"In many ways, the Phillies' success offensively comes down to whether Ryan Howard can hit against left-handed pitchers.

He knows he's going to face them at every opportunity, especially in a close game. And he knows he's going to see their off-speed pitches almost exclusively.

"I haven't seen a lot of fastballs over the last two years," Howard said.

He didn't see any in the seventh inning against Cubs' lefty specialist Sean Marshall. Instead, he saw a diet of sliders. On the fourth, Howard lined a single to center field, scoring the tying and go-ahead runs in the Phillies' 4-3 win over the Cubs on Sunday.

Howard was 3-for-3 with three RBIs as the Phillies (40-26) took three of four from the Cubs. Each at-bat came against a left-handed pitcher. He has nine hits in his last 15 at-bats against lefties.

Howard has yet to homer off a lefty this season. But he is hitting a respectable .259 against them with 15 RBIs, which is the most on the team.

He said he's just trying to make contact against lefties. That happened in the seventh, when the Phillies were trailing 3-2 with runners on second and third and nobody out. Howard's single up the middle brought in both runs.

"That's what happens when you put the ball in play," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said about Howard. "Making contact is the big thing. . . .That's a good sign. And we have to get some hits off lefties because they're going to be coming at us all year long. That's why Atlanta's got three of them in their bullpen.""