Kyle Kendrick Gets The Ball As Phillies Look For First Series Win Of 2013

The Phillies whooped some Mets a** last night. With Cliff Lee on the mound and a wholloping set of home runs, the Phillies were able to even this three-game series at one-a-piece. Cliff Lee was spectacular once again last night. Nearly going the distance, but falling short at 8 2/3 innings, Lee allowed three earned on eight hits while striking out six. In the third inning, the Phillies got a jump start on the Mets and never looked back. Back-to-back homers from Ryan Howard and Michael Young propelled the Phils up and two batters later, John Mayberry Jr. joined the party. With last night's 8-3 win under their belt, the Phils are looking forward to tonight as they attempt to win their first series of the year. Kyle Kendrick (0-1, 7.94 ERA) will take on Jeremy Hefner (0-1, 1.50 ERA) in this series finale at 7:05 PM.

Kyle Kendrick was Kyle Kendrick last Friday. He pitched very well through 4 1/3 innings, retiring 13 of the 16 batters he saw. But after facing those 16 batters, Kendrick crumbled and allowed five earned runs through 5 2/3 innings. Allowing seven of his last 11 batters to reach, Kendrick was tagged with the loss as the Phillies lost 13-4. Last season Kendrick made one starts against the Mets, taking the win while allowing two earned runs through 7 2/3 innings. In his career Kendrick is 5-7 with a 3.56 ERA (32 ER in 81 IP).

Jeremy Hefner is looking to rebound from a hard-luck loss against Miami. Back on Friday Hefner held the Marlins to one run over six innings. Despite a quality start, Hefner took a loss and is looking to make up for it tonight in his first start against the Phillies this year. In his two starts and a relief appearance against Philadelphia last season Hefner went 1-1 with a 16.47 (13 ER in 7 1/3 IP). Hefner has the same numbers against the Phillies in his career.

Game Notes:

• Let's win a series here!
• With some good run support, Kendrick can work in a lot of ways tonight.
• Ryan Howard, Michael Young, and John Mayberry Jr. all homered for the first time last night

Phillies lineup:

1. Ben Revere CF
2. Jimmy Rollins SS
3. Chase Utley 2B
4. Ryan Howard 1B
5. Michael Young 3B
6. Domonic Brown LF
7. John Mayberry Jr. RF
8. Erik Kratz C
9. Kyle Kendrick P.

Mets lineup:

1. Jordany Valdespin CF
2. Daniel Murphy 2B
3. David Wright 3B
4. Ike Davis 1B
5. John Buck C
6. Lucas Duda LF
7. Mike Baxter RF
8. Ruben Tejada SS
9. Jeremy Hefner P.

First pitch weather forecast: Partly Cloudy – 79° – 0% PoP 
Later tonight:  Scattered T-Storms – 72° – 60% PoP. 

TV: The Comcast Network
Radio: 94 WIp, 1210 WPHT

Let's Go Phillies!

Erik Seybold is the Ultimate Blog King of Journalistic Activities at Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter.