"When Ryan Howard is hitting the ball to the opposite field the Phillies offense scores runs. And lots of them.

In his last two games, Howard has three hits in six at-bats. Each of those hits, including Saturday's solo home run, have gone to the left side of the field. The Phillies have scored 13 runs in those two games.

It's not necessarily a direct correlation between the Phillies offense scoring runs and Howard going to the opposite field, but when the first baseman is driving the ball to the left side, it means he's seeing the ball better and thus able to be more productive at the plate.

"That's a great sign," Howard said following the Phillies' 5-3 win over the Padres Sunday afternoon. "That's me seeing the ball and allowing the ball to travel a little bit more, which is what I need to get back to because I've just been out in front of everything and just trying to go get it.

"So when I can go back up the middle, to left field, it means I'm letting the ball travel and seeing it a little better."

Of his 19 home runs this season, nine of them have gone to the left side of center. That's 47 percent.

That's a higher percentage than the league's top three non-switch hitting home-run hitters – the Blue Jays' Jose Bautista (10 percent), the Yankees' Curtis Granderson (4 percent) and the Dodgers' Matt Kemp (36 percent).

When he is beating the shift and hitting the ball to all parts of the field, Raul Ibanez said it makes Howard that much more difficult to pitch to and defend against.

"When you're using the entire field it's definitely a good sign," Raul Ibanez said. "And when Ryan's locked in, he does that very well."

Before Saturday, Howard was riding a 2-for-25 slump and entered Sunday's ballgame with a .246 average, the lowest batting average he has had this late in the season since 2008.

Sometimes, letting the ball travel and driving it the other way automatically fixes a number of other flaws in a swing, John Mayberry Jr. said. When a batter is staying square to the plate, staying closed and not prematurely opening his hips, he's going to be a more dangerous hitter."