July 26, 2011
URBAN ARCHIVE
GIANTS PAGEGIANTS VIDEO
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Mychael Urban
CSNBayArea.com
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PHILADELPHIA -- Shortly after emerging from the visitors' clubhouse at Citizens Bank Park, Giants manager Bruce Bochy stood on the top step of the stairs that leads from the dugout to the field and scanned the other side of the diamond, a mask of focused concern covering his face.Told he looked a little lost, Bochy winced and said. "Not lost. But looking."Turns out he was looking for his counterpart, Charlie Manuel, to inform the Phillies manager of the news he'd delivered to Barry Zito only moments before.With Tim Lincecum suffering from debilitating flu-like symptoms, Zito was bumped up from his scheduled start Wednesday to take the ball Tuesday for the opener of a three-game series that doubles as a rematch of last year's National League Championship Series and could serve as a preview for this year's playoffs."He looks pretty bad," Zito told CSNBayArea.com during batting practice. "There's no way he could go today."RELATED: Lineups: Giants vs. Philadelphia -- Fontenot at SS
Bochy didn't rule out Lincecum for the entire series; with Zito bumped up, it's possible that Matt Cain, the scheduled starter for Thursday, could be moved up to Wednesday to give Lincecum another day of recovery. If Lincecum is not ready by Thursday, Ryan Vogelsong could be bumped up.As Manuel noted, either way, the Phillies will be facing nothing but All-Stars andor former Cy Young Award winners in this series."They're known for their pitching, and we'll see some of their best," Manuel said.Big day for Belt: Rookie first basemanoutfielder Brandon Belt was thrilled to be part of the proceedings at the White House on Monday, and that he wasn't a part of the World Series team being acknowledged didn't feel awkward at all."That never really crossed my mind, to tell you the truth," Belt said. "I was just like, 'I get to go to the White House!' Who cares why?"Another highlight for Belt, a 23-year-old native of Nacogdoches, Tex., was the train ride from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia after the visit with President Obama."I'd never even been of a train before," he said with a huge smile while grabbing a bat in the dugout for his round of BP. "Very relaxing."No trade talk: Bochy gets asked about trades every day, and every day he makes it clear that it might be his least-favorite subject.He conceded that he and general manager Brian Sabean have a running dialogue about the team's present, future and needs, but asking him about the latest rumors is the quickest way to get him to clam up."It'll be nice when that July 31 deadline passes, I'll tell you what," Bochy said. Then we can go back to just talking about the game.