News Story - Howard turns into Series strikeout king

Howard turns into Series strikeout king

By DAN GELSTON,

PHILADELPHIA (AP) Ryan Howard's home run trot has been replaced by a trudge back to the dugout.

The Phillies' big bopper has gone down swinging more than he's gone deep. He went 0 for 4 and added three more strikeouts to his growing postseason K total in Philadelphia's 8-5 loss to the Yankees in Game 3 of the World Series on Saturday night.

Howard usually mixes in the long ball with his big whiffs, but his power has been extinguished by the Yankees. He has two postseason homers - none in the first three games of the Fall Classic.

"You can have it one day, it might not be there the next day," Howard said. "The only thing you can do is show up and play again the next day."

His strikeouts keep piling up. Howard fanned against left-hander Andy Pettitte in his first two at-bats to give him six straight in the Series, two shy of tying the record of eight held by Vida Blue and David Justice.

Howard avoided that dubious distinction when he popped out to shortstop in the fifth inning to end the streak. It didn't last long: He struck out swinging against Damaso Marte in the eighth for his 17th strikeout in the postseason.

"My last couple of AB's didn't turn out the way I wanted them to, but I felt a lot better at the plate," Howard said. "I felt like I was seeing the ball a lot better. A little calmer."

Howard hit 45 homers and struck out 189 times this season. He's still 13 for 44 overall in the postseason (.295) but only 2 for 13 (.154) in the World Series.

Howard was philosophical about his hefty strikeout total.

"Sometimes you get hits, sometimes you don't," Howard said.

MORE MARIANO: New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera has become a two-inning postseason pitcher.

He threw two scoreless innings in New York's Game 2 World Series win on Thursday, and went at least that long twice in the ALCS against the Los Angeles Angels. Rivera, who saved 44 games this season, had already pitched 12 2-3 innings this postseason heading into Game 3 against Philadelphia on Saturday night.

Yankees manager Joe Girardi said before Game 3 that he wasn't looking to extend Rivera on Saturday night.

"Two innings tonight is probably out of the question," he said. "As far as getting to guys, we'll look at matchups like we've been doing, and we'll go from there."

Rivera didn't go two innings, but he couldn't take Game 3 off. After the Phillies cut the Yankees' lead to 8-5 on Carlos Ruiz's solo homer in the ninth, Girardi called on Rivera. Rivera, as usual, got the last two outs to help the Yankees go up 2-1 in the best-of-seven series.

PITCHING DUEL: Ryan Howard. Alex Rodriguez. Chase Utley. Derek Jeter. Both World Series lineups are about as loaded as they come in baseball, but the first two games were anything but a slugfest.

Philadelphia starters Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez, and New York's CC Sabathia and A.J. Burnett were outstanding in neutralizing the lineups and giving the early edge in this series to the pitchers.

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said before Game 3 he expected the big sluggers to decide some games.

"I felt like whoever won the Series, I felt that team was going to kind of hit a lot and score a lot of runs," Manuel said. "The pitching has been what you call World Series, or playoff pitching, because they get ahead of the hitters and they put the ball exactly where they've been wanting it."

Manuel was prophetic as the hitting picked up on Saturday night. Jayson Werth went deep twice and Carlos Ruiz hit a solo shot for the Phillies. Nick Swisher, Hideki Matsui and Rodriguez homered for the Yankees.

SWISH!: Nick Swisher went from slumping to swinging for the fences.

Benched in Game 2, Swisher returned to the starting lineup Saturday night and found his stroke. Swisher doubled down the left-field line in the fifth and scored on Andy Pettitte's single. He connected in the sixth for his first homer of the postseason.

Swisher was replaced in Game 2 by Jerry Hairston Jr., a move that paid off when Hairston started a seventh-inning rally in a 3-1 win. Hairston was a .370 career hitter against Phillies Game 2 starter Pedro Martinez.

Swisher had never faced Game 3 starter Cole Hamels and was batting .114 in the postseason (4 for 35), he went 2 for 4 with two runs scored and an RBI.

Swisher called his Game 2 benching "heartbreaking." Girardi's message was a simple one: relax, watch the game, enjoy the game. Swisher said the mental break was necessary.

Back in an National League park, where designated hitters are not used, the Yankees sat DH Hideki Matsui, who hasn't played the outfield since June 15, 2008, at Houston. He appeared in right field only three times that year, all in April.

Matsui hit a go-ahead homer off Martinez in Game 2.

On Saturday night, Matsui pinch hit in the eighth inning and hit a solo homer off Brett Myers to make it 8-4. Matsui was the first Yankee to hit a pinch-hit homer in the World Series since Jason Giambi did it against Florida in the 2003 Series.

TRICK OR REPEAT: The Phillies had already won the World Series at this point last season and spent Oct. 31 celebrating with a championship parade through downtown Philadelphia. It was the city's first major sports championship in 25 years.

Fans spent this Halloween at the ballpark dressed for the occasion. One group of fans wore goblin masks with their Yankees hats. One Phillies fan held a sign that read, "Who needs ghosts? We've got bats." Another said, "Trick or treat, let's repeat."

Updated November 1, 2009