Maybe it’s time to give Charlie Manuel some credit.

The Phils manager gets a lot of heat in this town for some of his moves, his down-home disposition and verbiage, and his understanding – or as some complain his lack of -- of some of the subtleties of baseball such as the double-switch.

But “Uncle Charlie” seems to be pushing all the right buttons now.

Everyone was panicking over another slow start for Ryan Howard. Manuel didn’t. He just let Howard play. The slugger went long again last night, belting home run number 13 in the Phils’ 7-5 win.

But that was not Manuel’s real magic last night. He also decided to sit Pat Burrell, who had just endured an oh-fer in the Phils’ recent stop in the nation’s capital.

Manuel thought maybe a day off might clear Burrell’s head a bit. But he called on the left-fielder to pinch-hit in the eighth. Burrell didn’t disappoint his boss. He belted the game-winning homer to power the Phils to their third straight win.

Charlie Manuel, baseball genius. Who’d a thunk it?