Manuel: Phillies are 'slowly going down'

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO
Published May 15, 2005

The firing of fiery, combative manager Larry Bowa was supposed to make all the difference for the underachieving Phillies. But the low-key, cerebral approach of Charlie Manuel is falling just as flat.

The team many believed was ready to wrest the NL East crown from the Braves is last.

"We're slowly falling," Manuel told Philadelphia reporters. "We're slowly going down. We definitely need to do something to get us going and back in the right direction.

"I'll talk with my coaches. I'll talk with whoever. I think it's time for me to just sit down and talk about our club. I'm not sending a message. I just want to sit down and talk to them about it."

There is a lot to discuss, particularly that the offense stinks.

Entering Saturday, Philadelphia had scored three or fewer runs in 17 of its 37 games. It had been shut out or scored one run seven times.

Its .253 average and 155 runs were 12th in the 16-team league and its 35 home runs were tied for ninth. This from a team that on paper looks like it should score a ton.

"We're scoring two, three, four runs a game," Manuel said. "To be a winning team, we have to consistently score five or six. We're having trouble knocking in guys that are in scoring position."

Three things to consider:

Slugging first baseman Jim Thome hit just one home run in 24 games before going on the disabled list with back problems.

The team is way too dependent on scoring via the long ball. In a four-game stretch that ended Wednesday, home runs accounted for 11 of its 12 runs. Leadoff hitter Jimmy Rollins' on-base percentage was .282.

Manuel was not specific on what he might do to shake things up. He does know one thing, though: "We can't finish last in the league in hitting. I'm supposed to be a good hitting guy, aren't I?"

GIVE HIM A BREAK: Devil Rays manager Lou Piniella, trying to win while at the same time developing a young and inexperienced team, had much empathy for Tony Pena, who on Tuesday resigned as Royals skipper.

"Winning and developing at the same time is not an easy thing to do, and very few teams have success doing it," Piniella said. "Experience usually wins. You can have some young players on a team but, boy, when a lot of your nucleus is young, it becomes very, very tough."

Piniella said he has learned some lessons the past two-plus seasons. The first is not to always judge progress by wins and losses.

"One thing you can't do as a manager is put the blame squarely on yourself," he said. "You can only do so much. As long as the team is out there playing hard, doing the best they can, you've got to be satisfied with that."

Not always easy.

"The losing really wears down on managers," Piniella said. "It keeps you awake a lot and thinking a lot. I respect Tony. I know he did the best he possibly could. Sometimes it just doesn't work out. It's out of your control."

WINNING WILLIS: The Marlins have never had a 20-game winner, but it looks like Dontrell Willis is going to change that. At 7-0, he is off to the second-best start in club history after Livan Hernandez's 9-0 blastoff in 1997.

"I've never had anybody pitch this well in his first seven starts," pitching coach Mark Wiley told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. "He's been terrific."

And durable. Willis struck out Houston's Mike Lamb on three straight fastballs for Wednesday's final out. The last of his 110 pitches was 94 mph.

LIGHTER SIDE: San Diego's Ryan Klesko was thrown out at home in the 12th inning of Monday's game with the Reds after running through the stop sign of third-base coach Rob Picciolo. Why? Klesko's back hurt.

"It doesn't bother me when I'm hitting but every time my foot hits the ground it jams upon me," he said. "If my back was fine I would have stopped. But I would have been a dead duck trying to stop at that point."

The Phillies beat the Cubs on May 6 because, with the bases loaded, reliever LaTroy Hawkins caught a line drive and bounced a throw off the helmet of runner Jose Offerman, whom Hawkins was trying to double off first. The ball ricocheted into the stands and two runners scored. "That's what I call using your head," Manuel said.

SAYING GOODBYE: Catcher Benito Santiago, 40, was released May 8 by the Pirates. The 20-year veteran was a career .263 hitter with 217 homers and 920 RBIs in 1,978 games. The 1987 NL rookie of the year played in five All-Star Games and won three Gold Gloves.

ET CETERA: Ryan Dempster, who replaced Hawkins as Cubs closer, wore a wig during interviews with reporters. Said manager Dusty Baker: "Most of the guys I knew who were closers were a little crazy on the side." ... In three starts after starting the season 4-0, Seattle's Jamie Moyer lost three and allowed 17 runs and 27 hits in 82/3 innings. ... When the Brewers went 9-3 on a recent homestand, it was the first time they won that many at home since 1992. On the same homestand, Milwaukee allowed 26 home runs.

Information from other news organizations as used in this report.

[Last modified May 15, 2005, 01:21:24]