In an effort to return to his April form, Kyle Kendrick took the Citizens Bank Park mound against the Miami Marlins. Kendrick, having started the season better than most had expected, has struggled with command in his last handful of starts. Despite earning the win against the Red Sox in his last outing, Kyle has issued 11 earned runs and11 walks total in his last three starts. Against the last place team in the division, 3-8 had the perfect opportunity to feed off yesterday's exciting game and return to form.
Ed Lucas, whose rise to the majors matched that of Erik
Kratz, continued his hot hitting since being called up to the majors. Taking
Placido Polanco’s spot in the lineup, Lucas lined a single to right field.
Kendrick, though, was able to breeze through the rest of the inning. After two
quick outs in the bottom of the first, Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard each
worked a walk off Marlins starter Tom Koehler. Newly crowned NL Player of the
Month Domonic Brown then had a chance to give the Phillies an early lead, but
was struck out to end the frame.
Kyle Kendrick ran into more trouble in the second,
surrendering a leadoff double to Chris Coghlan. However, two well-placed ground
balls coupled with a strikeout saved the run from scoring. Erik Kratz continued
his impressive last 15-day stretch with a single, but was erased on a Freddy
Galvis double play.
Baserunners would finally haunt Kendrick in the third.
Despite striking out Koehler, Kyle gave up a single to Juan Pierre and a walk
to Lucas. Two consecutive singles by Derek Dietrich and Marcell Ozuna would put
the Marlins up 2-0. Despite putting two more in scoring position, the Marlins could
capitalize no further, and had to settle for just the two runs. Kendrick, Ben
Revere, and Cesar Hernandez each grounded out to close the third.
The fourth inning left fans of offense wanting more, as Dom
Brown’s single was the only hit of the frame.
Pierre would record his second hit of the game, and would be
sacrificed to second by Lucas in the fifth. Kendrick was able to work out of
the RISP jam and keep it 2-0. In the bottom of the inning, Erik Kratz again displayed
his ability, this time crushing a ball to deep left-center for a homer. Not wanting
to be overshadowed, Kyle Kendrick answered with a one-out triple to left, much
to the pleasure of his wife and child in attendance. He would then be brought
home on a single by Revere, and the game was tied at 2. Ben would go on to
steal second, advance to third on a throwing error by Rob Brantly on the play,
and score on a botched ground ball by Casey Kotchman off the bat of Cesar
Hernandez. The Phillies left the inning with a 3-2 lead.
Finally settling in, Kendrick would retire his sixth
straight batter in the sixth inning. Ryan Howard would double to begin the home
half, giving Brown another opportunity to shine. This time, Dom succeeded,
blasting his league-leading 17th homerun of the campaign. They led
5-2, and spelled the end for Koehler. Ryan Webb came in out of the bullpen, but
gave up a homerun to the first batter he faced, Delmon Young. The inning was
still not over, as Freddy Galvis tripled to left and scored on a Kendrick
fielder’s choice. After batting around and loading the bases, Howard grounded
into the shift to end the inning. However, they would leave with a 7-2 lead.
A seven-pitch seventh inning made it nine straight retired
by the Philly right hander. Just like the fourth, the only offense in the
seventh inning came off Brown’s bat, his third hit of the night.
John Mayberry Jr. came on for Delmon Young in the eighth,
just in time to watch Kendrick breeze through another half inning. The Phillies
would go down just as quickly, and Kyle Kendrick would go back out to finish
the game.
Kyle Kendrick would complete his game with an athletic play
on the mound, a strikeout, and a ground out.
It was an all-around great game for the Phils. Timely
hitting and an impressive outing, on the mound and at the plate, by Kyle
Kendrick secured the team’s 28th win. Kendrick improved his record to 12-2 all time against the Marlins. Even though it was against the
lowly Marlins, the Phillies need every win they can get, especially in the
division. A sweep of the series puts the team at .500, and the next step toward
that goal is Game 2, when Jonathan Pettibone takes on Ricky Nolasco at 7:05.
