Howard not in lineup
A day after going ballistic and being ejected in the 14th inning of the Phillies' 4-2 loss, Ryan Howard is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game.
Howard not in lineup
Matt Gelb, Inquirer Staff Writer
A day after going ballistic and being ejected in the 14th inning of the Phillies' 4-2 loss, Ryan Howard is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game.
Howard, as of yet, has not been suspended by Major League Baseball for his actions Tuesday. For now, it appears this is a day off for the first baseman to collect his thoughts and rest.
Howard was 0 for 7 with five strikeouts Tuesday -- the most strikeouts he's ever had in a game. In fact, he tied a franchise record and was just the seventh Phillie to ever strikeout five times in a game. The others:
Pat Burrell, Sept. 16, 2008
Jim Thome, July 2, 2004
Scott Rolen, Aug. 23, 1999
Darren Daulton, April 16, 1991
Larry Hisle, May 28, 1970
Dick Allen, June 28, 1964
Rolen, Hisle and Allen each did it in just five at-bats.
The rest of the lineup that will face former Phillie J.A. Happ:
1. Jimmy Rollins SS
2. Shane Victorino CF
3. Placido Polanco 3B
4. Chase Utley 2B
5. Jayson Werth RF
6. Mike Sweeney 1B
7. Ben Francisco LF
8. Carlos Ruiz C
9. Roy Halladay P
Comments (39)
That's not bad company to keep.— Jeffrey- Good, the southpaw Happ would make him look foolish today.— ronin32
- that's the lineup for tonight? kind of a joke, huh?— fishthing
- Makes me think of the old adage, "the best defense is a good offense." After a pathetic 5 strikeout performance, why not try to deflect the focus? I like Howard, but in this case he came across as, simply and sadly, a Loser.— CarpGuy
Comment removed.- can't wait to see how ugly they make this game tonight...— tralala
- Werth should be on the bench too, but good old "right/left, left/right" Charlie strikes again...— fcskills
- That's a pretty respectable list of players there. I guess they don't let just anyone get up for that 5th at bat after striking out 4 times.— jaybatt79
utley shud be benched as well,,,valdez cab fill in...he s a righty— hardball- Carpguy, you must not have stayed up to actually watch the game. I am in no ways a violent guy, was watching the game from home and I wanted to fight the ump last night. No doubt the frustration played a big part, but when another adult is showing you up and intentionally egging you on and then throws you out of the game in that situation its hard to keep your cool. It was bush league from the ump.— jaybatt79
- Has any player been suspended for simply blowing a gasket but avoiding contact with the ump and stopping short of doing something stupid, like tossing bats from the dugout? The home plate ump blocked Howard's way; it wasn't like he was going after him. Thanks to Polanco, Ryan didn't get close to Berry, from what I remember.— frankenslade
- It makes sense to give Howard a rest against Happ after last night. And finally Charlie gave Francisco a much needed start. What I don't understand is why Utley is batting clean up agaisnt a lefty for the second time in the last 7 games. Utley hasn't hit much for power since returning from the DL: No HR, only 1 xtra base hit (2B) and 2 RBI in 7 games.— EL Zorro
- I DO NOT LIKE MOVE, HOWARD NEEDS AT-BATS RIGHT NOW TO GET OUT OF FUNK, HE HAS BEEN OUT FOR 3+ WEEKS, NEEDS SOME AT-BATS TO GET IN GROOVE FOR SEPT.— LOUESPO
- What makes me angry is that everyone seems to think, "Halladay is pitching tonight! Things will be better"... Folks... last time I checked, in order to win a ball game YOU HAVE TO HIT THE BALL. Unless we start hitting, even Jesus Christ pitching couldn't save this team.— cemego
- Comment removed.
