francisco could be longer because Brown has yet to show he can stay on the field and be productive for a few weeks at a time since the middle of last season.

Manuel planned for Carlos Ruiz to have the day off Saturday after catching the night game Friday in his return from the disabled list. It allowed him to pinch-hit in the eighth inning; he was hit by a pitch.

Ruiz remains hitless in his last 26 at-bats. His last hit was exactly a month ago, a double off Florida righthander Javier Vazquez on April 15.

The Phillies lost their first day game of the season after winning 10. . . . Chase Utley took a scheduled day off Saturday and will play again for single-A Clearwater in Bradenton, Fla., on Sunday. Utley could play nine innings in the field, something he has yet to do. . . . Ryan Howard's three-run home run Friday gave him 152 first-inning RBIs since 2006, 16 more than any other player in the majors, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. David Wright is next with 136.