With Shane Victorino scratched, Jason Pridie has big day for Phillies

An inning after a "Ja-son Pri-die" chant broke out Sunday at Citizens Bank Park, Pridie stood on second base, having ripped a one-hopper off the wall in right-center field.

The 28-year-old Phillie clapped his hands below his knees, sending dirt flying off his batting gloves.

Pridie wasn't supposed to play in Sunday afternoon's game against Atlanta. But he filled in valiantly for Shane Victorino, going 2 for 3 with a home run and the double, driving in all three Phillies runs.

Victorino was a late scratch in the 4-3 loss to the Braves. He had been slated to bat seventh in the initial lineup posted about 11:30 a.m., but an hour before the 1:35 p.m. start, Charlie Manuel approached the centerfielder, who was sitting in front of his locker. Victorino was upset about his recent performance, the manager said.

"He's got a lot on his mind," Manuel said. "He was kind of hurting today. He was down because of his performance."

Victorino's batting average hasn't been above .270 since April 24 and has floated around .250 since the start of June. He hasn't had an extra-base hit since a double on June 13.

"[It's the] first time [I've seen him] exactly like that," Manuel said. "He's going through a tough time. He was upset, and I just told him it was probably best to take him out."

Was Victorino upset about batting seventh?

"Absolutely not," Manuel said. "That's the first thing I asked him."

So Pridie, who plays all three outfield positions, was placed in the starting lineup. Before Sunday, he had played in 16 games all season - 13 with triple-A Lehigh Valley and just three with the Phillies. He had taken two major-league at-bats.

But he provided a second-inning spark when he launched a 91-m.p.h. fastball over the right-field fence. In his next at-bat, Pridie roped a double off the fence in right-center to drive in Hunter Pence.

"He was our offense," Manuel said.

Pridie said he was taking swings in the batting cage when he found out he was starting.

"I don't know why I was starting, and it's not something I worry about," he said. "As a bench player, you can never think you have the day off. You just have to stay ready."

Victorino typically is one of the more open players in the Phillies clubhouse and is usually free-speaking. He wasn't in the clubhouse after Sunday's game.

About noon, he still was wearing jeans and a bright shirt. Not long after that, he received an extra day off leading into the all-star break.

Manuel and the players still say that this team has what it takes to make a run - that they are confident something can change for this 37-50 team. But on a day when they lost for the 10th time in their last 11 games, their centerfielder was scratched because he was unhappy with his play.

"The guy that hit the ball for us is the guy that filled in for Victorino," Manuel said.

At the end of the game, the No. 7 hitter in the lineup stood in the batter's box as Pence lined out to right to end the game. Pridie watched the Braves celebrate for a few seconds, then slammed the knob of his bat against the ground, freeing the weight doughnut.

The Phillies walked back to the clubhouse, leaving behind one of the few players on this team who still appears to have energy - a player who so badly wanted his sixth at-bat of the season.