PHOENIX - Fifteen years ago, Ryan Howard and Brad Ziegler forged a friendship as teammates at Southwest Missouri State, a relationship so close that Ziegler once admitted he cried as Howard captured a championship in 2008 with the Phillies. The two men have seen almost everything in baseball, and on Tuesday night, they stared at each other with the bases loaded in the ninth inning of a tie game.
Howard did not blink.
The Phillies were 0-41 when trailing after eight innings until they beat Arizona, 4-3, because Howard drew a seven-pitch walk against his old friend.