is feeling good when he makes a joke as he's walking into the media room for his postgame press conference.
"Scored 10 runs. Knocked the TV off," he said as he glanced at one of the two televisions in the room that was all fuzzy.
The offensive outburst in the team's 10-0 win over the Mets on Monday, and Manuel's postgame attitude are good signs considering what the team is battling right now.
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Before the game, the team placed shortstop Jimmy Rollins on the 15-day disabled list with a Grade 2 groin strain. And just three hours before first pitch, left fielder Raul Ibanez was scratched from the starting lineup with groin soreness.
Their absence was barely noticeable Monday.
Yes, some of that is a credit to the talent on this team, and how well the Phillies played.
But in Manuel's eyes, it's more than that.
"It's the makeup and the guys on our team," Manuel said. "When I first got here, we had to make quite a few changes until we found that. And we found the right combination of guys, and that's a credit to the guys making the changes. I think really that's what helped us, and we've been trying to keep that kind of attitude. It's hard to develop a winning attitude.
"I used to say, give me the talent and I'll work with the attitude. I've kind of changed that. It's the winning attitude that really takes you a long ways, and the desire and fight to play."
Offensively, John Mayberry Jr., filling in for Ibanez, Hunter Pence , Carlos Ruiz and Placido Polanco , fresh off the DL, made a splash.
Mayberry drilled a 1-2 pitch out to left for a two-run home run in the second that put the Phillies ahead 5-0, and later worked a bases-loaded walk that forced in a run in the Phils' three-run fourth that made it 8-0. Twenty of his last 31 hits have now gone for extra bases.
"I obviously made some changes with my stance and my approach [this year]," he said. "Additionally, it doesn't hurt to get regular at-bats."
Despite having just 189 at-bats to Chase Utley 's 293, Mayberry now has more home runs (11) than Utley (9) and as many RBIs (38) as the Phils second baseman.
"He's been playing good. He's swinging the bat good," Manuel said of Mayberry. "And actually, he's been getting some big hits. That's what it takes to play."
His time out in left field could be greatly increased if Ibanez's groin soreness turns out to be serious. Manuel said Ibanez, who had surgery for a sports hernia after the 2009 season, was getting checked out by doctors after the game.
Polanco, who was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored, said even when he ran hard down the first-base line on a groundout in the seventh, he didn't have discomfort.
"I had to really push it a little bit," Polanco said. "I didn't feel anything, so I'm pretty happy. The good thing about this injury is I never stopped hitting, so I was able to hit every day and work extra. I feel like I'm getting my swing back."
Pence helped anchor the Phillies offense, which was 3-for-8 with runners in scoring position and scored eight of their 10 runs with two outs. The five-hole hitter was on base four times in five plate appearances (a two-run home run, a single, two walks and four runs scored).
Ruiz got in on the action, too. The catcher cracked a double off the wall in right-center field in the third and then added a two-out, two-run single in the fourth.
Cliff Lee put together another gem, throwing seven innings of three-hit ball. He's posted a 0.58 in his last four starts (2 ER, 31.0 IP), all of which were wins. He has lowered his season ERA to 2.71 and on Monday, set a career-high in strikeouts when he fanned Angel Pagan in the third for the 186th of the season. He now has 191.
"Guys get in streaks whether it's hitters, pitchers, whatever," Lee said. "The guys that are successful ride out the good streaks and limit the bad ones and that's what I try to do."
DINGERS: The Phils recorded their major league-leading 17th shutout. … Lee went 1-for-4 at the plate on Monday and is tied for the second most hits (13) among all MLB pitchers. … Shane Victorino extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a triple in the second. … Wilson Valdez has seven RBIs in his last eight games. … With two scoreless innings, David Herndon extended his career-best scoreless streak to 102/3 innings.
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