Phillies Notes: Another setback for Phillies' Lidge in rehabilitation

Brad Lidge suffered a second setback Monday during his rehabilitation in Clearwater, Fla., so the Phillies have decided to bring him back to Philadelphia to be examined by team physician Michael Ciccotti.

General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said the reliever had elbow soreness while throwing a bullpen session in Florida. Lidge, who has yet to pitch this season, is on the 60-day disabled list with a torn rotator cuff. He had some soreness in the elbow after pitching an extended spring training game last Tuesday.

"He was throwing in the bullpen [Monday morning], and he pretty much got through it, but he's been feeling a little bit of discomfort in his elbow," Amaro said. "His shoulder's doing pretty well and is getting stronger. He gets some elbow discomfort pretty much every spring, which is kind of where he is right now - in spring training mode. But we're going to see if it's anything more serious."

Amaro stressed that Lidge has had no discomfort in his shoulder.

"He was shut down for a couple of days just to let [the elbow] cool off," Amaro said. "Throwing long toss, he was fine, and then when he got back on the mound he felt this discomfort again."

Lidge missed 37 games and had two stints on the DL last season with elbow problems.

Amaro said an MRI exam on Jimmy Rollins' right knee Monday showed no damage. The shortstop was walking with a slight limp in the clubhouse before sitting out his second straight game. Rollins will return to the lineup when the soreness dissipates and the swelling goes down.

Rollins wrote on his Twitter account that he's "Feeling a lot better & will continue to get treatment on it. Looks good though."

Rollins fouled a ball off his right knee in the first inning Saturday at Pittsburgh and left the game after a couple of innings.

Domonic Brown made his first start this season against a lefthander, the Dodgers' Ted Lilly. Leftfielder Raul Ibanez was rested.

Charlie Manuel said it was a good time to test Brown against a lefty because Lilly throws with an overhand motion.

"I thought it's a good time to get Raul off his feet and give him a blow," Manuel said. "I also like Domonic playing against Lilly. He's more of a straight over-the-top guy. You get a get a better look at the ball."

Brown went 1 for 4 Monday.

Including last season, it was Brown's third start against a lefty. He went 1 for 13 against lefties a year ago.

"I hit lefties pretty well in the minor leagues," Brown said. "You have to keep your right shoulder in, or you can't get to the ball. You have to stay balanced. Charlie's working me in there slow to make sure I'm ready."

Brown batted .331 with a .376 on-base percentage against lefties in the minors last season.

For the first time since he came off the DL on May 23, Chase Utley started for the fourth straight day Monday. Manuel said he sees no effects from Utley's right knee condition.

"He's running good. He feels good," Manuel said. "Three days in a row was a step for him, and now today's the fourth, so we'll see where's he's at."

Placido Polanco leads all third basemen in fans' balloting for the NL all-star team with 1,303,817 votes. Rollins is second among shortstops and Utley is third among second basemen. . . . Ross Gload returned Monday after spending two days on paternity leave. . . . Manuel said he was not sure whether Kyle Kendrick would start Thursday against the Cubs. . . . Dodgers shortstop Dee Gordon, son of former Phillies reliever Tom Gordon, made his big-league debut Monday.