Manuel's bullpen decisions were okay last night. In the bottom of the 7th, Kennedy (LHB), Zimmerman (RHB), and Dunn (LHB) were due up. After using Contreras to pitch to Kennedy, who singled, he correctly pitched to Zimmerman, and the Phillies were lucky enough to have a strike'em out throw'em out to record the 1st and 2nd out. At this point, Manuel could have gone to Romero, but it appeared as if Contreras was pitching around Dunn anyway. He went to Madson in the 9th, and Ryan sat them down 1-2-3.
Manuel then used Lidge for the save in the 9th. What else would he do? I personally, would have left Madson in to pitch to the RHB Morse, and then used Romero to pitch to the two lefties since Lidge is absolutely terrible vs. LHPs. Manuel did this the other night vs. the DBacks, but for some reason decided not to tonight. It is very clear right now that the Phillies do not have a solid closer. Knowing that, it is a must that Manuel utilize match-ups to maximize the efficiency of his bullpen.
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