"The Phillies need Raul Ibanez to hit in their lineup. Yet through the first 3 games of the season, he was at .091. This followed a spring training in which he hit .130, which followed offseason surgery on his groin area, which followed the second half of last season, when he hit .232 with 12 HR and 34 RBIs.

In other words, Ibanez had struggled since coming off the DL last July after hitting .312 with 22 HR with 59 RBIs into mid June. So Phillies manager Charlie Manuel was happy to see Ibanez go 3-for-4 with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs Friday night in the Phillies' 8-0 win over the Astros.

"He's very relaxed," Manuel said. "He's taking a deep breath. He's really concentrating on what he's doing. When Raul is not hitting, he's trying so hard and he's his own worst enemy because he wants to so much."

Ibanez said he hasn't changed his approach despite his slow start."