Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard was a double short of the cycle when he stepped to the plate against Rockies reliever Boone Logan in the seventh inning of Sunday’s series finale in Colorado. To that point, he had singled in the first, hit a two-run home run in the third, and tripled in the sixth.
The Phillies had just tied the game up at 6-6 and Jimmy Rollins was on third base with one out. Logan threw an 0-2 breaking ball and Howard pulled it to right field. Brandon Barnes charged in on it and tried to play it on a hop, but the ball skipped under his glove. Rollins scored and Howard pulled into second with what could have been a double, giving him the cycle. But the scorer ruled it a single and a fielding error on Barnes.
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Howard finished the day 4-for-5 — tying a career-high in hits in a single game — with three runs scored and three runs batted in as the Phillies won 10-9.