These are fun times for the Phillies' mammoth first basemen, who's three RBI led the Phillies to an 11-0 win over the Dodgers and a 2-1 lead in the series.

Howard knocked in the first two runs of the game with a triple into the rightfield corner, then another the next inning with a slow roller down the first base line, trying in vain to beat the tag of James Loney with another head-first slide.

"It was all-out panic," Howard said of his feeling after he rounded second in lieu of his first playoff triple. "I was able to see the ball in front of me and I saw where [Andre] Ethier was playing. It was one of those things where I had to make my mind up whether this was going to happen or not. So once I hit second, it was pretty much full bore."

Whether it's line drives that end with him hugging the bag at third, slow rollers, towering home runs or your run-of-the-mill single up the middle, Howard has been doing all of it this postseason, and at a record pace. With his two RBI in the first, Howard became the first player in MLB history to knock in a run in seven straight playoff games in the same year, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com. Carlton Fisk, Bernie Williams and Ivan Rodriguez all had driven in runs in six consecutive games in one postseason.

Bowman pointed out that, according to baseball-reference.com, Lou Gehrig set the Major League record of eight games, spanning from 1928-32. Tony Perez, Bill Skowron and Clyde Barnhart also knocked in runs in seven straight, but not in 1 year.

So far in these playoffs, No. 6 has gone 10-for-26 (.385 avg.) with a home run and 12 RBI.

As chants of "MVP, MVP" rose from the chilled but raucous crowd of 45,721 at Citizens Bank Park during Howard's first plate appearance, he roped a 3-1 fastball from Dodger righty Hiroki Kuroda (whose 1 1/3-inning outing was Ku-ruddy) to the tightest corner of right where Ethier tracked it down and made a somewhat lazy throw toward the infield. By that time Howard had rumbled through second and was embarking on his best Pete Rose imitation.

"Ryan is swinging the bat very good right now," said Phils skipper Charlie Manuel. "He's staying on the ball real good. It's good to see. He couldn't pick a better time to hit good. It's outstanding. Keep it up."

Howard's numbers in the playoffs have elevated him to legendary status in Phillies history. Consider:

* He is the all-time leader in RBI with 22 in 24 games; Mike Schmidt had 16 in 36 games.

* His five home runs are one shy of the club mark set by Schmidt.

* In his last 10 games, he has knocked in 18. He had a total of four RBI in his first 14 games.

* He has reached base safely in 16 straight games.

"We didn't come into the series saying we're going to walk Howard every chance we get," said Dodgers manager Joe Torre. "We're certainly not going to pitch to him with a base open and stuff like that. There was no base open in the first inning."

Though Howard's numbers do have the "wow" factor, those who have watched him during his 5-plus years with the club are now witnessing the ultimate package at the plate. Rare are the flailing swings at bad pitches and, ultimately, the many strikeouts. Howard seems to be tuned in on every pitch, in a zone that, well, can carry a team.

"Right now I'm just trying to be as disciplined as I can and be as relaxed as I can and just trying to work good AB's and get good pitches to hit," Howard said.

It also helped matters last night that, for some reason, Torre decided to throw Kuroda onto the frigid mound to begin the game, as the temperature at game-time was 46 degrees. Kuroda hadn't pitched since Sept. 28 due to a neck injury, which was compounded when he had to frequently turn and see base hits leaving vapor trails during his short stint.

Kuroda, in his second season with LA, had had some success against the Phillies before last night, winning Game 3 in last year's NLCS. He also had a 0.95 ERA against the Phils in three starts.

"I think it was more of an adjustment that I think we made as a lineup," Howard said of the team scoring six runs off the Dodgers' starter. "We went up there, took pitches, got good pitches to hit and hit them. It's really simple. Really simple."

Whether it's Kuroda, Vicente Padilla or Huston Street, it really doesn't matter to Howard right now. It has become a simple game of they throw it and he hits it - usually long and hard.

And sometimes the at-bat ends up with those unique slides.