Ryan Howard played in a major league game last night for the first time since rupturing his left Achilles tendon on the final out of the NLDS against the Cardinals last October. However, his return wasn’t enough to save the Phillies, as they fell 5-0 to the Braves.
Howard was greeted with a rousing standing ovation by the Philadelphia faithful for his first at-bat of the season in the second inning and responded with long drive to center field. It landed on the warning track between Michael Bourn and Jason Heyward as Howard gently galloped his way to second base. He added a looping single to shallow center field in the seventh and finished the night 2-for-4.
The game was actually scoreless until the top of the eighth inning, when Antonio Bastardo walked Freddie Freeman with the bases loaded to force in a run. The very next batter, Brian McCann, hit a grand slam to center field to give the Braves some breathing room. Tim Hudson tossed seven innings of shutout ball in the win, despite not striking out a batter.
The Phillies are just 1-8 since the return of Chase Utley (and 0-1 since the return of Howard) and now sit at 37-48 on the season. This is the first time the club has been 11 games under .500 since June 5, 2002. The clock is ticking.
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