Howard’s Homer Sparks Phillies Win Over Pirates
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Two days warming the bench may have done 1st baseman Ryan Howard some good. In his first lineup plate appearance since being benched, Howard pounded a two on, two out homer to centerfield off of Pirates starter Matt Morris and the Phillies were on their way to a five run first inning enroute to an 8-4 win. It was their 3rd straight win and 6th win in 7 games.
With the win, the Phillies sit in 2nd place, 1/2 game behind the Florida Marlins who lost to the Milwaukee Brewers by 4-3, and a full game ahead of the New York Mets who also won, defeating the Atlanta Braves by an identical 4-3 score.
After Howard got things underway, the Phillies cashed in on two Pirate fielding errors to score 3 more runs in the first to stake starter Kyle Kendrick to a 5-0 lead. The Phils added a 6th run in the second inning off of Morris.
The AP recap for Yahoo sports details the first inning;
Pirates starter Matt Morris retired the first two hitters he faced, but the next seven reached safely. Chase Utley started things off with a single to right field and Howard followed with his fifth home run of the season to deep center.
“The velocity just wasn’t there to get it by him,” Morris said of the four-seam fastball he tried to sneak past Howard. “I left the (pitch) up, and he did what he does best. Even though he’s struggling, you knew it wouldn’t be for long.”
“I felt pretty good today at the plate with seeing pitches and running the count,” Howard said. “All-in-all, it was positive. I’ll definitely take the home run.”
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said Howard’s timing has improved during batting practice.
“The ball has been jumping off his bat better,” Manuel said. “The home run he hit, the pitch was close to him. That’s what he needs to do, let the ball get close to him. He’ll get it. He’s coming around.”
Eric Bruntlett added a run-scoring single in the first, and two errors by Pittsburgh led to the other two runs.
Philadelphia made it 6-0 in the second when Geoff Jenkins’ two-out single scored Utley, ending Morris’ night. It was the second game in a row the Phillies jumped out to a 6-0 lead on the Pirates.
After clubbing his two run shot in the first inning, 1st baseman Howard went 1-4 for the game striking out two more times to bring his season total to 37 in 106 plate appearances. He walked once.
Meanwhile, Kendrick made short work of the Pirates in the first and second innings before a one-out hit batsman as well as both an RBI single and RBI double led to 2 Pittsburgh runs in the third.
Kendrick had a relatively easy with the Pirates in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings while the Phillies scored 2 more insurance runs in their sixth on lefthanded reliever Phil Dumatrait as hot-hitting centerfielder Jayson Werth and pinch hitter Pedro Feliz both slammed RBI doubles to leftfield and right centerfield respectively to cap the Phillies’ scoring.
Kendrick pitched into the eighth, completing seven full innings. In the seventh, his throwing error on a bunt caused a runners on 2nd and 3rd, one out jam as Pittsburgh scored its 3rd run on shortstop Brian Bixler’s ground out to 2nd base. In the eighth, centerfielder Nate McLouth led off with a solo homer to rightfield followed by 2nd baseman Freddie Sanchez’s single. At that point, Manuel went to reliever Rudy Seanez who got an out on a fielders’ choice followed by giving up a single to 1st baseman Adam LaRouch causing a one out, first and third jam. But Seanez then got rightfielder Xavier Nady to ground into a second-to-first inning ending doubleplay.
Ryan Madson then put the lights out on the Pirates in the ninth inning on 6 pitches to seal the win as the Phils’ bullpen continues to impress. Kendrick, who gave up 4 runs on 7 hits, walking none and striking out two, won his 2nd game vs 2 losses. Morris, who lasted 1 2/3 innings and gave up 6 runs on six hits, lost his 4th game. He is yet to win in 2008.
For all of the scores, boxscores and recaps on Saturday’s games, click here.
In Sunday’s get-away game, Brett Myers opposes lefthander Paul Maholm. The Phillies have an open date on Monday before heading home to entertain the San Diego Padres for three games on Tuesday through Thursday.
For the scores, boxscores and recaps on Sunday’s games, click here.
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