HOUSTON -- For five innings last night, the game story was all Ryan Howard, all the time.Howard, whose offensive malaise has lasted for nearly two months and been dissected in this and other spaces devoted to the Phillies, singled in the second inning, ripped an RBI double in the third and swatted a leadoff homer in the fifth. He needed only a triple for the cycle, no easy task for The Big Man, who struck out in his final two at-bats. But at the very least, he was guaranteed to finish the night with his second straight three-hit game. More amazing, though, is this little nugget: Until the past two games, Howard hadn't had back-to-back multi-hit games since Aug. 25-28, 2007.
But, then, the Astros tied the game with three runs in the sixth inning, slumping Pat Burrell hit a pinch-hit homer to open the eighth, and Brad Lidge pitched a scoreless ninth, even retiring sizzling Lance Berkman, to record a save in his first appearance against his former team.
Suddenly, there wasn't much space in The Paper for much about Howard.
So, I suppose, it's a good thing we have The Blog to explore the Howard angle. For weeks, every positive thing Howard has done has prompted one question: Is he out of his slump? And, for weeks, Howard has provided the same answer: Not until he does positive things for several days in a row. Howard recently had an eight-game hitting streak, but there was a sense that he still wasn't hitting the ball particularly well. The past two games have been different. Howard is 6-for-10 with three homers and six RBIs, and generally, he's looking more like the feared power hitter that he's expected to be.
"Yeah, it's a little bit better," Howard said after the game. "I'm trying to go for a whole week [of positives]. I just want to have a good week."
So, what do you think? Is Howard finally over his early-season problems?
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Sure, Kyle Kendrick gave the Phillies a chance to win last night, allowing two runs through the first five innings. But he also gave up three runs in the sixth, leaving his ERA at 5.19. And here's a sobering fact for the Phillies: Three of their starters -- Kendrick, Adam Eaton (5.59) and Brett Myers (5.76) -- have ERAs over 5.00. It's awful hard to win a division that way. So, perhaps it was good news that Kris Benson threw 58 pitches and hit 87 mph in an extended spring-training game yesterday in Clearwater, although nobody that I've spoken to seems to think Benson is close to being ready for the majors yet.
2 comments:
I know you don't like to report to trade rumors, but Peter Gammons is reporting that the Phils/Nats are talking a Zimmerman for Feliz and other player trade. Any truth to this?
Anon: I have no problems with reporting trade rumors. In fact, when they're substantiated, there's nothing better. Gammons is awesome. I grew up reading him in the Boston Globe, and he has more sources than almost every writer I know combined. But it's hard to see the Phils and Nats making a deal, especially one that includes Ryan Zimmerman. People in Washington have told me that Zimmerman is, unequivocally, viewed as a future cornerstone of that franchise. He's already extremely popular in DC, and he hasn't come close yet to achieving his full offensive potential. That said, the Nats are going to have to sign Zimmerman to a long-term deal, and that hasn't happened yet. So, I suppose there's always a possibility that he could be traded, if the Nats think they're not going to be able to re-sign him. But I highly doubt it will happen, and I doubt even further that the Phillies will be able to swing a deal for him.
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