Brad Lidge News

RHP Trevor May , the Phillies No. 1 prospect, had the shortest start of his pro career last Sunday at Erie when the Seawolves bombed him for eight hits and seven runs in two innings, sending his ERA from 2.91 to 4.10. Reading rallied take him of the hook but lost 8-7 in the ninth.

When Ed Wade was hired as Astros GM in late 2007, the first thing he did was trade closer, Brad Lidge to the Philadelphia Phillies for Michael Bourn , Geoff Geary and Michael Costanzo.

Prior to Wednesday night's series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies, relief pitcher Brad Lidge threw off a mound for the first time since undergoing surgery three weeks ago for a sports hernia.

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If there is one thing that Brad Lidge has been doing this season, it's been commenting about the Phillies, or about how the Nationals are more talented than the Phillies, or how Washington, D.C. totally has the cheese steak market cornered, or something.

The Phillies finally snapped their five-game losing streak in starts made by Roy Halladay on Thursday.

For example, Sportsweek, the weekly Philadelphia sports magazine, put the two teams on the cover this week, with a provocative headline.

ON A TRIPLE A baseball diamond somewhere in Louisville, Ky., Mike Costanzo stood among a throng of kids and felt his stomach churn as a lifetime's worth of jubilation and disappointment flashed through his head.

We're all aware of it by now, but the attrition rate of closers this season is better than 50 percent, and that's just stupefying.

Yes, the Philadelphia Phillies have struggled for most of this season, though they have just won four games in a row.

On Monday, Washington Nationals ' manager Davey Johnson made it clear he didn't want to entertain questions about Sunday's blown save against Cincinnati which saw 25-year-old right-hander Henry Rodriguez give up a single, two walks and a game-winning grand slam by Reds ' first baseman Joey Votto .

A reporter asked Johnson today about Henry Rodriguez 's home-road splits, and Johnson responded with an emphatic vote of confidence for Rodriguez, one day after the 25-year-old's third blown save of the season yesterday in the Nationals' 9-6 loss at Cincinnati .

Gonzalez will report to the Nationals' spring training complex in Viera, Fla., where he will take a physical and pitching coordinator Spin Williams will evaluate him.

The St. Louis Cardinals remain strong, even without Albert Pujols. The Los Angeles Dodgers are resurgent, perhaps due to at last having shed the weight of the TMZ-style drama that was their old ownership.

Highlighting a bad performance from the previous night in baseball might seem like a harsh way to start the morning, but look at it this way: If you had a rough night or bad day, here's someone who may have had it worse.

Ryan Howard of the Philadelphia Phillies hit 58 bombs during his first full season, which puts him in the paragraph with 2 superstars.

The Washington Nationals have been without closer Drew Storen for the entire month April while he's been recovering from elbow surgery .

Paul Maholm pitched 6 1-3 solid innings, Starlin Castro had two hits and an RBI, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 Friday night.

The Washington Nationals placed pitcher Brad Lidge on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 22, with an abdominal wall strain Friday.