Friday is starting to seem like ages ago. The Phillies were in great shape at the start of the weekend. Winners of eight straight with Roy Oswalt, the most coveted player before the deadline, set to make his Phillies' debut.
Now, they come out hobbled. Oswalt was roughed up on Friday and Brad Lidge blew another game on Saturday to secure a series win for Washington. Now, Ryan Howard left today's game in the first inning with what appeared to be an ankle injury.
Much has been made of Howard's health throughout the years; while the Phillies were racking up injury after injury, Howard has been the one constant in the lineup. He rounded second base on Ben Francisco's RBI single, but turned around and went back into second just before the throw. He took an awkward hop into the bag and seemed to turn his ankle. Howard required help getting off the field and his status remains to be seen.
The Phillies can ill afford to lose their iron horse. So far this year, Howard has appeared in 103 games. In 2009 he played in 160. In 2008 he played in all 162. Phillies fans are holding their collective breaths across the Deleware Valley that Howard's injury is not serious.
Fortunately, the Phillies are holding a 2-0 lead after one and Cole Hamels looked sharp in the first. Hopefully they hold on to salvage a game in this series, even with their four, five hitters being Cody Ransom and Francisco respectively.
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