9,..and Counting!

As you know,..last week the TrekMedic predicted that Ryan Howard would hit 65 homers by the end of the season.

Last night,..he made that mark look easy!

Howard smacks two in Moyer's gem
Slugger ups his Major League-leading homer total to 56
By Ken Mandel / MLB.com

MIAMI -- Ryan Howard's dossier is already overflowing with reasons on why he should be the National League's Most Valuable Player.

He provided two more on Friday in another pivotal game against the Marlins.

The Phillies slugger swatted two homers in a 3-2 win at Dolphin Stadium, providing all three runs to support lefty Jamie Moyer's best outing with his new team. Philadelphia added another game of distance between it and Florida and kept the pressure on San Diego in the National League Wild Card race.

"Stay out of his way," said manager Charlie Manuel. "He's going to hurt you. I don't see how you can get any better than that. He just goes up there to hit the ball hard."

Now for the statistics portion of the story, in which Howard's amazing season has picked up incredible steam. In the past 16 games, he's 26-for-56 (.464) with 13 homers, 26 RBIs and 20 runs scored. He has 28 homers and 67 RBIs in the 54 games since the All-Star break, and hasn't gone more than four games without a homer in that span. His seventh multihomer game this season tied him with Dick Allen for the most in franchise history.

With 56 home runs, he's tied for the 15th best single-season total in Major League history, matching Hack Wilson (1930) and the twice-reached amount of his idol, Ken Griffey Jr. (1997-98).

"He's got more power than Ken had, but Ken was a great hitter, too," said Moyer, who played with Griffey from 1996-99. "He was the guy you wanted at the plate when the game was on the line. We're starting to see that with Ryan, too."

The game might as well have been on the line when Howard strolled to the plate with one out in the sixth inning. Marlins starter Scott Olsen had allowed his third base hit two batters earlier to Shane Victorino, and then he threw a fastball up to Howard. Though he said he wasn't happy with his swing on that particular pitch, it didn't matter.

It wasn't even a full swing. Left fielder Josh Willingham backpedaled to the wall, but he was kidding himself. The ball landed over the scoreboard in the second deck.

"I wasn't sure [if it would go], because it got up so high," Howard said. "I thought it might hit the fence. I hit it more towards the end of the bat."

The homer was the second allowed to a lefty this season by Olsen. The third came in the eighth. Howard's No. 56 landed in the right-field seats.

"He's got quick hands, a quick bat and he's very strong," Olsen said. "He's going to get it."

After the second homer, Olsen angrily threw down the rosin bag, though Howard said he didn't see it.

"No," he said. "I heard [his reaction] after the first one, though."

TrekMedic addendum:

On another blog, the TrekMedic recently opined on the Albert Pujols vs Ryan Howard MVP race:


While Albert Pujols probably has more of a skill set than Ryan Howard, that doesn't necessarily make him the most valuable player. At times, Ryan's slugging has single-handedly kept the Phils' wild-card chances alive. He's also matured greatly from last year, lowering his strike-outs and increasing his on-base percentage through patience at the plate.
Now,..if the Phils could only capitalize on that by putting a REAL hitter behind him, instead of Pat "Bat-on-my-shoulder" Burrell, imagine the damage this team could REALLY do!