Ryan Howard knew it was gone as soon as he hit it.The big man flung his bat to the ground and watched his 2 run shot take off into the upper deck seats in right field. The home run was an absolute bomb and it gave the Phillies a 2 run lead.
But the big man wasn't done yet. After Ben Francisco's 2 RBI single in the 5th, Ryan Howard belted a grand slam home run in the 6th to give the Phils a commanding 8-0 lead, and put his RBI total at 6 for the night.
Filling in for injured Joe Blanton, Vance Worley was awesome in his spot start pitching 6 scoreless innings. It wasn't all smooth sailing, Worley had to survive a bizarre first inning in which Placido Polanco and Jimmy Rollins committed back to back errors. But Worley stayed calm and eventually got an inning ending double play. Worley got into another jam in the sixth when he put the first two men on. But he remained calm and got another double play and a fly ball to get out of the jam.
Michael Stutes replaced Worley in the bottom of the seventh. Stutes walked the first batter but got the next three batters out to complete his scoreless inning. And even with a 8 run lead the Phils weren't done at the plate. In the bottom of the inning Placido Polanco laced his franchise record 39th hit in April to score Raul Ibanez and Pete Orr.
Danys Baez pitched a scoreless 8th, and after David Herndon gave up 3 runs in the 9th the Phils eventually won by a final of 10-3. Worley looked like a true veteran out there remaining calm even when he got into jams. The Phils offense had 10 hits and they seem to be coming alive just in time for this home stand.
By taking the series opener, the Phils will look to win the series tomorrow when they send Roy Halladay to the mound.
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