PHILADELPHIA (AP) -Ryan Howard had a special delivery waiting for him at his locker. Boxes full of fresh bats were ripped open, the knobs poking out and ready for the Phillies slugger to grab.
Maybe some new wood will help Howard end his postseason power outage.
The season’s major league home run (48) and RBIs (146) leader is in a long-ball funk. Howard has no home runs in 40 postseason at-bats, a 13-game homerless streak dating back to the regular season, and only three postseason RBIs.
With runners in scoring position during the World Series, he’s 0-for-4 with four strikeouts.
“I’m not worried about home runs,” Howard said Friday. “It’s not really a big deal. It’s just going out there and getting good pitches to hit. When you put a good swing on it, then it goes.”
With the World Series tied at a game apiece heading into Saturday night, Howard isn’t the only Phillies player in a funk.
Pat Burrell (0-for-6 with three strikeouts) and Jimmy Rollins (0-for-10 with three strikeouts) were lost at the plate in the Trop.
“Nobody’s panicking,” Howard said. “When you look at it, there’s a lot of missed opportunities.”
A lot?
How about 1-for-28 with runners in scoring position, including 0-for-13 as the Phillies won the opener. Even when Shane Victorino got a hit with a runner on second base in Game 2, it didn’t leave the infield and failed to drive in a run,
Philadelphia has stranded 22 runners to Tampa Bay’s seven. Phillies designated hitters Chris Coste and Gregg Dobbs combined to leave 10 men on base.
“We are getting hits. We’re just not getting the hits that count right now,” Jayson Werth said.
Philadelphia was 42-15 when Rollins scored a run in the regular season, 50-55 when he didn’t. Rollins, who declined to speak to with reporters Friday, hasn’t scored one time during the World Series. He’s 3-for-31 with 11 strikeouts in his last seven games dating to the NL championship series against Los Angeles.
“He knows when he gets on base, he starts rolling,” Howard said. “That’s when we go. He gets on base, wreaks a little havoc, we can get some runs and go from there.”
Howard and Rollins each took extra hitting with coach Milt Thompson during Friday’s workout. Manager Charlie Manuel said the RISP numbers are an indicator that Phillies were pressing.
than go for a a simple flyball or even a run-scoring grounder.
“One hit can definitely turn it around,” Chase Utley said. “It’s happened a few times during the season.”
Take Game 4 of the NLCS against the Dodgers. Philadelphia’s bats were quiet until Shane Victorino tied it in the eighth with a two-run shot and Matt Stairs put the Phillies ahead with another two-run homer.
The Phillies hit an NL-best 214 homers in the regular season, so the big inning is always possible.
“We might walk out (Saturday) and score seven, eight, 10 runs in the first inning. Who knows?” Manuel said.
While Rollins acknowledged after Game 2 he felt “a little tense” in one at-bat, Utley didn’t think nerves were a factor.
“The goal is to feel relaxed and I get the sense around here we’re all pretty relaxed,” Utley said.
Howard seemed like he might be on his way toward a breakout Game 2 with two hits off starter James Shields. Then the first baseman faltered in the late innings. In the seventh inning, Howard stuck out looking against David Price with two runners on to end the inning.
Howard had a chance to tie the score in the ninth with a homer off Price, but he meekly grounded out on the first pitch to end the game.
Hard to believe this is the same Howard who batted .352 with 11 homers and a club-record 32 RBIs in September, and helped Philadelphia win its second straight NL East title.
Howard said he feels good at the plate, he just wasn’t picking up the ball in Game 1. Game 2 was a simple matter of getting stymied by the left-handed Price.
With time to snap out of his slump running out, Howard is more concerned with quality at-bats than his home run production.
“I just want to try and get some swings and come out ready for tomorrow,” he said.
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