Ryan Howard

A CROSSROADS is no place to get sentimental, and the Phillies have the mother of all of them looming on the horizon. Forget about whether they can claw their way back into contention. What happens on the field over the next couple of months will have little impact on the dire situation that will greet them come November, when they will no longer have three of their most productive hitters in the order under contract. Second base, third base and catcher: Good luck filling them.

PHOENIX — Every Phillies hitter had to pass Charlie Manuel before stepping into the on-deck circle Saturday. The manager positioned himself at the top of the dugout steps for the entirety of a 3-1 victory over Arizona. He talked strategy with Michael Young. He patted Ryan Howard on the back. He shook his head, slammed his fists together, and watched more offensive futility. "I was thinking there during the game," Manuel said. "We have 125 games left. We're going to hit. " On this night, three runs patched together by walks, singles, stolen bases, wild pitches, and sacrifices were enough despite 11 stranded runners.

The Phillies insisted before the game that revenge wasn't the motive, only the chance to get closer to .500. Afterward, Kevin Frandsen admitted that consecutive routs in Cleveland two weeks ago served as a motivating force. After being outscored by 20-2 by the Indians in two games, the Phillies earned revenge on Tuesday night with a 6-2 win at Citizens Bank Park. "They kicked our butt [in Cleveland] and I hope the guys would realize that and I feel like we did," said Frandsen, who got the Phillies going with a solo home run in the first inning.

What? Ryan Howard, Mr. Phillies, finished fourth in a year when the Phillies won the World Series? Well, yes. So much is made of what Howard does too much of that sometimes what he does do seems underappreciated. It is appreciated exactly the right amount. In a two-horse race, Howard finished second in NL MVP voting, well behind Albert Pujols, mainly because Howard, the 2006 MVP, struck out 199 times and hit .251, lower than any MVP winner. Howard, in his third full season, led the NL in home runs and RBI, but with all the whiffs and the laughable .215 average through June, finishing second was justice served.

NEW YORK - Ryan Howard either can't explain it or would prefer not to even try. After all, superstition is in just about every baseball player's DNA, so why invite a jinx? But for whatever reason - sharper focus, pennant-race adrenaline - September has been Howard's most productive month since he took root as the Phillies' full-time cleanup hitter in 2006. He's at it again. Howard hit an impressive bases-empty home run to tie Friday's game against the Mets at Citi Field, 3-3. It was his fifth homer in 10 games this month and third in three games.

Ryan Howard has made a number of changes since the Phillies won a World Series championship last October. He signed a multiyear contract. He dropped about 20 pounds. He labored to improve his defense. And, canny observers may have noticed, he began wearing a mouthpiece during games. The first baseman, 29, is always seeking ways to improve. When he saw Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez sporting a clear mouthpiece on his lower row of teeth last season, Howard was intrigued.

Position: First base Height, weight: 6-4, 260 Age: 29. Birthdate: Nov. 19, 1979 Hometown: St. Louis Years pro: 5 How acquired: Drafted by the Phillies in the fifth round of the 2001 amateur draft. This year: Howard is again in the middle of the National League MVP race after he hit .279 with 45 home runs and 141 RBI in the regular season. Even when he struggles to hit for average - he's a career .279 hitter - Howard has the ability to carry a team with his production numbers.

It wasn't hard to score Ryan Howard's appearance on the the "Late Show with David Letterman" last night. The Phillies first baseman hit a grand slam. Howard, while obviously more at home on the baseball diamond, more than held his own. Time after time, Letterman lobbed softball questions that the Phillies star hit out of the park to the delight and laughter of the audience. In one lighthearted exchange, Letterman discussed whether Ryan anticipated pitches. "You're a tremendous hitter," Letterman said.

ON THE DAY AFTER the All-Star Game was played in Phoenix without Ryan Howard, this column is directed at the haters and bashers who have been coming out of the woodwork in larger numbers than usual. They are predictable as smog in a heat wave. They pretend to be knowledgable baseball fans, but trip themselves up every time because they are dead wrong. And egregiously stupid. I hear the reason why he was not voted into the All-Star Game by the fans - and Phillies fans basically ignored him while stuffing the ballot box for an injured Shane Victorino - is because the National League has all these great first basemen.

The scoreboard has been kind to the Phillies. While they slip, slide and fall in their modest pursuit of reaching .500, the Atlanta Braves and Washington Nationals have failed to pull away. It's hard to believe that any team could have a worse on-base percentage than the .304 the Phillies have posted through 41 games. But five teams do, and the Nationals, at .292, are one of them. The Braves, meanwhile, started 13-2 and have gone 9-16 since. The misfortune of others will not matter if the Phillies cannot fix their myriad problems.

