• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Howard hits 2 HRs, Phillies hammer Mets

Apr 30, 2011 - 3:48 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Ryan Howard belted two homers, including a grand slam, and knocked in six runs to carry the Phillies to a 10-3 rout of the Mets in the opener of a three-game series.

Howard's explosive bat backed a good outing by Vance Worley, who was called up from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to replace injured No. 5 starter Joe Blanton.

Worley (1-0) yielded just two hits and four walks in six innings, striking out five for just his second career MLB win.

"We had a number of reports on him," said Mets manager Terry Collins, "but when you haven't seen a guy before, he had a funky arm action. I'd like to see him again."

Howard moved into a tie for second place on the Phillies all-time home run list and set a team record with 27 RBI in April. Placido Polanco set a new franchise record with 39 hits in April, going 2-for-5 to break Chase Utley's mark of 38 set in 2008.

The Phillies (17-8) also set a club record for wins in April, matching the 1993 team that won the National League pennant.

Ike Davis hit a solo homer and Jason Pridie belted a two-run blast with one out in the ninth inning for New York's only runs. The Mets have lost two in a row on the heels of a six-game winning streak.

The Phillies, after beating Arizona on Wednesday to finish 5-2 on their road trip, started a nine-game homestand with a bang Friday.

The catalyst was Howard, who has three home runs in his last two games after going the previous 13 without one.

He jumped on Mike Pelfrey's first pitch sinker and hammered it 427 feet into the second deck in right field for a two-run homer in the second inning, scoring Jimmy Rollins after he led off with a single.

"I knew pretty much it was gonna go," said Howard. "It was just a matter of where and how far."

Howard was hit by a pitch in the fifth, loading the bases, and Ben Francisco pulled a two-run single through the left side of the infield that made it 4-0 and knocked Pelfrey (1-3) out of the game.

The Mets starter gave up four runs, eight hits and a walk while striking out three in his 4 1/3 innings.

Reliever Dillon Gee jammed Howard with a 2-2 fastball in the sixth, but the Phillies slugger still muscled it into the first rows of seats in right field for his 10th career grand slam.

"It's a blessing to be put in that situation and have that kind of success to be able to do something like that," Howard said. "That's one of the best things you can do as a hitter in a game, to be able to hit a home run. It makes it easy for everybody."

It was Howard's sixth homer of the season and the 259th of his career, tying him with Del Ennis on the team's all-time list. He is still well behind Mike Schmidt, of course, who hit 548 in his Hall of Fame career for the Phillies.

"I don't really ever focus on any of that kind of stuff when the season's going on. I usually take time to reflect in the offseason," Howard said. "(But) it's special to be able to be a part of something like that, to be on that list with those kind of guys."

Polanco set the April hits record with a two-run single in the seventh that scored Raul Ibanez and Pete Orr to make it 10-0. Howard came up with the bases loaded, but struck out against Tim Byrdak.

The Mets had just two hits before David Herndon gave up their home runs in the ninth. Davis hammered his fifth homer of the season to dead center field, while Pridie's second of the year landed deep in the right field seats to score Josh Thole.

Game Notes

The Phillies took 2-of-3 against the Mets earlier this month...Blanton went on the 15-day DL Thursday with a right elbow injury...Pelfrey fell to 4-7 against the Phillies...Michael Stutes and Danys Baez pitched one perfect inning apiece for Philadelphia...The Phillies had 10 hits...Pat Burrell had 24 RBI for the Phillies in April 2008.