With Dom Brown On DL, Kyle Kendrick And Phillies Look To Salvage Finale Against Red-Hot Cardinals

It's just looking darker and darker for the Phillies, who have lost four straight – four out of five since coming back from the All-Star break. Hoping that they would have a good series in St. Louis, the Phils have been shut down completely in the first two games. Now three games under .500 once again, the Phillies are starting to look nothing like buyers. After last night's blow out loss the Phillies will send Kyle Kendrick (9-6, 3.94 ERA) against Lance Lynn (11-5, 4.13 ERA) with hopes of headed to Detroit fresh off of a victory.

Kyle Kendrick won his ninth game of the year last time out, thanks to his offense. The Phillies routed the Mets early on Friday, scoring 13 runs to support Kendrick's six earned in 5 2/3 innings. Kendrick has gone at least five innings in all but one of his 20 starts this season. In his last three, Kendrick has a 2-1 record and a 6.11 ERA, but is looking to turn it around as he takes on the Cardinals tonight. In his career against St. Louis, the right hander has a successful track record highlighted by a 5-1 record and a 2.72 ERA in over 50 innings pitched. 

 Lance Lynn has a 6.51 ERA in his last eight starts and owns a 4-4 record in that stretch. The right hander has struggled with pitch counts as well as command this year, but still has the best run support in the National League. His last time out, against the Padres on Saturday, Lynn allowed four earned over five innings to take the loss. Looking to keep his pitch count low and sift through the lineup will be Lynn's goal tonight against the Phils. Lynn is 1-0 in two career starts against Philadelphia.

Game Notes: 

• Domonic Brown landed on the 7-day DL this afternoon with a concussion.
• The Phillies know this game is important to win headed into Detroit this weekend.
• The Cardinals won their 25th game of the year without hitting a home run last night.

Phillies lineup:

1. Jimmy Rollins SS
2. Michael Young 3B
3. Chase Utley 2B
4. Delmon Young RF
5. Darin Ruf 1B
6. Laynce Nix LF
7. John Mayberry Jr. CF
8. Erik Kratz C
9. Kyle Kendrick P.

Cardinals lineup:

1. Matt Carpenter 2B
2. Jon Jay CF
3. Allen Craig LF
4. Matt Adams 1B
5. Yadier Molina C
6. David Freese 3B
7. Shane Robinson RF
8. Pete Kozma SS
9. Lance Lynn P.

First Pitch Forecast: Partly Cloudy – 79° – 10% PoP

TV: CSN, MLB Network
Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT

Erik Seybold is a writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter.