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Morning Wood is a hard news roundup for your Philadelphia Phillies. Good or bad, it will show up every morning.

The Phillies lost, 2-1, in extras. Photo gallery… hither.

Charlie Manuel defended the decision to keep Rule 5 Michael Martinez on the roster. Chuck said he wants to give Chase periodic rest (even if it's late in games), and M-Mart (might as well give him a nickname now since he's here to stay) allows them to do that. Scott Proefrock also said that the Phillies wanted to give Mayberry consistent at-bats in triple-A.

Both Brian Schneider and Brad Lidge suffered minor setbacks in their rehab. Schneider tweaked his leg while running the bases in extended spring training. His return will be further delayed. Brad Lidge felt shoulder soreness after throwing in an extended spring training game. That is not uncommon, given the fact this is the first time he has thrown a lot since early in spring training.

Charlie Manuel remains confident about the lineup: [Delco Times]

“I think that lineup is going to hit. That lineup has to hit,” Manuel said. “I’ve got confidence in those guys hitting, I’ve seen them four or five, some of them six and seven years. I see no reason why they won’t hit. We can get started any time we want to, though. That’s how I look at.”

 

Of course, they haven't hit in, like, two years. It should be noted that last night was only the 16th time since the beginning of last year that the Phillies have had their entire lineup together. They have been the best team in baseball during that timeframe.

After playing left field for much of the season at single-A, Phillies top prospect Jonathan Singleton will move back to first base.

The Phillies will look for 65-70 pitches out of Kyle Kendrick today.

The Mets lost their sixth straight home game when leading in the seventh inning or later. Amazing.