ANOTHER GREAT EFFORT FROM A PHILS PITCHER PRODUCES A WIN
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KYLE KENDRICK
The Phillies received a solid pitching performance from someone not named Roy Halladay for the second night in a row; starter Kyle Kendrick came in with 7.61 ERA in five starts but making effective use of his sinker he held the St. Louis Cardinals scoreless through seven innings. Relievers Danys Baez and Jose Contreras finished off the shutout as the Phil won 4-0 at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday night.
Kendrick, who got his first win of the season, allowed six hits and walked two batters while striking out three and recording 10 of his outs on groundballs including an inning ending double play in the 7th with Cardinals at first and third.
“He had a rhythm going,” Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said of Kendrick. “He pitched good and his sinker was his best pitch.”
Kendrick’s effort came on the heels of Cole Hamels pitching shutout ball into the ninth inning of Tuesday nights game which the Phils won 2-1 in 10 innings. Along the way, Kendrick did get some breaks, in the second inning, Colby Rasmus doubled then with one out and Yadier Molina batting, Rasmus was thrown out trying to steal third. Molina then doubled. In the fourth, Albert Pujois was on second with two outs, when Kendrick committed a balk but Pujois would be stranded on third after Molina lined out to Jayson Werth.
Cardinals starter Brad Penny held the Phillies without a baserunner through three innings but in the fourth Shane Victorino had a leadoff single. The next batter, Placido Polanco, deposited Penny’s first offering into the seats in left-center field to give the Phillies all the runs they would need. Victorino added a solo shot in the sixth, for his sixth homer of the season which is one more than Ryan Howard has.
“I’m not trying to hit home runs,” an amused Victorino said, “I’m just trying to put good swings on the ball and be the spark plug at the top of the lineup to get this offense going.”
The Phillies conclude the series with the Cardinals on Thursday afternoon at 1:05 with Halladay facing Kyle Lohse.
Rock Hoffman can be reached at Rdvsports@yahoo.com
