Ryan Howard busted out the lumber for game one of the Boston-Philly series last night. He started off with a 2-run shot in the first inning, following it up with a solo shot, and for an encore he ran like a man possessed and dove into third base for a triple.
The Red Sox had no answer for the Phillies' potent offense. And, Cole Hamels more than got the job done by shutting down Boston's bats-to the tune of just a pair of solo homers and 7 hits over 7 innings.
Bartolo Colon looked like the bottom feeder he's become in the past few years as opposed to the pitcher with the sub-4.00 ERA heading into last night's game.
The Phillies would have shut the Red Sox out had Hamels not given up back-to-back solo homers to Pedroia and Drew (a typical Hamels syndrome in his young career).
Now it looks like Ryan Howard is steadily making his way back to a respectable batting average. Meanwhile, what the hell is going on with Utley? His average has dropped about 20 points in the past week and he continues to choke with runners on base.
Maybe just a mid-season slide, but they can ill-afford to have him play like this for much longer.
The Phils will take on the Sox again tonight-same time, same place. Jamie Moyer will take the hill against Jon Lester tonight. Should be a pitching duel tonight.
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