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New York too much for left-handed hitter
By Rob Maaddi
Associated Press
Published on Wednesday, Nov 04, 2009
PHILADELPHIA: Ryan Howard's World Series can be summed up like this: swing and miss.
Over and over, Howard has gone down swinging against the New York Yankees. Overall, the Philadelphia Phillies' slugger has struck out 12 times in the first five games, tying Willie Aikens for most whiffs in a World Series. Aikens did it with the Kansas City Royals against the Phillies in 1980.
Howard has been prone to striking out throughout his career. The 2006 National League Most Valuable Player struck out 199 times in 2007 and 2008. Only Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Mark Reynolds has struck out more times in one season.
But Howard usually mixes in a few towering homers and other big hits to go along with all his strikeouts. Not against the Yankees. Howard is batting just .158 (3-for-19) with no homers and one RBI in the Series. Heck, he has more stolen bases (one) than long balls.
''Ryan Howard is more than just a power hitter,'' Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said Tuesday. ''When he's really good, he's a very good polished looking hitter. But at the same time, when he's struggling, I think it's a little bit of both. It's the pitcher and the fact that he's not following the ball. I can tell you exactly what gets Ryan in trouble.
''It's kind of up to him. The pitcher doesn't have nothing to do with it. Basically he's just [not] completely following the ball. [When] he's staying on the ball, following the ball, and when he does that, usually things come around for him.''
Maybe the six-day layoff after the NL Championship Series affected Howard, because he was having an incredible postseason to this point. Howard was named MVP of the NLCS after hitting .333 (5-for-15) with two homers, one double, one triple and eight RBI against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He batted .375 (6-for-16) with three doubles and six RBI in the Division Series against the Colorado Rockies.
Howard had at least one RBI in eight consecutive postseason games, tying the major-league record first set by Lou Gehrig more than seven decades ago and later tied by Alex Rodriguez this year.
Now he's lost his stroke at the worst time. The defending-champion Phillies trail the Yankees 3-2 heading into Game 6 at Yankee Stadium tonight.
''I think we've made good pitches to him,'' Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. ''I think we've changed speeds on him, we've moved the ball around him. He's an extremely dangerous hitter, and if you don't make pitches, you're not going to get him out, and he proved that in the first two rounds.''
Howard ripped a double off CC Sabathia his first time up and doubled off Phil Coke in his last at-bat in the Phillies' 6-1 win in the opener. Since then, he's 1-for-14 with a bunch of K's. Howard struck out six consecutive times in one stretch, including four in Game 2. He broke that streak by popping out with two runners on in a key spot in Game 3 and then struck out in his next two trips.
The left-handed hitting Howard has faced all lefties except for A.J. Burnett and Mariano Rivera. He's 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and two walks against Burnett, and looked at a third strike in his only at-bat facing Rivera.
Somehow Howard has been successful against Sabathia. He's 2-for-6 with three strikeouts against the Yankees ace. Andy Pettitte, who'll start Game 6, struck him out twice and retired him on an infield fly.
PHILADELPHIA: Ryan Howard's World Series can be summed up like this: swing and miss.
Get the full article here.
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