Starting Five: Phillies' Howard Making MVP Case

Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.

You Oughta Know ...
That Ryan Howard is trying to challenge Albert Pujols for National League MVP.

Howard homered twice, doubled and drove in three runs Friday in the Phillies' 4-2 defeat of the Braves. Philadelphia now has an eight-game lead in the NL East.

"It makes you feel good when he starts hitting," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "He's amazing. He'll take two swings and not look too good, then all of a sudden he stays on a pitch and smokes it out of the yard. He's a tremendous hitter."

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Pujols, who hit a walk-off homer Friday, has 41 home runs, 108 RBI, a .440 on-base percentage and a .666 slugging percentage.

Howard has 37 homers, 111 RBI, a .352 on-base percentage and a .572 slugging percentage.

But Howard is heating up as the September nears. Over his past 15 games, Howard is 20-for-59 (.339) with 11 homers and 29 RBI.

He has also excelled in divisional play, with 19 homers and 46 RBI in 51 games against NL East teams.

Howard leads the NL in go-ahead RBI (36) and game-winning RBI (17), and the Phillies are 25-7 when he homers.

From the Trainer's Room ...
After a defeat of the Rangers, the Twins put third baseman Joe Crede on the disabled list because of his chronically bad back. Crede is hitting just .229 but he has 15 homers and 48 RBI in 328 at-bats while other Minnesota third basemen have combined for one homer and 16 RBI in 172 at-bats.

Numbers Game ...
Pittsburgh lost for the 19th straight time in Milwaukee, tying a major-league record. Toronto lost 19 straight at Baltimore in 1978-81. One player, Ryan Doumit, remains from the Bucs starting lineup on May 3, 2007 -- the last time the Pirates won at Miller Park. Chris Duffy, Jack Wilson, Freddy Sanchez, Jason Bay, Xavier Nady, Jose Bautista, Ronny Paulino and Tom Gorzelanny have all since departed.

In Their Own Words ...
"Timmy showed what he's about. He's a guy you want on the mound in a game like this. He knew how big this game was." -- Giants manager Bruce Bochy on ace Tim Lincecum, who threw a season-high 127 pitches while holding the Rockies to four hits in eight scoreless innings, enabling San Francisco to get within two games of the wild-card lead

Advance Scouting ...
There's only a game difference in their record, but the Rays and Tigers, who meet today in Detroit (4:05 PM ET), are in much different situations. Tampa Bay is 4 1/2 games out in the AL wild-card race and sends the the mound lefty David Price, who is 0-4 with an 8.07 ERA on the road. Meanwhile, Detroit enjoys a 4 1/2-game lead in the AL Central and turns to lefty Nate Robertson, who makes his first big-league appearance since June 26. Robertson missed two months after surgery for a mass in his elbow.