By JACK McCAFFERY
jmccaffery@delcotimes.com
@JackMcCaffery
PHILADELPHIA - Ryan Howard hit a lengthy home run. Roy Halladay won the game. Chase Utley drove in runs. Jimmy Rollins blasted a double into the corner. And the Phillies rallied twice to outscore a good team.
It was a reminder of what was. The Phillies are left to hope that their 12-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds Monday gave a capacity crowd of 44,341 was also a glimpse at what might be again.
All they know is that they are on a three-game winning streak, are driving the ball with authority, are running the bases with aggression and are finally playing some appealing outfield defense. And while all of that has brought them nothing more than a record eight games below .500, it has also been a shocking exhibit that there may be something left in their program, even if their season has been reduced to affecting, not participating, in pennant races.
“Yeah,” Charlie Manuel said. “We can definitely make an impact.”
So they did Monday, opening a 10-game homestand by spraying the N.L. Central-leading Reds with 15 hits and nostalgia.
Howard walloped a solo homer to deep right in the third, and Erik Kratz and John Mayberry also homered, but the Phillies still needed a classic four-run fifth to gain control on a night when Halladay was effective, if less than overpowering.
“For me, that was one of the best offensive games we had all year,” Halladay said. “It seemed like everybody was involved. One through nine, we were doing everything. We were getting extra-base hits. We were hitting home runs. Guys were getting on base. It wasn't one or two guys”
After Cincinnati took a 5-3 lead with a three-run fifth, the Phillies responded as they had too infrequently in their lost season. Juan Pierre, who was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and stolen bases No. 30 and 31, rapped one-out single to center, then scored on Utley's double to left. Howard was walked intentionally before Mayberry drove in Utley to force a 5-5 tie.
Domonic Brown, already having shown off his powerful arm in right field, delivered a two-run double to put the Phils ahead to stay.
Despite two rough innings, Halladay was game in improving to 7-7, and he continued to show that he is returning to form after an injury-perforated season.
“I think his last couple times out, he showed his arm strength has gotten better,” Charlie Manuel said before the game. “But also I think that Roy is a guy that has to pitch. With the more repetitions he gets, we should see his velocity creep up again. I’d say he’s going to get up to around 94 again and get to a point where he can control 91 to 94.”
Halladay lasted seven innings, surviving 10 hits and striking out three. By then, the Phils had inflated their lead to 10-5 with a three-run sixth, begun with Rollins' double, including a sacrifice fly RBI from Utley and featuring Mayberry's two-run homer, his 11th of the season.
“I saw the ball pretty well,” Mayberry said. “And it always helps to get good pitches to hit.”
Cincinnati built a 2-0 first inning lead, but starting pitcher Mike Leake had little and fell to 5-8. The Reds added three in the fifth, including one while Jay Bruce was being picked off, Brandon Phillips sneaking home amid 2-3-4-3-6 defensive acrobatics.
Placido Polanco, who had been on the disabled list with back issues since July 26, returned to start at third, and he walked and later scored on a Pierre ground-out in the seventh. Kratz made it 12-5 with a sacrifice fly, plating Mayberry, in the eighth.
B.J. Rosenberg, Antonio Bastardo and Josh Lindblom provided calm from the bullpen, allowing the Phillies to enjoy the progression of Halladay, if not every one of his boxscore figures.
Halladay is 3-2 since returning from the disabled list with a strained back.
“I felt that tonight, he definitely didn't have his best command,” Manuel said. “But he battled.”
The Phillies, still battling, have won six of their last nine.