Handle Howard with care

PHILADELPHIA -- It’s no secret how the Dodgers are going to pitch to the big bats in the middle of the Phillies’ lineup in the National League Championship Series.

Very carefully.

And no one in the Philadelphia lineup poses as much of a challenge as first baseman Ryan Howard, whose all-or-nothing approach at the plate produced 95 home runs and 398 strikeouts over the last two seasons.

“He has issues,” said Dodgers pitching coach Rick Honeycutt. “So if you get a proper count and put the ball in the areas that you’re supposed to, you can get positive results.

“But if you don’t, you can get very negative results.”

And few teams know that better than the Dodgers, who held Howard to four hits in eight games this season. Two of them, however, were homers and Howard drove in more than a run a game against the Dodgers. For his career, Howard is hitting .214 against the Dodgers, with nine homers and 24 RBIs in 27 games.

“You don’t want him to extend his arms,” offered Todd Jones, a former all-star reliever who played with and against Howard. “In Philly he’s more dangerous because the park is so small so you can’t stay in one part of the zone with him. But if you have to make one pitch, it’s got to be up and in with all you’ve got.”

That certainly worked for Jones, who got Howard every time he faced him. Former Dodgers reliever Rudy Seanez, now with the Phillies, also had success against Howard, giving up just a single to him in five at-bats and striking him out twice.

“He can surely do some damage,” Seanez said. “He’s one of those guys, you don’t want him to beat you late in the game. Even if you have to walk him. The other guys can beat you, too, but he has that little knack for the dramatic. [And] he can crush one out opposite way on a good pitch.”

Honeycutt is well aware of that. Which is why no two at-bats are likely to be the same when Howard is at the plate. “Each situation,” Honeycutt said, “is going to dictate how we’re going to attack him.”

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kevin.baxter@latimes.com