- Fishthing, I hate to tell you but this lineup played pretty well while Howard and Utley were injured— micconway
- Tori Hunter got suspended this season for going bonkers. But he did make contact and also started throwing equipment onto the field. I don't think anything Howard did would warrant a suspension. It's not Howard's fault the 3rd base umpire couldn't control his bowels...— realzeel
- This is what I was afraid of. The team was actually scoring some runs and now these two come back and it starts all over again. I know they're pedigree, blah, blah,blah, but just look at the stats. Utley is having an awful year and howards stats are there, but that doesn't change the fact that they didn't break out of the scoring funk until the subs started playing more. Now Utley and Howard are back, and the runs are gone. These guys better wake up or this is gonna be over soon. Can't win 2-1 every night.— newintown
It would be nice if Utley were to rediscover his power stroke. He should be well rested. The Phillies' power outage is starting to get alarming. Ruiz and Rollins shouldn't be the only guys dropping 'em into the seats.- These people on here crying about Howard and Utley kill me. They both have been out for some time and need to play to get in a groove. Anyone who thinks playing Sweeny, Valdez, or any other bench player is going to get us back to the World Series is and idiot. Sure the guys on the bench have to play but, there is a reason they are bench players. We need Howard and Utley playing well to get to the playoffs and then the series, that isn't going to happen sitting on the bench.— phillies09
- GET REAL ...THAT UMP. JUST CAMP UP AS A TEMP. FROM THE MINORS...WHEN THE LEAGUE SEES HIS WORK ON THE FIELD LAST NIGHT...HE'S BACK TO THE MINORS FOR RETRAINING OF HOW TO BE A BIG LEAGUE UMP...— onephillyphil
- Howard can't hit lefthanders anyway. Good move.— dctwmt
Howard is obviously not back to his old self yet, I vote for not letting him kill someone in his mounting frustration. And Raul would probably prefer to rest his old bones after last night. I like the lineup.— gho_matt- its funny reading people criticize Charlie for using the right/left match-ups all the time...because no other manager in the history of the game ever did the smart, sensible thing.— ESFjellin
- Stop blaming the umpire!!! 2 runs in 16 innings against the lowly Astros. Maybe you have to keep Howard and Utley in the lineup, but they don't have to bat 3rd and 4th. Maybe you bat them 6th and 7th until they get their stroke back. The team cannot afford to have 2 easy outs batting 3rd and 4th, especially the way the rest of the team is hitting. And by the way, they umpire probably did us a favor by throwing Howard out, at least Oswald puts the bat on the ball and swung at pitches in the strike zone.— foreclosure11
- Who thinks that, @cemego? I don't hear anyone saying that.— itsRyan
- I have a problem with referees in sports in general! When a player loses his cool its automatic suspension, besides Tim Donaghy when was the last ref/ump suspended? They make mistakes and never any suspensions. Howard lost his cool so what! The umpire tried to stare him down, I would have punched him!— city slicker
- On an unrelated question, Should Charlie go after Manny Ramirez and platoon him in left field with Raul as well as a PH? Inquiring minds wanna know.— phillyfunk
- Comment removed.
- Hope the fans BOO the hell out of ump Scott Barry tonight ... and make his life miserable.— misterhman
- Howard was already in a slump even before he got injured. Its probably a good idea to let him cool his heels tonight against a left hander. He may get a few more days to do that once MLB hands him a suspension for his actions. Maybe its my imagination but Howard is looking like he's lost a lot of his power this year. Balls that in the past would have been homeruns are now being caught on the warning track. Maybe he should gain back the weight he lost last winter. He was becoming the best $20 million dollar singles hitter in the league before he stopped getting any hits at all.— SteveS11
- The ump was wrong in the first place....! Don't matter, these guys can't hit the ball... Can't hit in the clutch. I love the Phils, but this is not their year. The Braves are not going to let B. Cox retire without going out as a winner. The Braves pound the ball!! We swing and miss...sorry but that's the way I feel and I've been a Phillies fan since 1947. I can read these guys like a book. Go Phils...do something for the city!— Lynnwood
- Right on philly_mike!!!— Phillyaviator37
- Seems like a bright move to leave him out of the lineup. He would have gotten ejected just for taking his spot at first base.— redscarf
- phillies need offense bad!! i dont understand why some people always want werth to ride the bench he is batting 300 2nd highest on the team behind polanco yes he had a blonde moment and got picked off by at least he is hitting the ball ,as far as howard he still healing he came back sooner than expected so sitting may help him however i hadnt been to impressed with sweeney so dont look for any mircles— kay4phils
- Howard should have had some minor league games before he was activated. He was slumping before he got hurt. Utley worries me a bit. Before he got hurt, he seemed to have found his swing, boosted his avg. from .257 to .275, and had his compact swing. I'm concerned a hand injury could affect his hitting for a while. Not much bat speed and little power at all. But he's already made 2 great, heads-up defensive plays so far.— ijj
- @cemego...what was JC's strikeouts to walks on water ratio?— dasher
- Werth is always swinging for the fences when all he needed was a single with guys on 2nd and 3rd for two RBI's. This team is a joke, the biggest problem are the guys making 15million a year plus. 3,4 and 5 hitters arent even making productive outs. Utley hits a shallow pop up with one out and runners at 2nd and 3rd. Totally inexcusable,Utley's swing looks weak.I dont know but Phils hitters look like they are coming over of steroids or something. Werth might be hitting close to 300 but he never drives anybody in and I think he leads the MLB in solo HR's. The Phils pitching is good enough where they dont need power hitters in the 3,4 and 5 holes,just guys who do OK with RISP,thats why they were winning games. Sweeney and Gload werent trying to hit 5run HR's every swing and they were working counts. Utley Howard and Werth should just try working on making contact and maybe the power will come back on its own. I thought GG was a contact guy. Oh yea, I hate Victorino's loopy swing,Victorino and Rollins should only be trying to hit grounders and linedrives because they are the "speed" part of the Line up but what do I know. ITs been a hard year to be a fan with these awful slumps they get into but hey I said as soon as Vic,Utley and Howard come back, that one of those horrible slumps was coming with them. TOO many guys came back at once off of DL, they should have been worked in better,what was the rush? The reserves got them back into the Pennant chase!
- Told you it wasn't a bright idea putting Utley in the 4 hole against Happ. But I guess I'm the dumb one.— EL Zorro
1
About this blog
The Phillies Zone is the place for up-to-the-minute Phillies coverage from the Inquirer.
Matt Gelb
Inquirer Staff Writer
Bob Brookover
Inquirer Baseball Columnist
Search this blog:
Classifieds:
Site Services:
Partners:
Powered By:
