Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard hit his 200th homer Thursday to help his world championship squad stretch their winning streak to six games with a 4-0 victory over the Florida Marlins. It was the 23rd homer of the season for the 29-year-old Howard, making him the fastest player in history to reach the 200-homer milestone. He did so in his 658th game. Before him, Ralph Kiner was the fastest player to reach 200 home runs, doing so in 706 games.  ”It’s a nice feat,” Howard said. ”It’s a nice record to have. I’ll take it and run with it.” The Phillies enjoy the longest current winning streak in the majors, and they’ve won 10 of their past 11 games. Resuming play after the All-Star break, they increased their lead over second-place Florida to five games in the NL East to start a four-game series.

Philadelphia Phillies slugger Ryan Howard is asking for $18 million in salary arbitration, the third-highest figure requested in more than 30 years of Major League Baseball arbitration. Howard, who led the Phillies to a World Series title last year with 48 home runs and 146 RBI, won an arbitration battle last year, pulling in $10 million last season – after his team had offered only $7 million. Only two other sluggers have won more lucrative arbitration battles – Houston’s Roger Clemens, $22 million in 2005; and New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, $18.5 million in 2001. Earlier in the day, the Phillies announced that the team had avoided arbitration with pitchers Ryan Madson and Joe Blanton, and outfielder Shane Victorino, all having signed one-year agreements.er and kidnapped a Romanian worker, reports BBC. The tanker was carrying 4,000 tons of diesel from Lagos to Port Harcourt when its engine was blown up with dynamite. The tanker was seriously damaged.  Many militants in the region say they are fighting to get their fair share of wealth from Nigeria’s oil. Still, some groups get their money from extortion and oil theft. The violence has forced oil production in the nation to be cut by a fifth in the last few years.

Tampa Rays fall in extended championship match-up. The Philadelphia Phillies are World Series champs for the second time in the team’s 125-year existence. Philadelphia clinched the title after a 4-3 win on Wednesday versus the Rays. It was a victory delayed by rain showers that poured onto the field during the first scheduled contest Monday night, resulting in two re-scheduled dates for more cooperative weather. In the end, the Phillies tilted the series four games to one, bringing home the city’s first title in any pro sport since 1984.

Greg Oden goes down again, but for how long? A year-long delay of his NBA debut was barely long enough for Greg Oden to go down again with a new injury. The Portland Trailblazers center, who sat out the 2007 season after knee surgery, suffered a foot sprain just two and a half minutes into Portland’s game versus the Lakers. The player says he landed on Laker Derek Fisher’s foot after coming down from a rebound attempt. Oden was set to undergo an MRI Wednesday to determine the seriousness of the injury. “It happens,” Oden said Tuesday night. “You’re out there, you’re playing, you’re battling. It happens.”