Howard Hurt?

[BuckFoston]

Ryan Howard, the face of the Phillies, pulled up lame, possibly with a left knee injury. A shiver went through the Phillies' organization.

The Phillies lost to Washington last night, 5-4, in 13 innings. The loss wasn't what left Phillies manager Charlie Manuel ashen-faced or Howard tight-lipped.

Howard, the National League MVP, could be out for a while.

Chris Snelling singled and Michael Restovich doubled to start the 13th off reliever Francisco Rosario. With first base open and no outs, the Phillies let Rosario pitch to switch-hitter Felipe Lopez, who flied out to semi-deep leftfield; Rosario, they reasoned, was too wild to be trusted with the bases loaded and no outs.

Michael Bourn's throw wasn't in time to get Snelling.

The Phillies, officially the worst team in baseball at 3-10, have matched the start of the last-place Phillies of 1997, a team that won only 68 games.

The problem was the same as it has been: They went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position one night after going 0-for-13. They are hitting .191 in that situation.

More important, Howard got hurt. With one out in the 10th and runners at first and second, he was beating out a doubleplay groundball to second. Chase Utley broke up the relay, and Howard was safe, but he injured his left leg sprinting to first.

Originally thought to be a left thigh strain, further examination revealed that Howard had suffered an injury around his left knee. He underwent X-rays last night at RFK Stadium, and was scheduled to undergo an MRI this morning.

He is almost certain to not play today against the Nationals. The Phillies, who carry only five bench players, might have to make a roster move to bolster their position players after they get the MRI results.

Howard is hitting only .213, and he had a poor spring, but the Phillies' lineup was built around his power.

"Yeah, I'm worried," said Manuel.

Howard declined to comment.

More bad news: Howard might have knee injury | Daily News | 04/19/2007
^^Rest of the story

It looks like the injury bug isn't just infecting the Yankees its infecting the whole league for awhile I thought the Yankees were the only team with it.

[love_that_reefer]

I doubt it is a serious injury and probably nothing more than a knee sprain. Question is who is going to play first now? Will Helms go to first and have Ninuez play third?