 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Ryan Howard is evoking that noise these days. Hallelujah. Two home runs in last night's 8-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox, both leaving the park like bottle rockets, both to the left side of the field. Later, he added a triple to right-center, belly-flopping into third as the 45,026 reveled in silencing the renegades on hand from Red Sox Nation. His average is up to .224, he's tied for the National League RBI lead, and has 19 home runs. It's a joy to see.
Chase? Not so much. For most of the season's first 10 weeks, Utley owned that sound the way Miles Davis owned jazz. Home runs, doubles, they all exploded with that sweet-spot sound, making him the top All-Star vote-getter, putting MVP on everyone's lips.
He looked lost out there last night, though, and his recent at-bats have suggested a game going more south than north. Three of the first four Phillies batters hit the ball to the wall or beyond off Sox starter Bartolo Colon. Utley struck out.
He popped to first in the second, tried to bunt for a hit to lead off the fifth. His best piece of offense was a ball hit so slowly to short in the sixth inning that it could not be turned into an inning-ending doubleplay. It knocked in the seventh run. So even on his worst night, he found a way to be productive.
He was 0-for-5, his hardest batted ball an angry hack in the eighth inning that settled into Jacoby Ellsbury's glove just beyond the reach of the infield. He hit .265 during the recent road trip, which by itself is not too bad. But to watch him last night was to watch a man groping for answers, and his skyward look after popping up was a rare, rare, expression of frustration.
"Right now, he looks like he's uh, kind of - well, he's not hitting the ball like he's been,'' manager Charlie Manuel said.
This would be cause for a civic meltdown if Howard looked anything like the lurching, leaning lug that he has for long stretches of his uneven season. His latest two homers gave him four over his last eight games. More significantly, he is hitting .343 during that stretch, with 17 runs batted in, and is now tied for the league lead with Utley and Luis Gonzalez, tied for second behind Utley in the home-run chase with 19.
"He's putting the bat on the ball again, and he's definitely seeing the ball better,'' Manuel said. "Because he's waiting a little bit more. And he's starting to look for pitches. Lefties still are giving him some problems. But he's figuring out them, too.''
Just don't ask him to share those insights. Before the game, after the game, Howard is the essence of obfuscation. Words like "finally,'' or phrases like "figuring it out'' are unrelentingly met with generic answers about helping the team win, about staying relaxed, about anything but hand position or waiting on the ball.
"I'm not looking into it like that anymore,'' he said when someone dropped another finally on him. "I'm just trying to relax up there as much as possible and whatever happens, happens. Just trying to get pitches.''
He struck out twice. Did he want to cut them down? He said he wasn't thinking that way. Was it gratifying to be as close to the power leaders as he was despite his low average and high strikeouts? Again, he wasn't thinking that way.
"For me right now, it's just going out there and trying to do my part,'' Howard said. "Whatever the numbers are, that doesn't matter. Right now, it's just going out there and trying to do my part.''
About the best he could do was when someone asked whether those opposite-field home runs were a sign that the funk of the first 2 months finally was in his rearview mirror.
"It's seeing the ball,'' he said. "Seeing the ball, seeing the ball deep in the zone and letting it travel and getting my hands to the ball.''
It all sounded like the stuff coming this season from the man in the locker two down from his, the Phillie responsible for creating that sound of wonder for most of this season.
The locker was empty. Chase Utley was working on the next game.
"I'm sure he'll figure it out pretty soon,'' Manuel said. "His work ethic is off the charts. So he'll be OK.'' *
Send e-mail to donnels@phillynews.com.
|
|
|
|
|
|
REGIONAL SCOREBOARD
Latest Sports Blogs
TOP STORIES
Green
today's poll
express headlines
Promotions
photo GALLERY
|
|
|
email this
print this
reprint or license this
