PHILADELPHIA — Ryan Howard crossed the plate after circling the bases and pointed into the stands, a look of relief on his face.

Howard broke his postseason homer drought, Chase Utley and Carlos Ruiz also connected and the Philadelphia Phillies used the long ball and just enough small ball to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4 in Game 3 of the World Series today.

Howard, who led the majors with 48 homers and 146 RBIs in the regular season, hadn't gone deep in 42 postseason at-bats before he drove one out in the sixth inning.

The slugger hasn't looked like the same guy who made a case for NL MVP by batting .352 with 11 homers and a club-record 32 RBIs in September. He's 0-for-5 with five strikeouts with runners in scoring position in three games.

"I had some good swings tonight even though I didn't really show a whole lot more," he said. "It's steadily getting a little bit better. You know, right on the verge."

Howard sure didn't miss Matt Garza's 2-2 pitch in his third at-bat. He turned on the hard-throwing righty's offspeed offering and sent it into the right-field seats. Howard broke a 13-game homerless streak dating to the regular season, and has four postseason RBIs. Overall, he's batting .231 (3-for-13) with six strikeouts in the Series.

"It wasn't anything mechanical," Howard said. "It's just seeing the ball, picking up the pitch and reacting to it. It's been a slow but steady process."

Before Howard homered, Utley hit a solo shot to put the Phillies ahead 3-1. Ruiz's solo homer in the second made it 2-1.

No surprise the Phillies got most of their runs on the long ball. They hit an NL-best 214 homers in the regular season, and they've got five against the Rays.

Situational hitting has been Philadelphia's biggest problem so far. They're only 2-for-33 with runners in scoring position.

"We're known for hitting the ball out of the yard," manager Charlie Manuel said. "We score a lot of runs that way. But, we can manufacture runs. When we do that, that's when we really put runs on the board."

The winning run scored on Ruiz's infield single with the bases loaded in the ninth. Eric Bruntlett was hit by a pitch leading off the inning. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and went to third on a throwing error. After the next two batters were intentionally walked, Ruiz hit a slow roller to third base. Evan Longoria charged and his underhanded throw sailed over the catcher's head.

"We got a lot of good fortune that inning," Bruntlett said.

Ruiz, a .219 hitter this season, is batting .500 (4 for 8) in the series with two doubles, one homer and three RBIs. He shared time with Chris Coste during the regular season, but has started every playoff game because of his defense.

"I was comfortable, I was relaxed," Ruiz said. "I wasn't trying to do too much, just have a good at-bat, take a walk, put the ball in play."

After going 1 for 28 with RISP in the first two games, the Phillies had a chance right away to snap that skid.

Jimmy Rollins led off the bottom of the first with a single to break an 0-for-10 slump. After Jayson Werth walked, both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Utley's groundout scored Rollins and moved Werth up. But Howard struck out and Pat Burrell flied out.

Burrell, who had 33 homers and 86 RBIs this season, is 0-for-9 with five strikeouts in the series.

Werth started the eighth with a walk and stole second. But Utley struck out and Werth was picked off.