Down Goes Howard, but Phillies gain back another game

Written by Mike Mariano | 02 August 2010

Wins and losses of the day get pushed to the back burner when Ryan Howard twists his ankle in the first inning.  This is the text I received from a friend of mine and manager of the classiest establishment in Philadelphia:

YO! Howard just DESTROYED his ankle heading back to second.  It was ugly, he walked off, though... With help.  I'm guessing high ankle sprain.  3 weeks.

Granted it threw my wonderful beach vacation for a loop (although spending some time out in the sand can really help a guy forget).  Well XRays were negative and we can all breathe, but the ankle of a guy that big is already under enough pressure.  I'm not sure he can afford to take some time off, but he very well may have to.  Howard is far and away the best player on the Phillies right now and has been responsible for most of the offense while guys like Ibanez and Werth find their swings again.

Back to the stuff about the games.  Phillies gained another full game with a win and a Braves loss.  Not just any win, but another extra inning affair.  The Phillies took the lead in the 11th on Polanco and Werth hits, then Brad Lidge made quick work of the bottom half to seal it.  That's not normal, but we'll take it happily.

Jayson Werth's solid play continued with two doubles from the Wolfman and it looks like slowly he's making his way back to some normalcy and back into the hitter he was.  The situation requires monitoring but I have hope.

Decent outing for Hamels, 7 innings, 4 runs, one Adam Dunn bomb.  Not his best, but let's not dwell on that on a day where the Phillies gained a full game in the standings.