Reigning National League home run king Giancarlo Stanton belted the homer that left everyone talking — if not scraping their jaws off the ground — but it was a blast from the league’s former long-ball champion that had the most impact Tuesday night.
Ryan Howard’s two-run shot in the sixth inning gave the Phillies a lead they never relinquished in beating the Miami Marlins, 7-3, at Citizens Bank Park (see Instant Replay).
That’s not a typo.
The Phillies, who entered the night averaging just 2.46 runs per game, erupted for a season-high seven thanks to something that’s been difficult to come by in the early season — extra-base hits.
Freddy Galvis smacked a two-run home run off Marlins starter Dan Haren in the first inning. Howard’s first homer of the season gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead.
Later in the game, there was a little drama. With two men on base in the seventh, Marlins lefty Mike Dunn sent Ben Revere to the ground with a high, hard one. Revere dusted himself off and drove the next pitch to right-center for a standup triple that scored two runs.
“I think [the high, hard one] woke him up a little and made him rise to the occasion with a little bit more aggression on the next swing,” manager Ryne Sandberg said. “That was a good way to answer getting one up by your head like that.”
“It was definitely a motivator,” Revere said of Dunn’s pitch. “It was big to get those two runs and boost up the lead.”
Jerome Williams had a solid start for the Phillies. He gave up three runs, one of which was unearned, in six innings. He walked one and struck out six, including the imposing Stanton with two men on base to end the top of the fifth.
Ah, but the previous inning, Stanton did what he did a league-high 37 times last season. He homered. And it was no ordinary homer. It was a 453-foot shot into the top bullpen in dead center.
Even Williams, the man who gave up the cannon shot, found a way to appreciate Stanton’s blast, which came on a full-count cutter.
“When he made contact with the ball, I didn't know it was going to go,” Williams said. “Then when the ball passed me at probably 100 mph, then I saw it go and I turned around and I was like, 'Oh boy, that's a big one.' You give them up, you give them up big. He's a good hitter, a strong kid and he took advantage of that pitch.”
Williams joked that Stanton’s homer was an “international flight — first class.”
Howard’s homer did not travel as far. He hit a first-pitch cutter — 82 mph — and it barely eluded the effort of Marcel Ozuna at the center field wall. But it counted — in lot of ways. Not only did it give the Phillies the lead, it had to have been a confidence booster for the beleaguered Howard, who entered the night hitting .175 with no homers, two RBIs, 15 strikeouts and a woeful .250 slugging percentage. Earlier in the game, Howard walked and singled.
“It feels great,” Howard said of his night. “Definitely something to build on.
“I don’t think a lot of people understand, you go out there, you swing, balls come off the bat, guys make plays. Sometimes it doesn’t go your way. All you can do it keep swinging and try to put good at-bats together.”
Howard’s home run came an inning after he made a costly error that led to a Marlins’ run.
“That’s baseball,” Howard said. “The ball kind of took a bad hop. But being able to come through in that situation and making up for it feels good.”
Howard is good people and well liked by his teammates, who were happy for his success.
“Howie's been working hard, man,” Williams said. “People always give him stuff about not working, but he's been working hard and it showed tonight. He came up big with that homer and the rest of the guys came up clutch too and came up with the rest of those runs.”
Sandberg has been looking for a night like this from his offense since the season started.
“It was good to see the crooked numbers on the offensive side, hits with men on base,” he said. “And a breakout night for Howard. He swung the bat well.”
The win left the Phillies at 5-9, not good, but better than the Marlins, who came into the season with great expectations but have stumbled out to the gate. They have lost five in a row to fall to 3-11 and manager Mike Redmond’s seat is getting hot. The Phillies will look to make it a little hotter when they send Cole Hamels to the mound Wednesday night.