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Phillies Notes: Rightfielder Hunter Pence day-to-day with sore left shoulder

Hunter Pence is hitless in his last 15 at-bats, but that is not why he finds himself on the bench Monday. Pence is sidelined by a left shoulder injury suffered Sunday when he dove for a ball that skipped past him for a triple.

The Phillies do not yet know the severity of Hunter Pence's shoulder injury. (Michael Bryant/Staff file photo)
The Phillies do not yet know the severity of Hunter Pence's shoulder injury. (Michael Bryant/Staff file photo)Read more

PHOENIX - Hunter Pence is hitless in his last 15 at-bats, but that is not why he found himself on the bench Monday. Pence was sidelined by a sore left shoulder apparently caused by his diving for the ball on Sunday.

Pence is day-to-day, Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said, but he made that statement before a doctor saw Pence. That was scheduled to happen before Monday's series opener against Arizona.

"He felt like he couldn't play," manager Charlie Manuel said.

Pence said he was waiting for the diagnosis before doing any activity.

"I felt it after it happened, but I had adrenaline going," Pence said. "Until this morning when I woke up, I didn't have the mobility that you need. I want to try to do more, but they don't want me to. Hopefully, it's not a big deal."

Initially, Manuel said Pence had told the training staff "something about hitting the fence," which was in reference to a play a week ago in San Francisco. But Pence and Amaro maintained that the injury occurred Sunday.

Pence dove for a ball hit by Nick Hundley in the third inning of Sunday's 6-1 loss to the San Diego Padres instead of trying to keep it in front of him. He could not make the catch, and it rolled past him for a run-scoring triple. Hundley also scored later as a result of landing on third.

The numbers suggest Pence could have been playing recently through an injury. He is just 3 for 23 (.130) with one extra-base hit since hitting the wall in San Francisco.

Pence made five outs with four swings Sunday, failed to hit the ball to the right side with a runner on third, and made two poor defensive plays. But he remains Manuel's most potent power threat in a lineup almost devoid of pop.

Manuel started John Mayberry Jr. in right field and challenged the 28-year-old to start producing. Mayberry had struck out in 13 of his 40 at-bats before Monday.

"He's got to get going," Manuel said. "He's got to get some hits. We've got to win the game. . . . We need to win the game more than he needs at-bats. It's not about one guy. It's about 25 guys.

"How do you get to play? Play good."

Extra bases

Ryan Howard saw a wound specialist at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital on Monday afternoon, but Amaro said he had yet to receive results of the examination. . . . Cliff Lee (strained left side) played catch with Rich Dubee before Monday's game and smiled. "He threw fine," Dubee said. The pitching coach believes that Lee will not need a rehabilitation game if he is absent for the minimum 15 days. . . . The Phillies released Joe Thurston and assigned Mike Fontenot to triple-A Lehigh Valley. Fontenot, recently signed as a minor-league free agent, spent a week at extended spring training.