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Phillies Notes | Manuel: Garcia is 'competitive'

Phillies Notes Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said he "respects" Freddy Garcia and understands his disappointment at being pulled from Thursday's game with two outs in the sixth inning of a 3-2 loss to Milwaukee.

Phillies Notes

Phillies manager

Charlie Manuel

said he "respects"

Freddy Garcia

and understands his disappointment at being pulled from Thursday's game with two outs in the sixth inning of a 3-2 loss to Milwaukee.

"I love his competitive part, and I think he's headed in the right direction," Manuel said before last night's game with the Toronto Blue Jays.

That said, Manuel thinks Garcia is making too many pitches to go deep into games. He threw 114 Thursday.

"When he gets to the point where he cuts his pitch count, he'll be able to go seven, maybe even eight innings," the manager said. "When he doesn't hit that one or two big-pitch-count inning," he'll be able to pitch longer."

"I definitely have confidence in him, but you have to understand there's a difference in the National League and the American League and how you handle the pitchers," Manuel continued.

Garcia, an American Leaguer until this year, has averaged 51/3 innings in his seven starts for the Phils.

"His performance tells you when he's ready to go deeper into the game," Manuel said. "But I will give him every chance in the world. You guys know I have patience, and the better his performance gets, he'll see how much confidence I have in him."

Garcia's anger didn't bother Manuel.

"He's upset. That's OK," Manuel said. "If that steps him up and gets him throwing better, I'd say both of us did his job."

Interleague numbers

The Phillies played their first interleague game of the season last night. They took a 78-91 interleague record into their matchup with Toronto.

The Phils were 5-13 in interleague play last year, one of the reasons the club failed to make the playoffs.

Short stops

With no designated hitter last night,

Frank Thomas

was not in Toronto's starting lineup. Thomas, who is three homers shy of tying

Edgar Martinez

for the most career homers (243) as a DH, was in a 4-for-28 slump. . . .

Ryan Howard

, on the DL with a left quadriceps strain, will be used as a DH at single-A Lakewood on Wednesday and Thursday. He is eligible to come off the DL on Friday. . . . Entering last night, Phils starters were 15-14 with a 4.49 ERA while the much-maligned relievers were 5-7 with a 4.28 ERA. . . . Fox has decided not to televise the June 16 game at Citizens Bank Park against Detroit. It had been scheduled for 3:55 p.m., but has been moved to 7:05 p.m. and will be televised by Comcast SportsNet. . . . First-base coach

Davey Lopes

missed his sixth straight game because of personal reasons. "He should be back by Monday," Manuel said. "He's got some things he has to take care of."

Milt Thompson

continues to coach at first.

- Sam Carchidi