Midnight’s Children

The Phillies bats finally erupted last night in Washington with 8 runs in the 6th inning as they cruised to a 12-2 win behind the pitching of Jamie Moyer. Ryan Howard led the way with a pair of homers including one into the second deck in right center. The first homer to be hit there in the Nationals new park. Shane Vicotino and Pedro Feliz also homered for the Phillies. The offensive explosion was needed by the Phillies as they had scored only one run in the previous two games against Washington. Howard collected three hits and lifted his average to a whopping .195 for the season. He has been hitting the ball (yes hitting) better lately and appears to be getting his aact together at the plate. The Phillies will need his offense to make a run for the title. At the same time Pat Burrell has gotten into a slump that has seen his average fall to .271. I hate to see this happen to Burrell because he has worked so hard to improve at the plate. You could really see his confidence at the beginning of the season. He needs to stick with it and just iron out a few mimor things in his swing and he will be alright. Pat needs to stay back and keep the weight on his back foot and stride into the ball. When he starts diving at those low outside breaking balls he gets all out of whack and that is enough to throw him into a slump. Watch the tape and make the adjustment Pat. The Phillies are off to Houston to play the Astros for a four game weekend series. Adam Eaton gets the ball tonight so I hope the Philles bring their bats with them because they need all the offense they can get. Eaton is by far the worst pitcher on the staff and shoudl be shown the door.