Phillies Notes: Pitching coming from Lehigh Valley

While he pursues a deal to fill the hole in the rotation left by the loss of

Brett Myers

for the season, general manager

Ruben Amaro Jr.

said yesterday that the Phillies probably will call up a pitcher from triple-A Lehigh Valley to start Tuesday in San Diego.

He wouldn't say which one.

Two of the more likely candidates are 23-year-old Dominican lefthander Antonio Bastardo and righthander Kyle Kendrick, who lost his job after going 11-9 with a 5.49 ERA last season. Two years ago, Kendrick, 24, was something of a revelation, going 10-4 with a 3.87 ERA after he was called up from double-A Reading.

Bastardo has pitched well in two starts with Lehigh Valley after moving up from Reading.

"We've got some real good reports on him," manager Charlie Manuel said. "He's had two good outings since he's been in triple A. And in double A, he had some good outings."

Bastardo has a 2.08 ERA in his two starts for the IronPigs, having allowed 11 hits in 13 innings.

Kendrick, who is trying to add a changeup to his repertoire, is 4-3 with a 4.25 ERA in 10 starts for Lehigh Valley. Even though righthander Carlos Carrasco, 22, is regarded as a top prospect in the Phillies' system, he has struggled at Lehigh Valley. He is 0-6 with a 5.81 ERA in nine starts.

"Kyle's experience, the fact that he's pitched here, he'll be definitely talked about," Manuel said.

Righthander Andrew Carpenter picked up a win in an emergency start May 16 in the second game of a day-night doubleheader at Washington. Despite struggling, he got the win in a rain-shortened game before he was sent back to Lehigh Valley.

Amaro said it's "very unlikely" the Phils would show interest in 37-year-old free agent Pedro Martinez, and reiterated that he had been looking for starting pitching help before Myers' injury.

"It's something we've been talking about with a variety of clubs over the last several weeks," Amaro said. "Part of the issue is finding out what teams are going to be sellers. We feel in July we'll be a buyer. . . . The type of player we might want to pursue might not be available for another seven weeks."

After last night's win, the Phils said they had placed Myers on the 15-day disabled list. They recalled lefthander Sergio Escalona from Lehigh Valley. He will join the bullpen.

Manuel said he would prefer to keep righthander

Chan Ho

Park

in the bullpen rather than put him back in the rotation.

Park went 1-1 with a 7.29 ERA in seven starts before J.A. Happ replaced him as the fifth starter May 18.

"When we got him, I looked at him as a bullpen piece because I figured his arm would play out to two or three innings, that he could keep his stuff for that long," Manuel said. "Right now, the way I'm thinking is he's going to make our bullpen real strong, and I don't know if I want to put him back in the rotation or not because I think he's going to help us more in the role he has now."

Cole Hamels

, who will start tonight, is 3-1 with an 0.39 ERA in his last seven starts against Washington. . . . Last night's sellout crowd of 45,202 pushed the Phillies' attendance past one million for the season. Coming in the 24th home game, it's the fastest the Phils have topped a million since Citizens Bank Park opened in 2004. The sellout was the 18th this season.