Howard's hot bat helps Phillies beat Rockies

DENVER - Ryan Howard dropped his bat and watched for a moment as his eighth home run of the season traveled toward the center-field seats at Coors Field. An estimated 448-foot homer highlighted a big night for the Phillies' 35-year-old first baseman.

Three hits in the Phillies' 4-2 win against the Colorado Rockies increased Howard's season batting average to .257. His .507 slugging percentage through the team's first 42 games is 127 points higher than the clip he recorded last season.

Eighteen of Howard's 20 RBIs have come in the last 26 games. His recent surge - he's hit .368 since May 2 - has coincided with the Phillies' best baseball of the season; Wednesday's win was their seventh in eight games.

Howard singled and scored in the first inning, launched Eddie Butler's 1-1 slider in the third, and doubled in the seventh. It was his third multihit game of the season. Each has come in a two-week span.

"I hit it pretty flush. I had a pretty good feeling that it was going to go," he said of the home run, which according to ESPN Stats & Info was his longest since August 2011. "It felt good to be able to get the fat part of the bat on the ball."

The Phillies chased Butler, the Rockies' 24-year-old righthander, after only three innings. He needed 43 pitches to get through the first inning. Chase Utley scored on the pitcher's fielding error, and Jeff Francoeur drove in Howard with a single.

After Howard's home run - the longest of the season in 16 games at Colorado's hitter-friendly ballpark - the Phillies tacked on another run when Francoeur doubled and then scored on an Odubel Herrera single. Francoeur and Utley accounted for two hits apiece. With nine hits, the Phillies were one away from reaching double digits for the sixth time in seven games.

"I mean, I'm not really putting a whole lot of thought into it. Just playing," Howard said. "Trying to keep it simple and just play. That's it."

The early run support helped Severino Gonzalez, making just his third major-league start and his first at Coors Field. Gonzalez, recalled to take the rotation spot of Chad Billingsley (right shoulder strain), was perfect through three innings but allowed a run in the fourth.

Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg pulled Gonzalez after just five innings despite the pitcher having tossed only 65 pitches. The 22-year-old righthander allowed just the one run and five hits. He did not record a strikeout or issue a walk and lowered his ERA from 10.57 to 7.11.

"They started to get some wood on the ball, and then it was the start of the third time through the lineup," Sandberg said about the early hook. "He did a nice job. For a young kid, he really handled the conditions very well out there, too. He gave us a good start and set a good tone."

Four relievers pitched the game's final four innings for the Phillies. Jake Diekman was sharp in a scoreless sixth and was charged with a run in the seventh after Wilin Rosario, who hit a bloop double to shallow right field that Francoeur misplayed, came around to score with Luis Garcia on the mound. Garcia and Ken Giles completed the bridge to Jonathan Papelbon.

Papelbon converted his 11th save in 11 chances with a 1-2-3 ninth inning. The 34-year-old closer is five saves shy of tying Rollie Fingers for 12th place on baseball's all-time list.

"It's been a full team effort," Howard said. "The pitchers have been throwing well. We've been getting some timely hitting. Guys have been coming up in different situations and getting hits and scoring runs for us. It's all kind of just come together."