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Rockies closer Street knows how Lidge feels

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Tracy Ringolsby

Tracy Ringolsby is a Hall of Fame baseball writer. He is in his 36th year covering Major League Baseball, is a co-founder of Baseball America, and is in his third year as pregame and postgame analyst for Colorado Rockies games on Root Sports.

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Updated Oct 9, 2009 12:28 PM ET
     
 

DENVER

Colorado Rockies closer Huston Street can empathize with struggling Philadelphia reliever Brad Lidge. Street's been there, and he survived it. He found a new life in Colorado this season. And he knows that Lidge is going to survive, too. "Brad Lidge put together one of the most impressive seasons in the history of baseball,'' Street said of a 2008 season in which Lidge was 48-for-48 in save situations, including a perfect seven in the postseason to help the Phillies claim a world championship. "This year? You are going to have rough years. This is a tough league. He's having one of those tough years, but he's not going to complain. He's not going to make excuses.'' It is the closer mantra. They don't blink. But they are human. They have feelings and there's no question that Lidge's pride is hurting. From the perfection of a year ago he has fallen. He has converted only 31 of 42 saves. He has allowed 111 baserunners in 58⅔ innings. He gave up a career-high 11 home runs. And he has found himself in limbo, along with the rest of the Phillies postseason bullpen. He allowed runs in 30 of 67 regular-season appearances, allowing multiple runs 13 times. How big a mess? A big enough mess that it continues to overshadow everything the Phillies have done in splitting the first two games of this best-of-5 NL Division Series that resumes at Coors Field on Saturday night. So big that 16 innings into the series, Phillies manager Charlie Manuel had used four pitchers — his four primary starters. Cliff Lee pitched a complete game in a 5-1 Game 1 victory. Cole Hamels suffered the 5-4 loss in Game 2. The first two men out of the bullpen were potential Game 3 and 4 starters Joe Blanton and J.A. Happ, who left after taking a line drive off his left shin one batter into his postseason debut. And where does Lidge fit into all of this? The middle, because he's supposed to be the guy who has the final say in every potential Phillies win. With the uncertainty of Lidge, manager Charlie Manuel has become so desperate that he is using his starting pitchers in relief roles ahead of their projected starts, and has said he's going to have to go by feel in deciding who will get the call with a lead to protect in the final inning. A year ago, it was a no-brainer. Manuel would walk to the mound in the ninth, hold up his right hand, and without hesitation Lidge would jog in to finish off a win. He was so good in his first year with the Phillies that he was signed to a three-year, $37.5 million deal that runs through 2011 with an option on 2012. And then came 2009. He converted his first three saves, but also allowed four runs in six innings in six appearances that includes those saves. He then converted only five of his next nine, and the Phillies faithful began to squirm. By the end of the first week of June, Lidge admitted his left knee was a problem. Now he says the knee is fine, but is it? "He might tell people he is 100 percent, but I have seen Brad Lidge 100 percent and he has not been that Brad Lidge this year,'' said Street. "That's a credit to him. He's not looking for excuses or alibis. He's taking responsibility for what he does. "You're never going to be 100 percent this time of year. He knows that. But you try and work through it. And when you tell (the ballclub) you can take the ball then it doesn't matter what's wrong. You are supposed to do your job. That's what your teammates are counting on. And when you don't do it, it hurts. It's not because you didn't do the job. It's because you didn't get the job done for all those other guys.'' Street went through that in Oakland. The 2005 AL Rookie of the year, who earned a career-best 37 saves in 2006, hit hard times a year ago with the A's. Oakland manager Bob Geren didn't have as much patience with him as the Phillies have had with Lidge. By Aug. 5, Street not only was taken out of the closer role, but five days later he was called on to pitch in the fifth inning, the earliest call he has received in his career. It was only the fifth time he had been called into a game before the seventh. By season's end there were whispers of arm problems. Street, however, said his problem was a strained leg muscle that hindered his delivery. The Rockies believed him. They traded Matt Holliday to the A's for a package that include Street, outfielder Carlos Gonzalez and lefty Greg Smith, who battled injuries this year. Given the fresh start in Colorado, Street has reaffirmed his spot among elite closers. He has converted 35 of 37 saves — 15 of 16 at home and 20 of 21 on the road. He allowed 58 baserunners in 61⅔ innings during the regular season. And then he got the final three outs in the Rockies' 5-4 Game 2 victory at Citizens Bank Park, evening the best-of-5 series at one victory apiece. And it was in that game, while Street stood on the mound focused on getting the final outs, and a sellout crowd tried to be a distraction with its screaming and waving of white flags that Lidge at least got a chance to warm up. Manuel gave him the call when the tying run got to second base in the ninth inning, wanting him ready in case the Phillies tied the game. They didn't. While Lidge and his Phillies teammates watched, Street and his Rockies teammates celebrated. "What you know is that he knows what it takes to close out the game,'' said Street, "and you know he wants to be there. He wants to be the guy who gets that final out.'' Street knows all about it. He has been there. He has done that.
Tagged: Matt Holliday, Rockies, Cliff Lee, Carlos Gonzalez, J.A. Happ, Huston Street, Joe Blanton, Cole Hamels, Phillies, Brad Lidge, Cardinals

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