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There are very few players that require your full attention when at the plate. Ryan Howard now ranks No. 1 in that category.

I was in attendance Sunday as he blasted 3 homers in the first game of the Phils' doubleheader. Those were Nos. 50, 51 and 52. He hit No. 53 on Monday (without me). He don't hit no cheapies, either.

The NL MVP race will come down to Howard and Pujols. Over their last 50 games, crunch time, Howard has an edge -- although both are hitting well. Howard is .359-24-62 with 43 runs and 1.285 OPS. Pujols is .328-14-41 with 40 runs and 1.044 OPS.

People are going to stop pitching to Howard, more than likely. He's got very little protection. Anyone seen Pat Burrell lately? Since hitting 2 homers against the Mets (what else is new?) on June 15, he's got 6 HR and 34 RBI in 59 games. He's got an .830 OPS during that time.

The Phils had 10,000 walkups Monday to get a sellout crowd of 44,000-plus. I wonder if that was because of Howard/wild card fever or because Roger Clemens was pitching? Maybe a combo, but I'm leaning toward the Rocket.

Speaking of homers, it was nice to see Maggs find the seats again. Been a while.

The Tigers got good news in that Mike Maroth should be ready to be activated from the DL this week. He's expected to work out of the pen for a while.

Hopefully, the road-challenged Mariners will be the right medicine for the Detroit bats. The offense needs to find itself again, with or without Guillen and Polanco. Maybe Chris Shelton will think it's April again?