This weekend was supposed to provide fans one of their last chances to bid adieu to Ryan Howard. On Friday night, Howard played out that script with a homer and a couple of walks before being lifted in a double switch. But for the rest of this weekend he's been benched with soreness in his knee. So, instead of waving farewell to Howard--and by proxy memorializing the greatest (or second greatest) era of Phillies baseball in franchise history--fans watched a team on which to hope justify that hope to a large extent.
From the first batter, the Phillies worked deep counts against Marlins starter, Andrew Cashner.