What a game last night. The Phils blogosphere was bashing Ryan Howard unendingly yesterday. I didn’t think the verbal punishment was necessary, and last night Howard stood up for me. He went 3/5, he two homers and a double, and knocked in four. Howard is now hitting .269 for the week with 4 dingers and 8 RBIs. Those are the kind of numbers to expect out of the big man. Last week I said Howard was back. I’m sticking by words.

Jamie Moyer continued to defy reality last night. He pitched 6 innings and allowed no runs and 7 hits. Cole Condrey contributed with a 3 inning save. But the pitching wouldn’t even matter last night. Evidently, the team decided they were sick of all the talk of slumps and followed Howard’s lead. Shane Victorino and Pedro Feliz combined for 3 hits a piece, and Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and Chris Coste all had two hits. Pat Burrell didn’t get the memo, he was O for 4.

Oh, the Nats? Matt Chico was out after 5. He only let up 4 of the runs. Jesus Colome was put in to endure a beating of his own. He let up 6 earned runs in the 6th inning. Chris Schroder let up two himself in relief of Colome.

-Greg Berlin