Howard awakens, helps Phillies to 3rd straight win

(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Between the NFL Draft and the Flyers game, I'll admit that I didn't plan on spending much time watching the Phillies game today. Luckily, thanks to Ryan Howard finally waking up from his slumber, the Phillies offense put the game away early, scoring 5 runs in the first inning to lead the Phillies to an 8-4 victory over the Pirates.

Howard had been mired in a deep funk, striking out numerous times and looking lost at the plate recently, but he bounced back today with a towering 2-run home run in the first inning. Of course, Howard also struck out 2 times later in the game, but we can all learn to live with the strikeouts if he keeps hitting bombs. Chase Utley continued his hot hitting, getting a pair of hits and scoring two runs.

Kyle Kendrick also put together a solid pitching performance tonight against a weak hitting Pirates team. Kendrick pitched 7 innings and gave up 4 runs, 3 of them earned. Ryan Madsen and Rudy Seanez threw two shutout innings to continue the bullpen's current hot streak.

The win was the Phillies 3rd in a row and the 6th in their last 7 games. They go for the sweep over the Pirates tomorrow afternoon with Brett Myers taking the mound.

Highlights of the game courtesy of Comcast SportsNet: