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Late homers by Howard, Feliz lift Phils past Cards

Jul 10, 2008 - 4:35 AM By Larry Dougherty PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Ryan Howard may not be an All-Star, but he is putting up slugging numbers like one.

The 2006 MVP connected for his 25th homer to lead off the eighth inning and lift the Phillies to a 4-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park.

howard also had a RBI single in fifth inning, extending his hitting streak to 12 games and increasing his National League-leading RBI total to 80, the most ever by a Phillie at the All-Star break.

"If you look, he has a high batting average with guys in scoring position," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "You expect so much out of him. When he strikes out with guys on base you always notice that he is the guy that did that, but when you sit back and look at what he is really doing, he is the guy who is knocking in some big runs. How can you knock a guy who is leading the league in RBIs and has 25 homers at the break."

The win snapped a four-game losing streak by the Phillies, who have seen their lead in the NL East dwindle to a mere 1 1/2 games over Florida and New York.

Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz led off the fifth inning with a single and Jimmy Rollins tripled him home for the game's first run. Rollins was gunned down at the plate on a Shane Victorino grounder to Izturis with the Cardinals playing a drawn in infield. Chase Utley followed with a single and Howard delivered a RBI single to right, scoring Victorino to make it 2-0.

The runs came off St. Louis reliever Brad Thompson, who was called into emergency service in the first inning when starter Mark Mulder, making his much anticipated 2008 debut as a starter, left the game after three batters due to left shoulder discomfort.

"That's a real tough break for him more than anybody else," St. Louis manager Tony LaRussa said. "He's a great pitcher when he's healthy. I feel really bad for him, more than I do for us."

Philadelphia rookie J.A. Happ was impressive in his second start since being called up from Class AAA Lehigh Valley. He pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out five.

The rookie ran into trouble in the seventh inning when Cesar Izturis singled and Skip Shumaker drove one to deep center that stuck in the base of the wall for a ground-rule double.

"It is another confidence booster," Happ said. "As innings go on and games go on, hopefully I can earn a spot."

Chad Durbin relieved Happ and allowed a sacrifice fly to Albert Pujols and a game-tying RBI single to Troy Glaus that scored Shumaker.

Howard's hit his eighth-inning blast off Kyle McClellan (1-4) to make a winner out of Clay Condrey (2-1), who struck out the side in the top of the frame. Feliz added an insurance run with a solo shot to left three batters later.

"I threw another slider inside and off the plate a little bit, but he did a good job of getting to it," McClellan said of Howard's homer. "I missed my spot and he did what he was supposed to do."

Brad Lidge closed out the game for his 20th save in 20 opportunities.