Cliff Lee pitched and hit well enough to earn a win. He had to settle for being picked up by his teammates. Eighth-inning RBIs by Domonic Brown and Carlos Ruiz broke the tie and led the Phillies to a 5-3 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Friday at Citizens Bank Park. "A comeback win like this means a lot and shows the character of this team," Brown said. With the score tied at 3-3, Michael Young drew a one-out walk in the Phillies eighth. Ryan Howard, of all players, then reached base on a check-swinging bunt that reliever Sean Marshall couldn't handle.

ROY HALLADAY yesterday had surgery to repair his $20 million shoulder, which, with the rest of him, was 36 years and 1 day old. The surgery likely will end his season and surely will alter his career. Mike Adams, the Phillies' featured addition to their pitching staff, has pitched through aches all season and is shelved for the time being with a back injury. Veteran middle man Chad Durbin, usually lousy early in seasons, has been lousy early this season. Huge reliever Phillippe Aumont, a 24-year-old who had pitched in 31 major league games since he was called up in late August, has pitched like a giant 24-year-old with about a half-season of experience.

There have been times this season and in the past when Cole Hamels has been a victim. He would be consistently great and the Phillies' offense would be constantly absent. This was not one of those times. The Phillies arrived at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday morning with a chance to extend their winning streak to four games, a modest accomplishment they have failed to achieve this season. With Hamels facing Cleveland's Corey Kluber, a righthander with a career 5.42 ERA in 20 games, the Phillies had to be energized upon arrival, which is the way you are supposed to feel whenever your ace takes the mound.

MAY IS A month in which any amount of optimism can be excused, and if you spend enough time scanning the airwaves and sports pages in this town you will find a number of sources attempting to talk themselves into believing in this Phillies team. Some of that might be the result of a coping mechanism - the thought of 4 months of meaningless baseball is a weighty thought to process - but even the most ardent of cynics cannot deny the multitude of variables that could blossom into positives between now and October.

JUSTIN DE FRATUS is a guy who knows he might be one pitch away from the minors, and Mark Reynolds is a guy who is tied for the American League lead with 11 home runs, and when the two men faced each other last night, one represented the go-ahead run and one represented his team's chance at preventing it. But De Fratus knew what needed to be done, and he did it by throwing the exact pitch he knew Reynolds would be looking for: a 92-mph fastball in...

The Phillies insisted before the game that revenge wasn't the motive, only the chance to get closer to .500. Afterward, Kevin Frandsen admitted that consecutive routs in Cleveland two weeks ago served as a motivating force. After being outscored by 20-2 by the Indians in two games, the Phillies earned revenge on Tuesday night with a 6-2 win at Citizens Bank Park. "They kicked our butt [in Cleveland] and I hope the guys would realize that and I feel like we did," said Frandsen, who got the Phillies going with a solo home run in the first inning.

PHOENIX - The Phillies won but Charlie Manuel was distracted. He uncapped a blue marker and doodled on his worn lineup card late Saturday night in the desert. He never lifted his head when asked about his hitters' finally executing in key situations to snap a three-game losing skid. The 69-year-old manager mumbled. He repeated a message heard so frequently in the last 13 months, and his plodding tone suggested that even Manuel had doubts about it. "We don't need to get down and everything," Manuel said.

PHOENIX - Of the 32,785 people who filed into Chase Field on Mother's Day, there was one whose voice carried the loudest, with the convertible ballpark's roof closed. He was seated somewhere along the first-base line and he continually heckled Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard yesterday afternoon. "Swing . . . miss!" "Big spot, game on the line, no pressure!" "Eat fresh!" If nothing else, the man was creative in co-opting Howard's favorite sandwich brand's catchphrase into his material.

PHOENIX - Ryan Howard stepped to the plate in the 10th inning Sunday with the burden of 18 consecutive hitless at-bats. "Stop thinking," Howard told himself. "Don't try to think. " A man seated behind the Phillies dugout had heckled Howard all game. Now, he yelled again and everyone at Chase Field could hear. "Big spot!" the fan screamed. "Game on the line! No pressure!" A thrilling 4-2 Phillies victory emerged from Howard's bat. He snapped a fastball thrown by Matt Reynolds, an Arizona lefthander who had not allowed a run all season, for a two-run single.