Hittin' hurlers

Pedro Martinez pitched poorly yesterday, but he had a good day at the plate. He struck out in his first appearance, but that was after he ran the count to 3-0, prompting Jerry Manuel to embarrass Oliver Perez by removing him in the middle of an at-bat against a pitcher.

In Pedro's next appearance, he singled in a run with the bases loaded. He added a sacrifice in his last appearance.

Several times over the past few days, I've noted how well things have been going for the Phillies, but this is getting ridiculous. Even their pitchers are hitting well. Over the past six games, Phils pitchers have gone 7-19 (.368), raising their season batting average to .138.

That doesn't seem like much, but this could turn out to be the second-best hitting season for Phillies pitchers since Charlie Manuel took over in 2005. Currently, they're hitting .138/.198/.182. That .380 OPS ranks second to 2007, when the Phillies pitchers posted a line of .155/.202./.185 (.387 OPS). That was a marked improvement over 2006 when they posted a .260 OPS.

Ironically, the year before hitting guru Cholly took over as manger, the Phillies had a fairly respectable season, going .165/.198/.241 with an almost passable .439 OPS.

Maybe pitchers just preferred hitting for Larry Bowa.

Or, perhaps, it's all the new guy. Cliff Lee, despite going 0-2 this afternoon, is out-hitting his opponents .313 to .175 after today's game, a 6-2 win over the Mets. He went seven innings, giving up both unearned runs on six hits with five strikeouts. Brad Lidge closed it out without incident or help of a triple play.

The Red Sox, meanwhile, still clinging to a one game lead for the Wild Card, are trailing the White Sox 4-1 in the 3rd.