So it must have been an interesting day in Washington.

I was back in good 'ol Philadelphia, a rare off-day in between cities on a road trip.

But I watched most of Tuesday night's game - does every home run HAVE to be a solo home run? - and I didn't miss the ending. You may have been watching it with your hands over your eyes like a teenager watching "Halloween."

Brad Lidge, who leads all of baseball with 10 blown saves, came frighteningly close to picking up No.11. And then something somewhat shocking happened - Charlie Manuel, who has stuck by Lidge all season, pulled the plug and summoned Ryan Madson in with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 9th, with his team clinging to a two-run lead.

Madson was pretty impressive, striking out Ryan Zimmerman and getting Adam Dunn to ground out to end the game.


So, um.... who's the closer??



Here is a sampling of what Manuel said Tuesday:


Whether his season long "he is the closer" mantra is still in play: "When I say he's my closer, I don't tell lies, and I don't like to go back on nothing. But the team and the game is bigger than my heart and is bigger than anything else, if you want to know the truth. Winning a game, that's why I manage and that's what comes first, and it was real tough for me to do."


On pulling Lidge Tuesday night: "I have the all the respect in the world for Brad. I know how good of a closer he is and how great he can be, and I still have the confidence in the world, but as I was sitting there I didn't have a very good feel about the game and I made up my mind I wanted to try Madson."


On whether Lidge would close in a save situation Wednesday: "He could definitely be," Manuel said. "I'm definitely not going to get away from him. We're going to work with him and get him back to where he can get consistent and go out there and save games. I'm not saying that he'll close tomorrow, the next day or whatever, but I look at him as a closer. I don't look at him as a seventh-inning guy; I don't look at him as an eighth-inning guy."