Ryan Howard was the Rookie of the Year three years ago and the MVP in 2006. He turned in another spectacular year in 2007 as he’s compiled some dazzling numbers so far in his major league career. In 410 games in the majors, Howard is 425 for 1,461 (.291 avg, 1.007 OPS) with 255 runs scored, 129 homers and 353 RBIs. The Phillies might be a tad concerned with Howard’s 493 career whiffs but they probably shouldn’t mess with success and just let him keep swinging hard like he always does. When Howard makes contact he’s hitting an amazing .439 which shows how hard he hits the ball.

The Phillies have cut ties with infielder Abraham Nunez and catcher Rod Barajas.  Nunez was signed to a big three year contact 2 years ago as a free agent after he had a career year in 2005 for the Cardinals.  He has been such a disappointment that the Phillies paid him the $350,000 buyout in his contract to get rid of him.  He played in 136 games this season and he was 59 for 252 (.234 avg, .600 OPS) with 24 runs scored, 0 homers and 16 RBIs.  In his two seasons with the Phillies, Nunez played in 259 games and he hit .222 with 66 runs scored, 2 homers and had 48 RBIs.  Backup catcher Rod Barajas was a huge disappointment for the Phillies as Carlos Ruiz took the starting job that was supposed to belong to Barajas.  He played in 48 games this season and he was 28 for 122 (.230 avg, .745 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 4 homers and 10 RBIs.

The Philadelphia Phillies’ bats were silent against the Rockies and it ended their season.  Shane Victorino hit a solo homer in the 7th inning to tie the game at 1, but the Rockies got a pinch hit, run scoring single against J.C. Romero to seal the game and the series.  Ryan Howard (1 for 4) and Carlos Ruiz (1 for 2) were the only other Phillies that could muster a hit against the Rockies in this game.

The Phillies wasted a stellar effort from Jamie Moyer who worked the first six innings of this game and he only allowed 5 hits, 1 earned run, walked 2 batters and whiffed 2.  Reliever J.C. Romero was the loser as he worked 1/3 of an inning and he allowed 3 hits and 1 earned run.  The Phillies have lost this series 3-0 to the Rockies.

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=271006127&date=20071006

The Phillies are officially in deep trouble after this afternoon’s baseball game.  The pitching staff was abused all day long by the Rockies.  Kyle Kendrick made the mistake of leaving the game with the bases loaded and Kyle Lohse gave up a GRAND SLAM to the first batter he faced (Kazuo Matsui).  Make no mistake though, Kendrick was awful in his own right.  He pitched 3.2 innings and he allowed 5 hits, 5 earned runs, walked 2 batters and struck two out.  Kyle Lohse brought in the gas can for the Phillies.  He pitched 1.1 innings and he allowed only 1 hit (the Grand Salami) and 1 earned run.  Jose Mesa followed Lohse and he was putrid as he only worked 1/3 of an inning and he allowed 1 hit, 3 earned runs and walked 2 batters.  He was lustily booed his whole appearance.  Clay Condrey put the final shovel full of dirt on the Phillies today.  He worked 1.2 innings and he allowed 4 hits, 1 earned run and he whiffed 2. 

On the bright side a few of the Phillies swung the bat well.  Jimmy Rollins was outstanding as he was 2 for 5 with a triple, homer, scored a run and drove in 4!  Chase Utley rebounded for a bad first game as he went 2 for 5.  Ryan Howard also had a good game as he went 2 for 4 with a solo homer.

The Phillies are now down 2-0 to the Rockies.

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=271004122

The Phillies just couldn’t get much going against Rockies’ starting pitcher Jeff Francis who was a pitcher the Phillies dominated during the regular season.  Chase Utley and Ryan Howard went a combined 0 for 8 with 6 strikeouts in yesterday’s game!  The Phillies can’t win this series unless those guys hit the ball.  Aaron Rowand and Pat Burrell both hit solo homers off of Francis but that was the extent of the offense for the Phillies.  Phillies’ starting pitcher Cole Hamels gave up 3 runs in the 2nd inning but he settled down and pitched well the rest of the way.  He worked 6.2 innings and he allowed 3 hits, 3 earned runs, walked 4 batters and whiffed 7, but, he was still the losing pitcher.  Tom Gordon relieved Hamels and he didn’t help matters as he gave up a solo homer to Matt Holliday of the Rockies to close the scoring.  The Rockies lead the series 1-0.

http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=271003122&date=20071003