Howard goes deep; Phils sweep Cubs

CHICAGO - Charlie Manuel addressed his players after the Florida Marlins completed a three-game sweep of the Phillies on Sunday, unhappy with the team's performance and focus. Today, he did not have to say anything; everyone knew that the tone had quickly improved.

Four days after silent bats and shaky pitching cost them a key divisional series, the Phillies finished off a three-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Phils prevailed, 6-1, behind eight strong innings from Cliff Lee and a tentatively resurgent Ryan Howard, who hit a three-run home run.

Lee improved to 3-0 as a Phillie, and lowered his National League earned run average to 1.13, helping the Phils earn their first sweep at Wrigley since June 1984. The success arrived at an important time.

"Charlie doesn't usually talk unless there is something he feels he needs to address," said Howard. "And, yeah, that was a wake-up call."

"It's good for us," Manuel said. "We lost three games to Florida, and actually we got outplayed. We came in here and did some things right."

As the cleanup hitter, Howard knows his productivity is essential for the lineup to succeed. He is batting just .231 in August, with a .279 on-base percentage, and for the season is second in the National League in strikeouts, with 139. But he was 3 for 7 with four runs batted in and three runs in the final two games in Chicago. Not coincidentally, the Phils won those games, after stealing a 12-inning affair Tuesday despite only three base hits.

Manuel has recently criticized Howard for poor pitch selection and failing to keep his eye on the ball. After today's game, Howard said that he was working on those skills.

"I'm trying to have a little bit better pitch selection," he said. "I've been swinging at some bad pitches lately, and just trying to clean that up a little bit. Just selective on balls, period: fastballs that aren't strikes and breaking balls that aren't strikes. Right now I'm trying to maintain and just keep my head down. I'm kind of flying off and pulling off the ball as of late."

The fourth-inning homer helped Howard avoid an undesirable record. In his first plate appearance, he struck out to tie a career high of 57 at-bats without a home run. In Howard's second at-bat, he blasted a pitch over the left-field wall and reminded the Phillies why he is their cleanup hitter.

"Today he stayed on the ball very good," Manuel said. Howard combined with third-place hitter Chase Utley to go 4 for 6, driving a lineup that has been mostly dormant of late. Over the seven days before today, the Phils sported a team batting average of .212 (compared to .258 for the season), an on-base percentage of .288 (compared to .336), and an on-base plus slugging percentage of .688 (compared to .781).

With Utley and Howard showing life again, and Lee providing another dominant start, the Phillies left Chicago in a brighter collective mood than they were in when they arrived.

"We hit the ball better and we played the game better, and we won," Manuel said. "When you win, the whole game looks different."