"For weeks, everything about Ryan Howard's time at the plate has been counterintuitive.

He sees fewer fastballs than nearly any hitter in the league, but he's gotten a heavy dose of them early in the count.

When he's gotten ahead 2-0 or 3-1, he's looked for the fastball but gotten a barrage of off-speed junk.

If there's a book on pitching to a slugger, Howard's been forced to read it backward.

"I think they show him fastballs, especially in off the plate," Charlie Manuel said. "Then they feed him a lot of slow stuff, sliders and curves, change-ups."

It's been a difficult adjustment for Howard, who had just three RBIs in his last 14 games entering Saturday's game against the Mets. Against lefties, things have been even worse. He's yet to homer against a left-hander, and for the season, Howard is hitting just .186 against them.

So when Howard stepped to the plate in the top of the eighth inning with runners at first and third in a tie game, Mets manager Terry Collins emerged from the dugout and signaled for lefty reliever Tim Byrdak.

It was a textbook decision, but by this point, Howard knew what to expect."