FanHouse Phillies

Voters "turned out" online in record-shattering numbers to help send Phillies outfielder Shane Victorino and Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge to next Tuesday's All-Star Game in St. Louis in the fans' final vote.

Voting was done exclusively on MLB.com and the number of votes cast was astonishing. For both the American and National League teams, the fans cast 68.6 million votes to send first-time All-Stars, in Inge and Victorino, to play in the 80th All-Star Game.

Inge outlasted Ian Kinsler, who finished the close race in second place ahead of Chone Figgins, Carlos Pena and Adam Lind.

Victorino finished just ahead of Pablo Sandoval, Mark Reynolds, Matt Kemp and Cristian Guzmanto to earn his place on the National League squad.

The Phillies may not wait to see if they can trade for Roy Halladay before helping their ailing rotation.

Pedro Martinez told The Associated Press his agent is negotiating with Philadelphia for his return to the majors, and the agent, Fern Cuza, told the Philadelphia Daily News, "There is interest on both sides."

"The Phillies saw me this past Tuesday in a simulated game and I felt very good with my fastball and all my pitches," Martinez said Thursday.

Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. denied reports a deal was done, but confirmed the team's interest in the three-time AL Cy Young Award winner.

"He has not been signed," Amaro said before the NL East-leading Phillies played Cincinnati on Thursday night. "We've seen him pitch. He's not in town."

Is Lenny Dykstra the personification of the American economy?

A little more than a year ago Dykstra was being profiled in the New Yorker, sharing his stock-picking wizardry with Jim Cramer's acolytes and generally being regarded as a financial whiz whose business acumen was hidden behind a tobacco-chewing exterior. But just as our economic system wasn't as healthy as it appeared in the best of times, Dykstra's finances weren't quite as good as they appeared on the outside.

The stories went from glowing to accusatory, lawsuits and debtors started to line up at the gates and, finally, Dykstra filed for bankruptcy in California.

Because of the many factors involved in a possible trade of Roy Halladay, it's "50-50 they trade him, maybe less," a person familiar with the Blue Jays front office told FanHouse.

Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi has said he will listen to offers for Halladay, his ace right-hander. But because Halladay is signed through 2010, any trade partner must have a deep farm system, the payroll flexibility to afford Halladay and expectations to contend this year and next.

Another source familiar with the issue said he believed the "Phillies are the leaders at this point."

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Phillies' record book needs editing.

In Monday's 22-1 home rout of Cincinnati, Philadelphia:

• Set a modern (post-1900) franchise mark for margin of victory;

• Tied the team record with 10 first-inning runs that included three homers;

• And scored its most runs ever at Citizens Bank Park and most as a franchise since June 1985.

It was also the worst loss in Reds history, breaking a record set on July 26, 1892 – during the Benjamin Harrison administration.

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SAN FRANCISCO -- Pablo Sandoval and Shane Victorino are taking this campaigning thing seriously.

A day after Sandoval and Victorino found themselves among five players competing for fan votes to sneak into the final spot on the NL All-Star team, Sandoval hit a grand slam and Victorino had four hits, four RBI and four runs in the Phillies' dismantling of the Reds.

"I don't think you could ask for a better game than that," Giants starter Matt Cain said of Sandoval, who drove in four of the runs in a 5-4 victory on Monday night. "I think everybody in the United States ought to know who is he is now."

The All-Star Game will be played in St. Louis next week, but for a lot of baseball fans the game itself is secondary to some of the other events that take place during the break. The main attraction for many fans is the Home Run Derby, which will take place the Monday night before the game.

Today it was announced who the four sluggers representing the senior circuit will be and there's definitely a theme to the National League's "roster." All four participants are power-hitting first baseman from around the league. Albert Pujols, Prince Fielder, Adrian Gonzalez and Ryan Howard will all put on what should be a rather entertaining show.

The American League will announce its participants later.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That the Phillies calmed a lot of nerves this weekend. The reigning world champs haven't looked quite like themselves for most of the season, but they had plenty of reason to be optimistic after completing a three-game sweep of the Mets Sunday.

Philadelphia entered the series with a 13-22 record at Citizens Bank Park, but won three straight at home against a hated rival. That wasn't the only positive sign. Jimmy Rollins, who has been slumping all season, belted a leadoff homer against New York ace Johan Santana in the 2-0 sweep-clinching win and Brad Lidge, who has blown six saves this year, struck out the side to lock up the victory.

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Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.

A week ago Sunday night, Mariano Rivera earned his 500th save. Which should make us realize a few things about closers:

• The truly great ones are the those who can sustain it for a long time. Getting 40 saves a year for 12 years would still leave one short of 500.

• Even getting to the second tier isn't easy. Only 18 players have had as many as six 30-save seasons: Rivera, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith, Billy Wagner, Troy Percival, John Wetteland, Dennis Eckersley, John Franco, Jason Isringhausen, Robb Nen, Jeff Reardon, Todd Jones, Jose Mesa, Roberto Hernandez, Randy Myers, Rick Aguilera, Tom Henke and Todd Worrell.

In other words, the shelf life for a typical closer is a short one. They can burst onto the scene – and flame out quickly (right, Mr. Gagne?)

• But it also means that teams can find short-term solutions for the ninth inning any number of ways.

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That reigning NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum is actually better this year, which makes it seem like a long time ago that we wondered how he'd top his 2008 season. Lincecum has erased all memory of that slow start by stringing together 23 consecutive scoreless innings, including seven against the Astros on Saturday.

Lincecum is now 9-2 with a 2.23 ERA, lower than last year's 2.64 ERA. He's looking like a strong candidate to start the All-Star Game in St. Louis, which would be a nice way of making up for last year. Lincecum was picked to go to the game in New York, but he was too sick to attend.

"It would mean a lot -- the hard work paid off," said Lincecum. "If I do happen to start, it will make up for the fact I didn't even make it to the field last year."

As a team, the Giants have now pitched two shutouts in a row for the second time in a week. Previously, they hadn't done it since 2002.

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