Give Ryan Howard this much: If you're only going to get one hit for the entire series in Arizona, he couldn't have picked a better moment.
Howard's single in the top of the 10th drove in Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley, and provided the margin for a 4-2 Phils win that also gave them a winning record (4-3) for their West Coast trip. Read about it here.
Howard had gone hitless in Arizona up to that point, 18 consecutive at-bats without reaching base. And he was apparently hearing it from a hecker in the stands.
Too bad it came too late for Kyle Kendrick. The Phils' best starter so far this year gave up two runs in the first inning, then throttled the D-Backs through seven innings. Unfortunately, the Phils's bats were again silent, before they rallied to tie it in the ninth and win it in the 10th.
Kendrick remains 4-1. He should be getting some serious talk for the National League All-Star team if he can keep this up.
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We are now exactly one month out from the golf world arriving here in Delaware County for the U.S. Open at Merion.
I think Tiger Woods is ready.
Woods won the Players Championship yesterday, as his closest competitors, including Sergio Garcia, fell by the wayside. Read about it here. In Garcia's case, he fell into the drink. Sergio hit two tee balls on the famous island green 17th into the water, then followed that up by hitting his tee ball on 18 into the water as well. The meltdown cost him about $800,000, let alone any chance of tying Woods.
Tiger will play at Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament in a couple of weeks, but expect the drums to start beating for the golf world to arrive in Delco in a month for the U.S. Open at Merion.
We plan to offer special coverage all month as the nation's open championship comes to the hallowed greens of Merion right here in Delaware County.
We'll kick this all off tomorrow with our 'Countdown to the U.S. Open,' a daily nugget that will run each day for the next 30 days.
Tiger certainly looks like the man to beat. Yesterday's win was the 78th of his career, and the first time he has hit four tournament wins this early in the year.
Look out Merion, there's a Tiger on the prowl.
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