Game Recap:
Ryan Howard hit two home runs and Cliff Lee pitched seven strong innings to lead the Phillies to their third straight win over the New York Mets.
What went right?
Shane Victorino was 1-3 with a run scored.
Chase Utley was 1-4 and scored twice.
Ryan Howard went 2-5 with two home runs and five RBI, making him the first Phillie since Chuck Klein to have four straight 30 home run, 100 RBI seasons.
Raul Ibanez was 2-5 with an RBI.
Cliff Lee pitched seven innings, allowing two runs (none earned) on six hits. He struck out five and didn't walk a batter.
Chan Ho Park and Brad Lidge worked clean innings to finish off the win.
What went wrong?
Pedro Feliz was 0-4.
Paul Bako was 0-4.
Game Analysis:
When Ryan Howard is hitting and Cliff Lee is on the mound, you expect to win every time out. That's exactly what happened today, as the Phillies took their third straight against the Mets and moved to seven games up on Atlanta in the National League East.
It's been said time and time again how good Cliff Lee has been for the Phillies, but the man isn't human right now. In 40 innings with the Phillies, Lee has allowed just three earned runs. His ERA is 0.68 and he hasn't walked a batter in over two full games. His ERA for the season is now lower than Roy Halladay's, and the fact that the Phils didn't have to give up J.A. Happ for him looks better and better each time Happ goes out and pitches. Simply put, this pitcher might have been exactly what the Phillies needed to push them over the edge this year. Would you like to face a postseason pitching rotation of Cliff Lee, J.A. Happ, Joe Blanton and Cole Hamels? I don't think so. When Cole Hamels is the weakest out of those four pitchers, you know something is going right.
What else can be said about Ryan Howard right now? The big man just keeps getting better and better as the calender moves closer to September. If you go back to August 13th, Howard has eight home runs and 22 RBI since then. The man is on fire, and the way he plays later in the season means that it's only going to get better. Plus, Raul Ibanez looked better today, and hopefully he can break out of his funk and get swinging again. If Ibanez can start matching what Utley, Werth and Howard are doing, there isn't a team in the National League that can match what the Phillies have in the middle of their lineup.
It was a good series against the Mets, and it was expected, too. The Phillies came in and beat a team that they should beat. They're going to have to do this the rest of the season, because it's not going to get any easier after these next three games.
Tomorrow, Joe Blanton (8-6, 3.86 ERA) takes on Pittsburgh's Ross Ohlendorf (11-8, 4.15 ERA). The Pirates have been hot of late, so let's see if the Phillies can cool them down and put even more distance between them and the rest of the National League East.
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