Ryan Howard Leads Phillies over Braves
September 18, 2009 by Stephen Kersey
Filed under News, Stats and Analysis
The Philadelphia Phillies were recently struggling and their hold on the NL East seemed to be slipping. But with a 9-4 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Friday, the Phillies have now won six games in a row and they have all but clinched their division.
Leading the way for the Phillies was slugging first baseman Ryan Howard. In the fourth inning, Howard hit a two-run blast. In the sixth, he followed up his previous at-bat with a solo home run. Jimmy Rollins and Ben Francisco also hit homers for the Phillies.
The win gave the Phillies an 8-game lead over the Florida Marlins and an 8.5-game lead over the Braves in the NL East. From August 25th through September 7th, Philadelphia had lost eight of 13 games and the team failed to score more than four runs in any of those contests.
With the 2009 baseball playoffs right around the corner, the Phillies seem to be heating up at exactly the right time.
Ryan Howard is going for another World Series title (Image: Zuma Press)
