Sandberg sits Howard, Brown vs. lefty De La Rosa

PHILADELPHIA -- With left-hander Jorge De La Rosa on the hill for Colorado on Tuesday, both Ryan Howard and Domonic Brown were removed from the Phillies' lineup in favor of John Mayberry Jr. and Darin Ruf, two right-handed bats.

Howard had a monster game on Monday evening, going 3-for-4 with a homer and five RBIs, but Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg thought it would be a good opportunity to give his first baseman a rest.

"[Howard's] played a number of games in a row and had a real good approach against a right-handed pitcher last night," Sandberg said before Tuesday night's game. "Then we have four right-handed pitchers in a row after that with another lefty the fifth day. And after a big game like that, a good game, sometimes that's a good time to give a guy a break and make it a positive and let him build on that against the right-handed pitching that's coming up after tonight's game."

The Phillies' lineup is still searching for consistency -- over their past 17 home games, they have been held to one run three times and been shut out six times -- and Sandberg is open to experimenting with platoons.

"If it happens to work and if it produces, that becomes an opportunity and a possibility going forward," Sandberg said. "Just to possibly get some consistency with the offense against right-handed and left-handed pitching."