Ryan Howard

at Philadelphia 8, Pittsburgh 7: Ryan Howard hit a tying three-run home run in the ninth inning before Paul Bako's single lifted the Phillies. at New York 4, Cincinnati 0: Jeff Francoeur had a two-run single in his Mets debut and Johan Santana (10-7) pitched seven sharp innings. Washington 13, at Houston 2: Nick Johnson, Josh Willingham and Adam Dunn hit consecutive home runs and the Nationals set season highs for hits (21) and runs.

Phillies slugger Ryan Howard belts home run for blind child. It makes a great headline and a better story. There is always some skepticism when you hear about a major leaguer hitting a home run at the request of a fan, but one of the feel-good stories of the weekend came from such a moment. Howard met a 7-year-old boy only identified as A.J. from Center Valley, Pa., on Friday night before the Phillies hosted the Miami Marlins. The story goes that A.J. asked Howard to hit a homer for him. The big first baseman did just that in the second inning when he smacked his fifth home run of the season.

Phillies slugger Ryan Howard belts home run for blind child. It makes a great headline and a better story. There is always some skepticism when you hear about a major leaguer hitting a home run at the request of a fan, but one of the feel-good stories of the weekend came from such a moment. Howard met a 7-year-old boy only identified as A.J. from Center Valley, Pa., on Friday night before the Phillies hosted the Miami Marlins. The story goes that A.J. asked Howard to hit a homer for him. The big first baseman did just that in the second inning when he smacked his fifth home run of the season.

Hey, every day deserves a good laugh, so today we bring you … James Loney! Come on, you're smiling already. And that's just off his history. Now everyone's favorite underachiever as a Dodger is able to bring a fresh chuckle. And not because of his sometimes zany personality. Guess who has the second-highest batting average in all of baseball? Who has the fifth-highest slugging percentage among all first basemen? That's right, the beleaguered Loney. Loney was included in the blockbuster trade for Nick Punto last summer , though he apparently impressed the Red Sox as much as the Dodgers the last couple of years.

The Philadelphia Phillies' season-long wave of injuries has claimed All-Star first baseman Ryan Howard for at least 15 days. Howard, who was leading the National League with 81 runs batted in, went on the disabled list Tuesday because of a sprained left ankle. The Phillies said the sprain was moderate. The 2006 NL most valuable player was hurt Sunday while sliding into second base at Washington. He traveled with the team to Miami, but when swelling in the ankle became worse, he returned to Philadelphia for an MRI exam Tuesday.

As he speaks, Ryan Howard does little half circles in his chair, spinning left and right, not impatient but not concealing that he'd rather be someplace else. The line at his locker, a guy from L.A., another from New York, the usual handful from Philadelphia, all requesting the same few minutes, runs a little deeper these days. The Phillies, dead in July, have life in September, and Howard, their husky, 26-year-old first baseman, is the man with the paddles.

The Philadelphia Phillies hit five solo home runs -- including three in the seventh inning -- and became the 12th team in major league history with a 30-homer foursome in Tuesday night's 5-3 win over the Washington Nationals. Raul Ibanez went long for the 29th and 30th times this season and Chase Utley hit No. 30, joining Ryan Howard (38) and Jayson Werth in Philadelphia's 30-homer club for 2009. Werth hit his 32nd, and Carlos Ruiz got his ninth for the Phillies. -- associated press

Ryan Howard hit the eighth grand slam of his career, a club record, and added a solo homer to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 9-6 victory over the Washington Nationals on Saturday night. After his solo shot in the second inning, Howard connected on his slam in the third to move past Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt. He came up with the bases loaded again in the sixth, and Anderson Hernandez booted his grounder to second, letting two runs score.

Jamie Moyer gave up one hit in seven innings to continue his domination of Florida, and Ryan Howard hit his 200th homer to sustain an unprecedented pace as the Philadelphia Phillies extended their winning streak to six games with a 4-0 victory Thursday night. Moyer (9-6) has won all eight of his career starts in Miami, and he's 13-2 overall against the young, free-swinging Marlins.

Ryan Howard took measures to protect his eyes, donning a pair of goggles in the Philadelphia clubhouse. He never imagined he would have to worry about his underwear. But there was Pedro Martinez , pouring beer on a pair of the slugger's shorts that dangled from a coat hanger Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park. "I don't think I've ever played on a team that's been so fun," Howard said after the Phillies eliminated the Dodgers from the National League Championship Series with a 10-4 victory in Game 5. "It's one of the funnest teams I've played on."

The Philadelphia Phillies, title contenders for several years running, came to Dodger Stadium having fallen on hard times this season. Not that it made much difference to the faltering Dodgers on Monday night. Philadelphia starter Joe Blanton held the Dodgers to two runs in eight innings, Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard hit solo home runs and the Phillies won, 3-2, in the opener of a three-game series at Dodger Stadium. Despite the return of sluggers Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier from the disabled list Friday, it was the third consecutive loss for the Dodgers and their 18th loss in the last 24 games.

The Philadelphia Phillies said Ryan Howard has a torn Achilles' tendon, and it is uncertain if he will be ready for spring training. The first baseman was injured on the final play of Philadelphia's season-ending loss to St. Louis in Game 5 of the National League division series Friday night, falling as he ran out of the batter's box on his grounder. The team said an MRI exam Saturday revealed a rupture of the left Achilles' tendon and that Howard will need surgery once the swelling goes down.

Reporting from Philadelphia An average Clydesdale lives into his late teens, early 20s. At the rate his possible farewell tour is going, Albert Pujols could wind up in a Cardinals uniform even longer. For the third time in 10 days, the Cardinals played a game that could have been the last of their season and the final one in Pujols' Hall of Fame tenure. Flinch and they go home, but instead they rode Chris Carpenter all the way into the National League Championship Series.

Game 1: Saturday, 2 p.m., TBS St. Louis (RHP Kyle Lohse, 14-8, 3.39) at Philadelphia (RHP Roy Halladay, 19-6, 2.35) Game 2: Sunday, 5 p.m., TBS St.. Louis (RHP Chris Carpenter, 11-9, 3.45) at Philadelphia (LHP Cliff Lee, 17-8, 2.40) Game 3: Tuesday, TBA Philadelphia (LHP Cole Hamels, 14-9, 2.79) at St. Louis (LHP Jaime Garcia, 13-7, 3.56) Game 4: Wednesday, TBA* Philadelphia (RHP Roy Oswalt, 9-10, 3.69) at St. Louis (RHP Edwin Jackson, 12-9, 3.79)

Reporting from Baltimore -- Ruben Amaro Jr. was hired as general manager of the Philadelphia Phillies two weeks after the team celebrated the second World Series victory in franchise history. He replaced Pat Gillick, who was voted into the Hall of Fame two years later. Talk about a tough act to follow. "I thought to myself, 'OK, this is a pretty good situation. Just don't screw it up,'" Amaro says nearly three years later. He's done better than that. Backed by ownership that supported a $60-million payroll jump over the last two seasons, Amaro has turned the Phillies into the winningest team in baseball.

Let's see, CC Sabathia and Justin Verlander aren't here, but Aaron Crow and David Robertson are. Ryan Howard and Albert Pujols weren't invited, but Pablo Sandoval and Miguel Montero were. And they call this an All-Star game? How about a Some-Stars game? Better yet, call it what it is: an exhibition. Baseball's "midsummer classic" used to be just that — the best of the major sports' All-Star contests. Now, however, it's in danger of being destroyed from within, by its own uncertainty about what exactly it's supposed to be. So let's cut the seriousness and bring back the fun. Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, embarrassed by the circumstances that led to the 2002 game's ending in a tie in his hometown of Milwaukee, has tried to imbue the game with false meaning by rewarding the winning league with home-field advantage in the World Series.

The Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies open the National League Championship Series tonight at Dodger Stadium, a rematch of last year's NLCS. Here's a glance at how the teams stack up: Offense The Dodgers finished the regular season tied with the New York Mets with the NL's best team batting average, .270, while the Phillies tied for eighth, .258, with the lowly Washington Nationals. But with Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Shane Victorino and Raul Ibanez in their lineup, the Phillies can still overpower a pitching staff in short order, which is why they led the league in runs scored (820)

PHILADELPHIA -- Aristotle believed patience to be a virtue. Ryan Howard disagrees. And Aristotle might have too, had he, like Howard, led the National League in intentional walks through his first three full seasons. "Baseball's the only game where you can completely take a person out of the outcome of the game," said Howard, who has spent many plate appearances standing in the batter's box watching the opposing pitcher play catch.

Reporting from Philadelphia — Don Mattingly recalled how he used to break down video of Cole Hamels when he was the Dodgers' hitting coach. Mattingly, now the team's manager, said he never saw Hamels pitch the way he pitched Wednesday night. "That's probably the best I've seen him," Mattingly said. The Dodgers might be performing better offensively these days, but they weren't about to hit a pitcher no other team is hitting. Hamels baffled the Dodgers over eight innings in the Philadelphia Phillies' 2-0 victory at Citizens Bank Park, improving to 8-2 and lowering his earned-run average to 2.58.

The Philadelphia Phillies' 2011 World Series championship T-shirts are not yet on sale. Crush the New York Yankees in free agency, though, and you're entitled to crow a little bit. Cliff Lee agreed to sign with the Phillies on Monday, and closer Brad Lidge was all but hawking World Series tickets Tuesday. When Cole Hamels is your No. 4 starter, behind Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt and Lee, dream big. "I just keep thinking about how many wins we're going to get in the regular season," Lidge told mlb.com, "and how dominant those guys will be in the postseason.