PHILADELPHIA -- With the bases loaded, Ryan Howard knew he was going to get a pitch to hit. [url=http://www.authenticbearsnflfan

Posted in IYH Forums by jokergreen0220 at 07:03, Oct 19 2017

PHILADELPHIA -- With the bases loaded, Ryan Howard knew he was going to get a pitch to hit. Dick Butkus Jersey . It was just a matter of waiting for the right one. Howard hit a grand slam, capping a five-run rally in the eighth inning that lifted the Philadelphia Phillies over the Houston Astros 6-5 on Thursday night. "I knew going in he was going to bury some sliders and I had to keep off the sliders," Howard said. "Bases loaded, I knew at some point he had to give me something to hit. Hes got to give me a strike." Chris Carter hit two homers and drove in four runs for Houston, which lost its eighth straight in Philadelphia. "This was a pretty tough loss," Astros manager Bo Porter said. Carlos Ruiz and Ben Revere each had two hits as the Phillies completed a three-game sweep. Mario Hollands (2-1) pitched two scoreless innings, and Jonathan Papelbon pitched the ninth for his 27th save in 30 chances. Howard connected with two outs on a full-count pitch from Tony Sipp (2-2). "The matchup was what we wanted," Porter said. "He beat the best guy we have down there." Marc Krauss also homered for Houston. Philadelphia trailed 5-1 entering the eighth after Colin McHugh threw seven strong innings for the Astros. Houston reliever Josh Fields gave up hits to three of the four batters he faced, including Cody Asches RBI single that made it 5-2. Sipp allowed a single to Jimmy Rollins to load the bases with one out. After Chase Utley flied out, Howard homered into the seats in left-centre field. "I hit it pretty flush," Howard said. "I got it pretty good. Off the bat, yeah, I pretty much knew. But that wind started kicking up a little bit. I was happy it was enough." Howard pointed to his family after crossing home plate and then took a curtain call. It was the third homer and 11th RBI in 12 games since manager Ryne Sandberg benched the struggling slugger for three games, July 23-25. Howard has endured boos and some negative reaction to comments he had made regarding the treatment he has received. "Its unfortunate, to be honest with you, that thats what happens," Howard said. "But Im going to go out there and continue to play. I understand what it takes to play the game. It wasnt there early, but I just needed it to be there once and it was there for me, so Im going to try to build off that." Howard also drove in the winning run in the Phillies 2-1, 15-inning win over Houston on Tuesday. Sipp and the Astros werent able to keep him down this week. "I hold myself to a high standard, so I have to make sure it doesnt happen again," Sipp said. Carter hit his second homer of the game and 24th of the season, a two-run drive in the third. He leads the majors with 11 home runs since the start of July. TRAINERS ROOM Astros: Reliever Josh Zeid had the first of two foot operations on his right foot on Wednesday, and the Astros deemed it successful. Zeid will have the same surgery on his left foot in six weeks. The right-hander appeared in 23 games this season with a 6.79 ERA in 20 2/3 innings. He last pitched on July 24. ... Outfielder George Springer will rejoin the Astros in Houston on Friday, but his status will be evaluated prior to the game. He was on pace to be activated from the DL (quadriceps), but his return is in question after he left Wednesdays rehab start at Single-A Quad Cities because of discomfort. Phillies: Cliff Lees season officially is over. That was the indication on Wednesday when his locker was cleaned out, and the Phillies made the announcement on Thursday that Lee wont pitch again in 2014 due to a Grade 2 strain of his left elbow. Lee will require rest but not surgery and will begin a throwing program in September or October with the hope that he will be healthy for spring training. UP NEXT Astros: Houston returns home to host intrastate rival Texas on Friday night in a matchup of the teams with the worst records in the AL West. Astros left-hander Brett Oberholtzer (4-7, 4.17) faces right-hander Miles Mikolas (1-4, 7.29). Oberholtzer, in his fourth stint in the big leagues this season, is 4-1 with a 3.08 ERA in his last eight starts. Phillies: Philadelphia hosts the Mets for the first of four on Friday night. Right-hander A.J. Burnett (6-11, 4.16) opposes New York righty Bartolo Colon (10-9, 4.12) in a meeting of veterans who are a combined 78 years old. Two-time Cy Young winner and eight-time All-Star Roy Halladay also will be on the mound for the Phillies, but in a ceremonial capacity. Halladay will throw out the first pitch as the Phillies welcome back former players on alumni weekend. Travelling MAN Phillies starter Sean OSullivan gave up three homers in six innings. He was summoned from Toledo, Ohio, where the Phillies Triple-A team was playing, after Philadelphia traded pitcher Roberto Hernandez to the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier Thursday. OSullivan had started the second game of a doubleheader on June 28 against Atlanta in his only other big league appearance this season. He was just about to take a nap around 1:00 Thursday afternoon when he got the call to catch a plane to Philadelphia. He arrived at the airport around 5:30, but it took him 30 minutes to take the short trip to the ballpark due to rush-hour traffic, giving him about an hour to get ready for a start. He wasnt deterred by the crazy travel schedule though. "I could have shown up at 7:02 and I would have been ready to go," he said. "Im just happy to be here, happy for the opportunity." TOUGH LUCK McHugh was in line for his first victory since June 3 after allowing one run and five hits, striking out eight, and walking none. He is 0-6 in his last nine starts and has a 1.86 ERA on the road overall. "McHugh did a great job but our bullpen wasnt able to hold it together," Porter said. UNUSUAL DOUBLE PLAY Philadelphias Grady Sizemore was involved in an unusual 6-5-6 double play in the second inning. Asche hit a soft liner behind second base where shortstop Marvin Gonzalez was positioned. Sizemore held up at second base to see if Gonzalez would catch the ball, but when it dropped in front of Gonzalez he was caught in no mans