Howard hits third, Phils top D-Rays 5-4

Ryan Howard continued his hot hitting with his third home run of spring to help the Phils defeat the pesky Tampa Bay Devil Rays 5-4 at Progress Energy Park at Al Lang Field in St. Petersburg, Fla.

From Grapefruit League correspondent Billy Mac: "Howard's homer to left got the Phillies on the board in the in the second inning. Ryan Madson had another strong outing. He started and in three innings gave up just one hit (a double to Damon Hollins), surrendering one run and walking none. Of the 10 batters he faced, only two hit the ball out of the infield. The Phils scored three runs in the seventh with key hits being doubles by Jimmy Rollins and Michael Bourn. Arthur Rhodes pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning.

"On a side note, I was surprised the Devil Rays did not have a moment of silence today for Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett. I e-mailed Scott Palmer of the Phillies that even though Puckett did not have ties to Philadelphia or the Phillies, he was a beloved player and his passing should be acknowledged by the Phils tomorrow at the game in Clearwater. Let's hope the Phils do the right thing."

Beerleaguer take
Thanks to Billy Mac for his reports and photos from Clearwater this week, and for putting us in a warm weather baseball state of mind.

Comments

[Billy Mac]

I received a nice email response this morning from Scott Palmer that the Phils will observe a moment of silence for Kirby Puckett at today's game in Clearwater between the Phils and Devil Rays. He wrote "As a player Kirby Puckett embodied all that is good about the game of baseball. And, as you probably know, he was also a good friend of Charlie Manuel."

[That Dude]

Dontcha wish the Phils went with the Blue jerseys in the regular season?

Oh yeah

Ryan "Moon Shot" Howard

[RickSchuBlues]

No blue jerseys! The blue caps in '94 were bad enough.

[That Dude]

The blue caps were bad because they went with red jerseys. How about solid red jerseys?