Phillies Notebook: Lindblom logs first career save

JOSH LINDBLOM might as well have been back on West Coast time Friday night. He was up until 3:30 a.m. local time, trying to figure out what wasn't clicking, talking to his wife, his parents and even an old coach with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Earlier in the night, Lindblom was the first of four Phillies relievers who pitched in the eighth inning against the Nationals. Lindblom faced only one batter; he walked Ryan Zimmerman on five pitches.

"Our bullpen coach in LA [Ken Howell] called me and said I didn't look like the same guy on the mound," Lindblom said Sunday.

The 25-year-old righthander took the observation to heart.

With closer Jonathan Papelbon unavailable after pitching in each of the last three games and with the rest of the bullpen getting regular work over the last week, too, Lindblom gave everyone a rest on Sunday and got himself on track, too. He entered in the eighth inning and recorded a five-out save to help the Phillies nail down a 4-1 win over Washington.

Lindblom retired all five batters he faced, three via strikeout.

"Just to be able to come out and get that battle mentality, that attack mentality, coming right after these guys," Lindblom said of his adjustments. "I've faced all these guys before in my career. It's just really about making pitches and executing, no matter what uniform you're in."

In his first 10 appearances since coming to the Phils from the Dodgers in the Shane Victorino trade, Lindblom had a 7.88 ERA. He had given up three home runs and had been scored on in four of his 10 games.

In his first 48 games of the season with Los Angeles, Lindblom had a 3.02 ERA and hadn't allowed a run in 12 of his last 15 outings.

Following his first career save on Sunday, Lindblom said adjusting to a new environment "was tougher that I made it out to be."

"I think that I was kind of pressing a little bit this first month," Lindblom said. "It's only one good outing. Now it's time to have that consistent approach like I did and take that out each time."

The Phils' young bullpen as a whole had a successful weekend in a sweep of the first-place Nationals. In 6 1/3 shutout innings, the relief corps held Washington to three hits while striking out 13 and walking one.

Lindblom was responsible for the one walk, and he went right to work afterward to ensure it wouldn't happen the next time out.

After starting 24 straight games, Domonic Brown has been out of the lineup in the last two games with a sore left knee.

Brown apparently suffered the injury while sliding into home plate in the eighth inning of the Phillies' 11-inning win Thursday over Cincinnati. Brown, who turns 25 next week, has been embattled with injuries in the last three seasons, including missing time with a right knee injury at Triple A Lehigh Valley this season.

Brown doesn't consider the current ailment to be a serious one and expects to be back in the lineup when the Phils return to action Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park against the New York Mets.

"One day definitely makes a difference in baseball," Brown said of getting an additional day off after Saturday. "It's never a bad thing to get a day."

Three days after being optioned to Triple A Lehigh Valley, righthander Michael Schwimer had not reported following the IronPigs game on Sunday. According to a CSNPhilly.com report, Schwimer was seeking a second opinion concerning what he believes is an arm injury. On Friday, Phils assistant general manager Scott Proefrock said the club wasn't commenting on Schwimer's situation . . . Jimmy Rollins went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI on Sunday. He's hitting .391 (9-for-23) with a home run, three doubles and seven RBI since snapping out of an 0-for-20 slump on Tuesday . . . Juan Pierre's stolen base in the fifth inning was the 586th of his career, tying him with Maury Wills for 19th all-time. Pierre is 32-for-37 in steal attempts this season.