Categories: 2009 RecapsPosts

Howard Can’t Hit Enough Homers To Top Fish

Everything looked so good on the road; they come home, and the Phillies look bad again.

The Phils lost 5-3 to the Marlins. Ryan Howard smashed two home runs; everyone else went 4-for-27 against Marlins pitching. The offensive lull hurt a workable start by Jamie Moyer — he allowed four runs in six innings, three of them coming by a Wes Helms home run that should’ve never happened because of a squeezed strike zone by home plate umpire Marvin Hudson (one of the worst umpiring jobs this year). Still, Moyer walked two and allowed seven innings.

Chan Ho Park also gave up a run through his three innings of clean-up work.

The Phils led off the ninth with a Shane Victorino walk, but the Flyin’ Hawaiian made a boneheaded move, dashing for second and being caught immediately. This, coupled with Jimmy Rollins’ first inning mistake trying to stretch a wild throw, calls for concern with first-base coach Davey Lopes. Something seems off on the basepaths this year, doesn’t it?

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.