land. Gonzalez stepped on second to force out Carlos Ruiz, who was on first, and then got Sizemore out in a rundown. That twin killing was one of six double plays in the game, four of which were converted by Philadelphia to tie a season high. BASES IN GOOD HANDS The Phillies brought out three recipients of the Purple Heart to change the bases after the third inning. Purple Heart recipients Shawn Lees, Bryon Yoder and Carol Eggert changed the bases while receiving a standing ovation from the crowd of 26,609 fans and applause from the Astros and Phillies players. Pat ODonnell Jersey . Berkman almost left the game last off-season before signing with the Texas Rangers. He then had another injury-plagued season and was limited to 73 games. Dion Sims Jersey . Messis father, Jorge Horacio Messi, is apparently still under investigation for an alleged 4 million euros ($5.3 million) in unpaid taxes from Messis image rights from 2007-09. Messis public relations firm confirmed Spanish media reports that the state prosecutor has asked for Messi to be dropped from the investigation that began in June 2013. http://www.authenticbearsnflfansmall.com/c-38-bears-kyle-long-jersey.aspx . A judge had summoned Clemens and Brian McNamee to federal court in Brooklyn for settlement talks aimed at heading off a trial in the defamation case. McNamees lawyer emerged saying an agreement wasnt likely. "I think this is a case where the lines are deeply drawn in the sand," said attorney Richard Emery. NEW YORK -- The New York Rangers came up short in their first shot at clinching a playoff berth. The Ottawa Senators bounced back from a humbling loss and gave their flickering post-season chances a slight spark. When all was said and done Saturday night, the Senators skated off with a 3-2 win at Madison Square Garden that boosted their hopes and delayed any celebration for the host Rangers. "Were just trying to win games," said Senators captain Jason Spezza, whose second-period goal was the winner. "Were trying to build some momentum, win games and play right. "If were winning games, it will be a more enjoyable end of the season." The Senators shook off a 7-4 loss to Montreal on Friday when a 3-0 lead was wiped out by seven straight goals against them. Ottawa is five points behind the second wild card in the Eastern Conference, but the Senators will have to jump over four teams with only four games left to get into the playoffs. "We wanted to have a response just for the morale of the group," Spezza said. "We know its been a disappointing year, we know that we havent reached expectations, but we still have these games left to play so we want to win them." Robin Lehner made 41 saves and held off a furious late push by the Rangers, who still need one point to secure a playoff spot. They could qualify before their next game if New Jersey loses to Calgary on Monday. The Rangers will host Carolina on Tuesday. "We are still in a good spot," defenceman Dan Girardi said. "Its in our hands to get that win in our next game, and hopefully secure home ice in the first round." New York, with three games remaining, would get that if it keeps its hold on second place in the Metropolitan Division over Philadelphia, which lost at Boston on Saturday. The Flyers trail by four points with five games left. The Rangers, back home after a 2-1-1 Western road trip, started slowly and trailed 2-0 in the first period. Mark Stone and Mika Zibanejad put Ottawa in front, and Spezza made it 3-1 in the second. Mats Zuccarello deflected in two goals in the second to bring the Rangers within a goal each time. Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves. "I hope our mindset is not to clinch. Its about getting the home advantage," Lundqvist said. "Id rather look ahead than behind me." Ottawa grabbed the lead with 7:15 left in the first off a rush. Clarke McArthur made a paass from the left circle to Stone, who gathered the puck on the inside edge of the right circle and snapped a shot past Lundqvist for his third goal of the season and second in seven games. Kevin White Jersey. Less than a minute later, Carl Hagelin had two prime scoring chances near the left post, but was denied by Lehner and then again on the rebound. Rick Nash, who recorded seven shots, then had a breakaway chance, but his in-close stuff attempt was stopped by Lehner with 2:48 left in the first. "We won and Im happy," Lehner said. "(My teammates) were helping me with rebounds, and I saw most pucks. They had some good chances, but I think we played better." Ottawa turned the puck right around and made it 2-0 just 11 seconds later. Zack Smith won a faceoff in the Rangers zone back to Zibanejad, who worked his way into the slot and ripped a shot by Lundqvist for his 16th of the season and second in two nights. Martin St. Louis nearly got the Rangers on the board, but he was stopped on a partial breakaway by defenceman Erik Karlsson, less than a minute after Lundqvist sticked away Chris Neils hard drive. Rangers defenceman John Moore, in his second game following a six-game absence caused by a concussion, fired a hard, rising shot from the left point that sailed into traffic, struck Zuccarello and nestled in the net to make it 2-1 at 5:25. Ottawa restored its two-goal lead 3:02 later after the Rangers couldnt gain control of the puck. Karlsson ripped a drive from the centre of the blue line that disappeared in a huddle of bodies in the crease, but was then poked in by Spezza, who wasnt overly impressed by his 20th goal. "Its nice to get but its pretty insignificant, especially in a year where you dont make the playoffs," he said. New York cut its deficit back to a goal with 8:05 remaining in the second. Zuccarello swung the puck behind the net and around the boards to Marc Staal, who took a shot from above the left circle that Zuccarello deflected in for his 19th goal. The Rangers hurt their comeback chances in the final moments when they retaliated for what appeared to be a late hit by Neil on Staal. New York was short-handed for 2 minutes of the final 2:47. NOTES: Ottawa is 4-7-3 in the second of back-to-back games this season. ... Spezza has eight 20-goal seasons in the NHL. ... New York defenceman Ryan McDonagh (shoulder) missed his second straight game. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '