The Phils completed their series with the Braves tonight, looking to rebound from yesterday's heartbreaking loss. J.A Happ got the start and he like Cole Hamels was not at his sharpest, but he kept his poise and toughed out 7 and 2/3rd innings, while allowing just 1 run on 3 hits. Meanwhile, Ryan Howard singlehandedly powered the Phils to the win, with a solo homer in the 2nd inning and a 3 run homer in the 6th inning to give the Phils a 4-1 lead. Ryan Madson then took the baton from Happ and finished off the 8th inning by striking out Matt Diaz. From there Scott Eyre retired the 1st 2 batters in the bottom of the 9th inning and walked the 3rd, Greg Norton, prompting Charlie Manuel to call for Brad Lidge to get the final out. Thankfully this time it was no problem as he got Omar Infante to pop up to shallow right-center field, right into the glove of Chase Utley. So tonight at least Lidge was okay, as he always is when the Phils are leading by more than 1. August is turning out to be Ryan Howard's month as he has now homered 4 times in the last 3 games. Known for his 2nd half hot streaks, it seems Howard is picking it up at just the right time. It would have been nice though to see some of his teammates help him out, but hopefully they will join him again before long. So anyway the Phils move to 66-49 overall and now back to 4.5 games up in the NL East.
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