July 8 -- WHAT'S THE SETUP? ... AND THE LINEUP

So, setup man Tom Gordon has landed in Clearwater, where he will first rest and then rehab his balky right elbow. Gordon, of course, also has a partial tear of the labrum in his right shoulder, something he has been pitching through for the past few years.

When, then, do the Phillies expect Gordon to return?

Pitching coach Rich Dubee just got through saying that Gordon won't throw a ball for the next five to 10 days. After that, he'll see how his arm feels. Dubee indicated that Gordon will miss more than the minimum 15 days that he must be on the disabled list and likened the injury to last season when Gordon missed considerable time because of his shoulder and even more because of a bout of pneumonia. Dubee said Gordon probably tweaked his elbow last month because he was compensating for shoulder pain. The Phillies had to shut him down for 10 days last month to rest his shoulder.

"I think the rest will do him good," Dubee said. "We're not going to zip him back here. We want to make sure he's feeling right. I think we probably should've just taken the ball away from him the first time [last month]. But him with his stubborness and desire to compete, he wasn't always straight-up with us. I think one led into the other. You overcompensate for one tweak, it put strain and stress on his elbow. We need to get him up and running, and then he'll get back in contributing.

"He wasn't feeling right. You could see it on his face, and even though you'd talk to him, he'd say, 'No, no, it's getting better.' This guy's been in the big leagues 19, 20 years. This guy wants to play for a championship team. He wants to be out there. He's stubborn. At the same time, you can understand that."

Gordon came back from his assorted problems last year, pitched nearly every day in September and went 1-0 with a 1.32 ERA in his final 15 appearances. So, what's your level of confidence that he can finish strong again?

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Tonight's lineup against Cardinals RHP Joel Pineiro (2-4, 4.52 ERA): SS Jimmy Rollins (.272/6/29), CF Shane Victorino (.270/3/24), 2B Chase Utley (.294/25/68), 1B Ryan Howard (.226/24/78), LF Pat Burrell (.277/22/54), RF Jayson Werth (.277/12/35), 3B Pedro Feliz (.264/10/43), C Carlos Ruiz (.207/2/20), LHP Cole Hamels (9-5, 3.22 ERA).

At this point, it's unclear if Rudy Seanez (back spasms) will be available out of the bullpen. Charlie Manuel probably will stay away from J.C. Romero, who has pitched a lot lately and has a cranky groin. Clay Condrey and R.J. Swindle likely won't pitch tonight after logging innings last night.