Howard having an amazing first week

On a night when the Phillies and Astros turned back the clock to 1965, Ryan Howard continued to turn up the heat on opposing pitchers. To honor the first regular season game played at the Astrodome, the two teams wore throwback jerseys dating back to 1965, but the highlight of the evening was when the Phillies slugger hit his third home run of the year in the seventh inning. Howard’s home run tied the game at 5, and the Phillies would soon get a timely base hit, as well as a later home run, from Shane Victorino to capture the lead for good.

Sure, it is early in the 2010 season, but Ryan Howard is playing exceptionally well, and the Philadelphia faithful should be encouraged by what they are seeing from the big guy. Typically, Ryan gets off to slow starts and then catches fire when the calendar turns to May or June. With the exception of his three strike outs in Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Houston, he is striking out less and picking up extra base hits when they count the most. He has 10 RBI’s already and was batting over 0.400 before Sunday’s subpar performance. Look, I know the Phillies haven’t really faced quality pitching, beating the likes of Washington and Houston, but who cares as long as he is helping the Phils pile up the wins?