Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.You Oughta Know ...
That Brad Lidge has come back to Earth with a thud this season. On Saturday Lidge gave up a game-tying homer to Rafael Furcal in the ninth, despite the leaping effort of Jayson Werth, right. It was Lidge's second blown save in two days. After being perfect in converting saves to help the Phillies to the World Series title last year, Lidge now has six blown saves, three losses and a 7.27 ERA.
The nature of a closer's job is that a few bad breaks or bad pitches are magnified, but Lidge isn't simply shrugging off this season's struggles.
"The results are starting to frustrate me," Lidge said. "It just seems to be one thing. Tonight, it was the slider he hit. I don't know. I feel good, but I know something needs to change in terms of results. You've just got to get it done, and right now for whatever reason, it's not happening."Phillies manager Charlie Manuel added a vote of confidence for Lidge: "He'll always be my guy."
