BOX SCORE
Ryan Howard had been swinging too fast during a 2-for-25 skid, so he started Saturday's game against San Diego on Charlie Manuels bench.
Not giving myself a chance to see the ball, Howard said.
Yet, after the Phillies saw a 3-0 lead turn into a 4-3 deficit and in Saturdays heat, here was their manager, suddenly in an awful hurry to get his once-and-future RBI behemoth to the plate.
Told to grab a bat, Howard first thought he would hit for the second man in the Phillies seventh, pitcher Michael Stutes.
Told me I was going to be on deck, then next thing I was hitting for John Mayberry, Howard said.
In Manuels army, too, they are told to hurry up and wait. The manager expected that after Chad Qualls faced Mayberry, Padres skipper Bud Black would come back with a left-hander. And the last thing Howard needs to see these days is a left-hander.
MLB
So hurriedly up to bat for Mayberry, the first baseman for a day, went Howard, with some extra work in the cage Saturday to remind him to stay back.
For a left-handed hitter, the definition is smacking one out to almost straightaway center, and this is exactly what Howard did -- and quickly too. He crushed Qualls first pitch to tie the game.
A double inside first by Ross Gload, a walk to Jimmy Rollins, and a wild pitch later, Michael Martinez -- who has not had trouble staying back on anything besides his glee after hitting game-changing three-run homers -- put one into the first row in right to send the Phillies to an 8-6 win and a five-game lead over Atlanta.
Alls well that ended well. The Phils prevailed despite a two-walk, two-hit one wild pitch eighth by Antonio Bastardo, which put the tying run on second and the lead run on first, despite a two-out ninth-inning double by Ryan Ludwick against Ryan Madson, despite a day that did not start happily for Howard when he was given his second day off of the season and not because he had struck out eight times in eight career at bats against Padres starter Mat Latos.
I saw that, but it really didnt have much to do with it, said Manuel. He was really struggling last night and the game in Chicago. He just wasnt swinging good.
Which just didnt leave him in the mood to discuss his day off. Howard made a catty comment as reporters approached him after batting practice, then delivered a lecture on the phrasing of questions before saying, no comment.
Chase Utley rarely has to resort to no comment because he usually doesnt make himself available to the media -- exceptions coming after hitting the three-run shot off Latos that gave the Phillies their first-inning lead and then a solo homer in the seventh. Not that he said anything interesting, regardless.
In going 3 for 3 with a walk on Friday, Utley, whose season didnt begin until May 23, now has been on base in 25 straight games, although not often looking as much like the old Utley as he did Saturday.
Hes starting to get his timing down, Manuel said. Looks like hes getting stronger on his back side, has good balance. Starting to see him pop the ball.
Martinez, whose three-run blast turned the rubber game last weekend in New York, continues to do the same in the absence of Placido Polanco, who reported happily yesterday the epidural injection he received Wednesday worked and that he expects to go out of a rehab assignment this week.
Sunday, well get a better idea see if Howards rehabbing of his approach only took hours or still will require days.
I dont know if it was so much a physical or mental rest as much as watching from a different perspective, he said.
With the Philllies, one more win Sunday or Monday from a ninth-straight series victory, the scenery isnt really changing, however. With eight days to go before the trading deadline, with Utley heating up, with Roy Oswalt on the way back, with Howard slowing things down and speeding the ball off his bat, the Phillies appear to have survived the worst, the worst being 63-36.
E-mail Jay Greenberg at jayg616@aol.com