Brad Lidge has lost his closer's job before, but Monday's demotion happened in record time. It took only two outings for manager Phil Garner to decide to make a change. Garner informed Lidge prior to Monday's series opener with the Chicago Cubs that he would not be closing games for the Astros in the foreseeable future. Instead, Garner will pitch Lidge in the sixth or seventh innings, with Dan Wheeler receiving most of the save opportunities. Chad Qualls and Rick White will be used as setup men. "Brad's not going to close as a general rule," Garner said. "There may be a situation where I may do it, but as of right now, I'm going to pitch him earlier in the game. I want to pitch him more often, give him more consistent work." "Obviously, [I'm not] getting it done on the field," Lidge said. "And, obviously, at this point, we need to call it. So what I'm hoping for out of this is it will give me a chance to throw more innings more regularly and get myself into a good grove. "It's obviously disappointing, but that's the way I'm going to approach it, as an opportunity to get more work in so I can get back quickly to where I want to be."