Kendrick Gets the Call as Phillies Host Pirates

Coming off of winning their fifth series in their last six tries, the Phillies (66-76) return home to host the Pittsburgh Pirates (74-68) for a four-game series beginning tonight at 7:05pm. The Phils look to continue rolling after taking two out of three from the first-place Nationals. They took game one in dramatic fashion, coming back from a five-run deficit to win, 9-8 in extra innings. AJ Burnett pitched a strong outing and was backed by a Ryan Howard two-run single and a Dom Brown solo homer in Saturday's 3-1 win. In the series finale, Cole Hamels went 6.1 innings and gave up three runs, two big ones off the bat of Adam LaRoche, who hit two solo homers. Washington took the finale, 3-2. Meanwhile, Pittsburgh is coming off of a sweep of their division rivals, the Cubs. They outscored Chicago 20-7 during the series.  

Toeing the rubber in the opener for Philadelphia is Kyle Kendrick (8-11, 4.77). While first inning woes has been Kendricks undoing this season, he has won each of his last three starts. Most recently, he threw seven shutout innings against Atlanta in a 4-0 Phils win back on the 2nd. He gave up four runs in each of his two starts prior, an 8-4 win over Washington and a 5-4 win over the Cards. The Phils have won six of the last eight starts that Kendrick has pitched, despite his issues with first inning runs. Kendrick has faced the Nationals three times this season, posting a 1-2 record, giving up 13 runs in 18.2 innings pitched. 

The Pirates will go with Jeff Locke (6-4, 3.75) to oppose Kendrick. Locke is 3-0 with a 1.37 ERA against the Phillies in three career starts, and the left-hander threw six scoreless innings in his only appearance in Philadelphia. In three of his last four starts, Locke has held opponents to two runs or less but is coming off of a rough outing, where he gave up four earned runs in three innings against the Cardinals. During the three starts prior, he gave up just three runs over 19 innings, against the Cards, Brewers and Nationals. 

Game Notes:

• Darin Ruf & Maikel Franco are in tonight's lineup. As most of us know, seeing Ruf in the lineup two straight days is a rare site. Cody Asche sits again in favor of Franco. 
• Pittsburgh has won three straight games in Philadelphia and five of their last six overall at Citizens bank Park.
• Jonathan Papelbon needs only one more save to move into a tie for second all-time in saves on the Phillies franchise list.
• The Pirates have a team average of .284 against Kyle Kendrick with Gaby Sanchez leading the charge, hitting .444 (8-for-18) against the Phils right-hander with a homer and three RBI's. Pedro Alvarez has only seven at-bats against Kendrick, but two of his three hits were homers. 
• Meanwhile, the Phillies have a team average of .226 against Jeff Locke. Marlon Byrd is 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI's. Jimmy Rollins doesn't have a hit in nine at-bats against Locke.

Lineups:

Phillies Lineup:

1. Ben Revere CF
2. Jimmy Rollins SS
3. Chase Utley 2B
4. Ryan Howard 1B
5. Marlon Byrd RF
6. Darin Ruf LF
7. Carlos Ruiz C
8. Maikel Franco 3B
9. Kyle Kendrick P

Pirates Lineup:

1. Starling Marte LF
2. Travis Snider RF
3. Andrew McCutchen CF
4. Neil Walker 2B
5. Russell Martin C
6. Ike Davis 1B
7. Jordy Mercer SS
8. Brent Morel 3B
9. Jeff Locke P 

First Pitch: 7:05pm

Location: Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylania

Weather: 71^o F, Mostly Cloudy, 0% PoP

TV/Radio: Comcast Sportsnet, 1210 WPHT

Brandon Apter, Publishing Editor for Philliedelphia.com