Howard fastest to 200 HRs in Phillies' win
MIAMI (Reuters) - Slugger Ryan Howard became the fastest player to reach 200 career home runs, powering his red hot Philadelphia Phillies to a 4-0 road win against the Florida Marlins on Thursday.
Howard steered a solo shot to right field in the sixth inning off Florida starter Chris Volstad to reach the 200-mark in just 658 games, 48 fewer than previous record-holder Ralph Kiner.
"It's a nice feat, it's a nice record to have," the 29-year-old told reporters. "I'll take it and run with it. We finished the first half (of the season) the way we wanted, it's important to get off to a good start the second half."
Howard's 23rd home run of the season was one of three long balls for Philadelphia (49-38) as they cruised to their sixth straight win.
Raul Ibanez led the charge with two home runs to support veteran left-hander Jamie Moyer, who allowed just one hit in seven innings.
Moyer (9-6) has thrived against the Marlins throughout his career, winning all eight of his road starts against them and enjoying a 13-2 record overall.
Ibanez, a teammate of Moyer's with the Seattle Mariners from 2004-06, delivered the goods in just his third game back from a groin injury that sidelined him for nearly a month.
He had a two-run blast in the second inning and a solo shot in the fourth, both off towering 6-ft 8 hurler Volstad, who fell to 6-9 after his six-inning effort.
Jorge Cantu had the lone hit for the Marlins (46-45), who lost their third in four games and fell five behind World Series champions Philadelphia in the National League East Division.
"Five games up is five games up, we still have three games to play here," Moyer said. "Today's nice to win the first game back and try to recreate some of the momentum that we took into the break."
The Phillies, who recently acquired veteran pitcher Pedro Martinez, have taken control of the division by winning 10 of their last 11 games and improving their Major League-best road record to 27-15.
(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Ian Ransom)
