June 18 -- 'HE'S AN INSPIRATION'

At some point today, before the Phillies play the Red Sox in the finale of their three-game series, Charlie Manuel will look for Jon Lester. When he finds him, Manuel will extend his arm and shake Lester's hand.

It surely won't have anything to do with Lester shutting out the Phillies last night.

Manuel, you see, is a cancer survivor. He beat kidney cancer in 2000, when he was manager of the Indians. And, 22 months ago, Lester was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, cancer of the lymphatic system. He underwent chemotheraphy and radiation treatments during the 2006 offseason, and once the cancer was in remission, he returned to the Red Sox last July and went 4-0 in 11 starts. Lester threw 5-2/3 shutout innings in the decisive Game 4 of the World Series, and last month, he pitched the 18th no-hitter in Red Sox history.

So, even after watching the Phillies hang eight runs on Bartolo Colon and Mike Timlin on Monday night, there was no way Lester was going to wither at the sight of Ryan Howard or Chase Utley at the plate.

"He's battled through cancer. He's an inspiration," said Jamie Moyer, who played for 10 years in Seattle and met Lester, a Tacoma, Wash., native, when he was in high school. "He's handled it very well, and he's moved forward. I'm pretty sure it's made him a different person. He's getting what he deserves. It's a feel-good story. It's pretty cool."

What Lester did to the Phillies last night -- six hits, no runs in seven innings -- is nothing new. In his last six starts, he is 4-1 with a 2.06 ERA. Overall this season, he is 6-3 with a 3.18 ERA.

So, what does Manuel want to say to Lester today?

"I want to tell him that I keep up with him and I admire him," Manuel said.

It's hard not to.

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Manuel nearly kept Chase Utley out of the lineup last night. Perhaps he should've. Utley went 0-for-4 and is now 0-for-16 since his fourth-inning single last Friday night in St. Louis. But with side-arming rookie right-hander Justin Masterson starting today for the Sox, Manuel said Utley will be in the lineup.

Also within the notebook: Kyle Kendrick will go to the mound today armed with a changeup that he hopes will give him more success against lefties. Although the Phillies are 10-1 in Kendrick's last 11 starts, lefties are batting .331 against him.

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If they made a movie about the Phillies and Mets, it would be called "Trading Places." The Mets would be played by Dan Akroyd, the Phillies by Eddie Murphy. Only, at the end, they don't team up against a common enemy. Instead, the Mets continue to spiral, ultimately firing Willie Randolph.

Two weeks in September have meant everything for the Mets and Phillies, and as Martin Frank writes, the Mets have been trying to keep up with the Phillies ever since.

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Robin Roberts will throw the ceremonial first pitch today in honor of the 60th anniversary of his major-league debut. But before he got called up to the Phillies in 1948, he went 9-1 for the Blue Rocks.

Quick turnaround today. Lineups and more in a bit from the Bank.