May 23 -- ABOUT LAST NIGHT

HOUSTON -- OK, so I've already posed a question about Ryan Howard's apparent emergence from his two-month offensive slumber in the previous post, but there's so much to discuss from last night's game. So, without further ado, let's get to it.

1. Pat Burrell: Here's what Charlie Manuel said about Pat The Bat before last night's game: "He's chasing breaking balls out of the strike zone. Give him a day or two off, and then, see what happens. He definitely needs a blow." Turns out, Burrell got seven innings off, and then, delivered the blow that beat the Astros with a pinch-hit leadoff homer in the eighth. So, Pat, did the rest work? "Sometimes," Burrell said, "it's good to get a day to give your mind a break." Mission accomplished. Manuel said he hadn't decided if Burrell would start tonight against Astros RHP Brandon Backe. My guess: He'll be in the lineup.

2. Brad Lidge: Before last night's game, the former Astros closer held court with Houston media and said he has never pitched better than he's pitching right now. That surprised a lot of the folks down here, who saw Lidge (above) dominate NL hitters in 2004 and 2005. "I really do feel like I'm pitching better," Lidge said. "My arm strength is still there. The stuff is still there. But my control is better." Someone asked Lidge what he'd do in the ninth inning if he had to face the sizzling Lance Berkman, his close friend and former Astros teammate. Lidge smiled and said he didn't want to give away his secrets. Well, it happened in the ninth inning. One out, two out, Phillies leading by two, Berkman coming to the plate. Lidge threw a first-pitch fastball to the outer half of the plate, and Berkman popped it up. "That was a good matchup," Manuel said. "It looked like Lidge came right at him. That's power baseball right there. That's kind of what the game is all about."

3. Chris Coste: The Phillies' backup catcher had an interesting day Wednesday in Washington. He went to Capitol Hill to meet Sen. Kent Conrad, a Democrat from Coste's native North Dakota. Coste said he thought it would be a 15-minute meet-and-greet. He planned to give Conrad a copy of his book, chat for a few minutes, then be on his merry way. But Conrad invited Coste to lunch in the Senate dining room, where they sat near Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Connecticut) and Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pennsylvania) and talked baseball. Incidentally, Conrad's wife is a lobbyist for Major League Baseball. You can read more about Coste's day within this notebook.

4. Adam Eaton: He returns to the mound tonight, carrying a 7.71 ERA in his last three starts. He also doesn't have a victory yet in nine starts, and that's something that must change if the Phillies are going to win the NL East.

5. Chase Utley: Good news. He has his mangled batting-practice bat back. Utley, who has been using the same black bat in BP for more than a year, broke the bat May 9 in San Francisco. But assistant equipment manager Dan O'Rourke was able to revive the bat by nailing the barrel back together. "A little CPR?" Shane Victorino said when he saw Utley carrying the bat again.

And, finally, did you see Bartolo Colon's line Wednesday night for the Red Sox? 5 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts and 1 win. That's one more victory than Eaton, and one more than Kris Benson, who is still pitching extended spring-training games. The Phils, you'll recall, took a pass on Colon when he was available in the offseason and spring training because they believed his shoulder wasn't healthy. One team official even said Benson was a safer bet because he underwent surgery to fix his shoulder, while Colon opted against surgery.

How's that working out right now?