Howard, Phillies energized by late-season run
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Howard, Phillies energized by late-season run
Marc Narducci
Ryan Howard said he kept a simple outlook as he and his Phillies teammates continued to grind things out when most had counted them out.
Not that the Phillies still don’t have major work to do, but they are within three games of the St. Louis Cardinals for the second wild card spot with 11 to play after Friday’s 6-2 win over the Atlanta Braves.
To be honest, not many, including this reporter, ever though that Phillies games entering the fourth week of September would have so much meaning. Howard insists he never bought into the talk of the Phillies demise.
“I never gave up on anything and that is why it’s a 162-game season,” he said. “A lot of people saw what happened last year and that is why you play them all and you never know what happens.”
Last year it was the Cardinals who came roaring back, when most had counted them out.
Now it’s the Phillies, along with the Milwaukee Brewers.
Milwaukee has made just as impressive of a run as the Phillies and actually only trail the Cardinals by 1.5 games.
Either way, the Phillies are definitely energized to still be playing meaningful baseball.
“It’s a great feeling,” said Howard, who has hit home runs in three consecutive games and now has 299 for his career. “This is the end of the season and the playoff push is right there and that is what you play for.”
And just because he insists that he isn’t surprised by the fact that the Phillies are playing meaningful games, doesn’t mean that Howard and his teammates aren’t enjoying this ride.
“To be in the hunt with everything that has gone on this year, being three games out now, it’s fun and an exciting time.”
In winning five straight division titles, one World Series and two National League pennants, maybe the Phillies took winning for granted, even subconsciously.
Now they are appreciating each win, and even after a disastrous weekend in Houston, they have bounced back.
So they will scoreboard watch a little more than usual, but as Howard explained, they can only take care of the task at hand.
At the very least, they have put tremendous pressure on the teams ahead of them. As recently as Aug. 17, the Phillies were 54-65. Since then they are 23-9.
Every game now has a playoff feel to it and based on where this team was even a month ago, this would have been impossible to envision for just about anybody but Howard and the rest of the team.
Howard is clueless. Don't care about the worthless states he picks up against sub par pitchers. And please let's STOP using the injury card which was certainly not there against the Giants and Cards, or do we not remember.— Campatent- Wow, thanks for the breath of fresh air, campatent. Howard's on a pace to hit well over a hundred rbis despite the injury and it's not a card it' s a fact. When you hit 299 homers in the majors or one,instead of sitting on your couch with a remote, maybe your opinion would matter. But for now, you're just a jerk.— jewel98
- Jewel 1 Campgoat o
Another shutout
— NewMick314 - If RH keeps getting hotter, I'm assuming teams will not pitch to him pretty soon,providing key opportunities for Brown and Mayberry...Only way to combat that is get the bases full for the big guy to clear...Despite the nightmare of a season, these September games are meaningful...so make em count...Run the table!— bearsfriend
- Sorry,Ruiz will get pitches to hit,too. — bearsfriend
- If nose was playing all year, phils would be in the postseason.— Jay Grace 69
- I ask my haters of Ryan Howard a similar question...Would you hate him this much if he made $16M a year? Question 2 is always if your boss came over to you and offered to overpay for your services because they think the market for your position will vastly increase in 3 years (when your contract is up) do you declune the large pay raise? With that I say shut up and let the guy play and your hatred should go to RAJ.— rvb2321
- No offense to Howard but getting hot now is just a coincidence. There's no need to invent a narrative around it. If he had such control over it, he would have gotten hot last week so they'd be in much better shape today. Once pitchers start pitching around him, he'll get cold again. Let's just hope the Phils can keep winning.— Phillies2008WSChamps
- Campatent, you are trash. You must be a miserable person. Let me guess, you probably got cut from every high school team. Perhaps you got lucky & made the football team one year and scored one touchdown during a JV game and live of that memory whenever you need to feel good about yourself. Maybe you are tired of having to make $6 an hour every year for the last 3 years b/c you are not good enough to earn more. Whatever the reason RH wast the fastest player to hit 100, 200 & soon 300 in MLB HISTORY. So get a life.— Jay25
- Howard is hitting over 300 with runners in scoring position. What was Hunter Pence hitting prior to the trade. Bottom line Howard is very productive and has been hit or miss in the clutch. Would you rather have Pence in the clutch. Chooch is having a career year.— cth
- To be honest, I'd rather have both. — bearsfriend
- I can't believe how ignorant today's commenters are. They attack Campatent for telling the truth which they are too dumb to remember. Since they can't accept the truth, they kill the messenger. The Phils got kayoed by the Giants and the Cards in the playoffs despite the best pitching staff in baseball, and it was Howard who led the troops to dead man's land. In both 2010 and 2011 the Phils had the absolute worst offense. Putting runners in scoring position was a sure bet to end the inning---batting UNDER .200 in the playoffs. Oh, by the way, your big hero struck out more than anyone in baseball during those two playoffs. Of course, unlike today, he was facing major league pitching.— donmargolis
- Bottom line is keep wildcard2 in sight. GO PHILLIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!— Darryl Cofield
