Ryan Howard took a mighty cut, dropped his bat and admired the shot. The big slugger didn't go down looking in a clutch spot this time, Roy Halladay overcame a shaky start and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 11-6 Saturday night in the opener of their NL division series. Howard shook off his season-ending strikeout last October in the championship series to hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in a five-run sixth inning, sending Citizens Bank Park into a frenzy. “I left last year in the past,” Howard said. “You can't let what happened last year affect this year. It's a fresh start.” Halladay retired his last 21 batters, and the NL East champions began their all-or-nothing postseason run with a comeback win. Halladay allowed three runs and three hits, striking out eight in eight innings. He didn't allow a runner after Skip Schumaker led off the second with a single. Game 2 is Sunday night, with Cliff Lee pitching for Philadelphia against Chris Carpenter, who is starting on three days' rest. Brewers 4, Diamondbacks 1: Yovani Gallardo emerged from the shadows, outpitching Arizona ace Ian Kennedy as the Milwaukee Brewers kept winning at Miller Park, beating the Diamondbacks in their NL division series opener. Prince Fielder chased Kennedy with a two-out, two-run homer in the seventh inning, helping erase the stigma that the big slugger's playoffs would be anything like 2008, when he went 1 for 14. Yankees 9, Tigers 3: Robinson Cano hit a grand slam and drove in six runs, rookie Ivan Nova pitched brilliantly into the ninth inning in an unusual relief appearance and the New York Yankees shook off a 23-hour rain delay to beat the Detroit Tigers in their suspended playoff. A day after rain wiped out aces Justin Verlander and CC Sabathia after only 1½ innings, the game resumed in the bottom of the second. Rangers 8, Rays 6: The Texas Rangers rallied from an early deficit then survived a late scare to edge the Tampa Bay Rays 8-6 Saturday and level their best-of-five American League divisional series at 1-1. The Rays, riding high on confidence after winning their last six games in a row, got off to a fantastic start, building an early 3-0 lead, keyed by a two-run home run by Matt Joyce. However, their winning streak came to a shuddering halt during a disastrous fourth inning by Rays starter James Shields, who allowed the Rangers to score five times with three singles aided by two hit batsmen and two wild pitches. Ian Kinsler extended the Rangers lead to 7-3 in the sixth inning with a two-run double, however Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria responded with a three-run home run to narrow the Rangers lead to a precarious 7-6. Mitch Moreland hit an insurance solo home run in the eighth inning to increase the lead to 8-6 and Neftali Feliz pitched a scoreless ninth inning to save the victory. The result tied the best-of-five series at 1-1 with games three and four in Florida Monday and Tuesday.
