Howard’s Slam, Solo Homer Lead Phillies Past Nationals
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Phillies ace lefthander Cole Hamels had his worst outing since opening day but 1st baseman Ryan Howard wiped out a 3-0 Washington lead with a leadoff solo shot in the second inning and a 1 out monstrous 475 foot grand slam to rightfield in the third, both off of Shairon Martis as the Phils put 5 runs on the board to take a 6-3 lead. Hamels helped his own cause with a fourth inning RBI double and the Phils pushed in 2 insurance runs on a fielding error, but Howard’s slam and solo homer led the Phillies past the Nationals by a 9-6 score on Saturday.
Coupled with the Mets’ Saturday loss to Florida, the win pushed the Phillies back into 1st place in the NL East, 1/2 game ahead of the Mets.
Howard’s titanic third inning blast was his 8th career grand slam, pushing him past Phillies Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt who previously held the franchise record for slams with 7. Howard’s 2 homers marked the 19th multi-homer game of his career and his 14th dinger of the season. Howard had 5 RBIs for the game bringing his seasonal total to 39.
The Nationals hammered Hamels hard in the second inning after he retired them in the first on 10 pitches, scarcely working up a sweat. The major blows in the Nationals’ inning were a 2 run double by catcher Wil Nieves and a 2 out RBI single by 2nd baseman Anderson Hernandez.
But Howard quickly got the Phils on the board against Martis in their second inning with his leadoff homer. And after catcher Carlos Ruiz drew a walk from Martis, advanced on Hamels’ sacrifice bunt to the pitcher and scored on shortstop Jimmy Rollins’ single to rightfield, centerfielder Shane Victorino walked after Rollins stole 2nd base. 2nd baseman Chase Utley then got an infield single to load the bases for Howard. The big slugger to a ball from Martis before nailing his next pitch 475 feet to the 3rd level in rightfield, only the second ball to reach that third deck since the Phils began playing in Citizen’s Bank Park.
With the Phils up by 6-3, shortstop Alberto Gonzalez reached Hamels for a fourth inning RBI triple to draw the Nationals to 6-4. But Hamels helped his cause in the bottom of the fourth with a 1 out RBI double as the Phils led 7-4. Martis, who lost his 1st game of the season after winning 5, left after the fourth having thrown 71 pitches and having given up 7 runs on 7 hits, including Howard’s 2 homers while walking 2 and striking out 1.
The Nationals drew to 7-6 in the sixth, Hamels’ last inning, as pinch hitter Ronnie Belliard slammed a 2 out, 2 run homer. Hamels left having thrown 104 pitches in six innings and having given up 6 runs on 8 hits while walking 1 and striking out 7. Hamels won his 3rd game of the season vs 2 losses despite his poor perforamce.
But the Phils then got 2 insurance runs after loading the bases with 2 outs in the bottom of the sixth when 2nd baseman Hernandez booted Howard’s grounder.
The Phillies bullpen was air-tight through the final three innings with only Scott Eyre giving up 2 hits in 1/3 inning in the seventh. But reliever Clay Condrey came on to retire the side in the inning.
Ryan Madson and Brad Lidge came on to close down the Nationals in the eighth and ninth innings with Lidge notching his 11th save of the season.
In further news related to Brett Myers’ hip injury, the AP recap for Yahoo sports reports:
The Phillies announced after the game that Antonio Bastardo will take Brett Myers’ spot in the rotation Tuesday in San Diego. The left-hander is 3-2 with a 1.89 ERA in 11 games between Double-A Reading and Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season.
Four lefthanders now, in a five-man rotation??
For all of the scores of Saturday’s games, click here.
The Phils hope for a series sweep as veteran lefthander Jamie Moyer starts the series final completing the lefthanded trio slated to have started against the Capitals. Moyer is opposed by young lefthander John Lannon.
The Phillies leave after Sunday’s game for a West Coast swing which begins with 3 games in San Diego beginning on Monday. Joe Blanton goes for the Phils in the opener against Mike Adams for the Padres.
For all of Sunday’s games, click here.
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