Phillies rough up Kyle Kendrick, Braves in commanding victory

Phillies first baseman Darin Ruf during an at-bat at Florida Auto Exhange Stadium in Dunedin, Florida. Ruf went 2-3 with two doubles and two runs-batted-in against Atlanta Braves' RHP Kyle Kendrick on Friday, March 11. (Photo: Frank Klose/Philliedelphia)

By: Matt Rappa, managing editor

Final: Phillies 9, Braves 2 ❖ Attendance: 6,520

KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Facing former teammate right-hander Kyle Kendrick for the first time, the Philadelphia Phillies' (8-3-2) offense connected with a nine-hit, seven-run output in one-and-two-thirds innings as they went on to defeat the Atlanta Braves (3-7-1) 9-2 Friday afternoon at Champion Stadium in Walt Disney World.

The Phillies have now gone seven days since their last defeat on Saturday, March 5, against the Toronto Blue Jays in Dunedin, Florida. Having won six games—and tied once—during this stretch, manager Pete Mackanin's squad has outscored their opponents 38 runs to 21.

Playing for the first time in a week after being ill and meeting with Major League Baseball investigators on Thursday, designated hitter Ryan Howard went 1-4 with a double, walk and two runs-batted-in. Howard has just one hit in 12 at-bats so far this spring.

WP: David Buchanan (1-0, 4.50 ERA) ❖ LP: Kyle Kendrick (0-2, 22.09 ERA)

Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next

Game Summary

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
PHI	3	4	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	9	16	0
ATL	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	8	0

The Phillies did not waste any time to score against their former teammate. With runners on second and third and only one out in the top of the first, designated hitter Ryan Howard hit a two-run double to right field for his first runs-batted-in of the spring. The next batter, first baseman Darin Ruf, doubled to left field to give the Phillies an early, 3-0 lead.

The Braves' only runs scored in the afternoon came off of right-hander David Buchanan in the bottom of the first: a sacrifice-fly RBI by catcher A.J. Pierzynski and a RBI-single by right fielder Dian Toscano.

With back-to-back singles by shortstop Emmanuel Burriss and center fielder Peter Bourjos to put runners on the corners and nobody out to start the second, second baseman Cesar Hernandez and left fielder Tyler Goeddel singled to center field and third base, respectively, for the Phillies' fourth and fifth runs of the afternoon.

Two batters later, Ruf hit his second double of the game—which bounced over the left-center field wall—which scored Hernandez from third base. Then, third baseman Andres Blanco grounded out to first base, which allowed the runner from third to score and give the Phillies a 7-2 lead. Kendrick did not make it through the second inning, as he was pulled after walking catcher Cameron Rupp with two outs recorded.

Two more insurance runs were added by the Phillies in the top of the fifth off of reliever Jim Johnson, thanks to a RBI-triple by center fielder Roman Quinn, his third of the spring, and a RBI-single by Hernandez the next batter.

Back to Hub

Starting Pitchers

	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
David Buchanan	2.0	4	2	2	2	1	0	4.50
Kyle Kendrick	1.2	9	7	7	2	0	0	22.09

Back to Hub

At the Plate

Phillies

Peter Bourjos: 2-2, 2B, 2 R, BB, .421 AVG
Cesar Hernandez: 3-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, .348 AVG
Darin Ruf: 2-3, 2 2B, 2 RBI, .333 AVG

Braves

Michael Bourn: 1-3, R, .333 AVG
A.J. Pierzynski: 1-2, RBI, .400 AVG
Nick Markakis: 1-2, R, BB, .300 AVG

Back to Hub

Bullpen

Phillies

Bobby LaFromboise (3rd, 4th): 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
James Russell (5th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
Edward Mujica (6th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
Edubray Ramos (7th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 2.70 ERA
Gregory Infante (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 7.20 ERA
Elvis Araujo (9th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 4.50 ERA

Braves