Phillie bats come alive in support of Myers

First the pitching was the issue, then more recently the bats weren't holding up their end. Today, it all came together for the Phillies, who rode 16 hits and great pitching by Brett Myers to a 10-2 victory over the Houston Astros.

Myers went 7 strong innings, giving up 5 hits and striking out 8 batters. After a rocky start to the season for Myers, he appears to have settled back into the rotation with his last two quality starts. Tom Gordon got some work in the 8th inning and managed to get through the inning unscathed, lowering his ERA to 9.45.

The Phillies featured a new combination at the top of their line-up: So Taguchi leading off and Greg Dobbs batting second. This combo proved to be the best yet for Charlie Manuel, as the Phillies got 3 runs in the first and never looked back. They got home runs from their 3-4-5 hitters, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell. Chris Coste also got four hits, one of them 2-run bomb in the 8th inning. It was a total team effort, with every Phillie starter getting at least 2 hits except for Crappy Eric Bruntlett, who went 0 for 5.

The Phillies picked up a solid series win over the Astros. It is especially important that they didn't look past the Astros and ahead to this weekend's big series with the Mets. The Mets series begins with a huge pitching match-up between Johan Santana and Cole Hamels.