Howard sinks to 7th in order as Phillies lose fifth straight

WASHINGTON - Four batters after Chase Utley took his first hacks, the Phillies' highest-paid position player stepped into the Nationals Park batter's box. It was the second inning. There were two outs.

The 10th game of the season presented a new reality for Ryan Howard, No. 7 hitter in manager Ryne Sandberg's lineup. The beleaguered first baseman through 27 at-bats had struggled to connect on a barrage of fastballs, the same pitches he used to feast on as one of baseball's elite power hitters.

Howard had not seen his name listed seventh on a lineup card since April 21, 2006. That was 1,179 starts ago.

Howard, who entered this year owed $60 million, was 1 for 3 with a ninth-inning single Thursday in the Phillies' 5-2 loss to Washington, the team's fifth straight defeat.

"I've been in situations like this before," said Howard, hitting .167 (5 for 30) with three doubles, one RBI, and 10 strikeouts to one walk. "You just continue to play the game and that's it. We're 10 games in. Just keep playing. Keep grinding. It's a long season. We may be having a completely different conversation 10 games from now. The only thing you can do is just go out there and play."

Howard has 334 career homers, but now the longtime cleanup hitter is one of baseball's most untradeable players.

Sandberg's new-look lineup managed only five hits against the Nationals (4-6), and the Phillies' starting pitching surrendered five runs for the third consecutive night.

This time it was ace Cole Hamels (0-2), who mystifyingly surrendered two more solo home runs. The 31-year-old lefthander has allowed seven home runs - all solo shots - in 18 innings this season after giving up 14 last year in 2042/3 innings.

The opposition continues to make him pay for the pitches he leaves elevated.

"The position I'm in, I'm supposed to be that guy who stops the slide or stops the bleeding, however you want to call it," said Hamels, who also balked for the second time in three starts. "Not being able to do it today is definitely frustrating. But we have to look at tomorrow and hope things stop and make the adjustments and try to rattle off a couple wins here."

Howard twice flew out to former teammate Jayson Werth before singling to shallow right field. He also reached base in the fourth inning when Nationals manager Matt Williams called for an intentional walk of Howard to load the bases, a moment that briefly conjured memories from the latter half of the previous decade.

Sandberg pulled Howard aside Thursday afternoon to let him know of the lineup alteration. The manager explained that he created the lineup he thought gave the Phillies the best chance to win Thursday behind Hamels. He liked the balance of righthanded and lefthanded bats. Jeff Francoeur hit cleanup, the spot in which Howard has 1,099 career starts, and the red-hot Cody Asche shifted to the No. 5 hole. Carlos Ruiz hit sixth.

"Do I feel I can hit fourth? Yeah, I know I can," Howard said. "But I think that's one of the things where you just kind of look at it as an internal challenge to get back to where you know you are. I'm not worried about it. I'm not trying to look too far into it or anything like that. But take it for what it is. If I'm hitting in the seven-hole, do the best I can that day."

.167

Ryan Howard's

batting average.

1 for 3

His performance Thursday, when he batted seventh

for the first time.

11

His strikeout total

in eight games.EndText

@jakemkaplan