The Philadelphia Phillies snapped their three-game losing streak on Friday night, taking down the Mets in New York. Their record improves to 10-14.
- Kyle Kendrick, the stopper? Kendrick pitched another strong game, tossing a complete-game shutout. The righthander allowed just three hits and one walk, while striking out five He’s pitched as well as any of the team’s starters, which is some pretty high praise.
- Ryan Howard may finally be starting to warm up a bit. Howard hit a three-run home run in the sixth inning, his second homer of the week and he brought his RBI total for the week up to six. Howard had hit just one homer and six RBIs before Tuesday.
- Michael Young went 3-4 and drove in a run.
- The Phils got almost no offensive production from their outfield, with John Mayberry, Domonic Brown and Laynce Nix going a combined 1-16.
- Charlie Manuel sat Ben Revere for the second straight game with a sore quad, this time giving the start in center to Maybrry.
- The Phillies make a lot of mediocre pitchers look like aces, but the same can’t be said for Dillon Gee of the Mets. The Phils have crushed Gee in the two starts that they’ve faced him this season.
Final Thoughts
Has Kyle Kendrick really turned a corner in his career?
Kendrick has been nothing short of sensational this season. Tonight’s shutout was his best outing yet, and right now he’s giving the Phillies just as good a chance to win as when Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels, or Roy Halladay take the mound. His era has dropped to 2.43, ranking him among the top pitchers in the National League.
It’s hard to believe that this is the same Kyle Kendrick that just a couple of years ago was struggling just to stay in the major leagues. I’m not sure if the Kendrick that’s pitching now is here to stay, but he’s been maybe the best surprise about this team in the early part of the season. How do the rest of you feel about Kendrick right now? Do you trust him? Or do you believe he’ll come back to Earth soon enough?
Kendrick sensational? I want to argue but he has — since the all star break last year the guy has become an excellent pitcher
It really is incredible…but as impressive as he’s been, I still can’t say I trust him yet. I feel like the minute I do is the minute he becomes Kyle Kendrick again.
Best pitcher on the staff. Halladay I don’t trust. Cliff Lee will give us his annual 1 month 1.5 era followed by his annual 1 month 6.5 era. Cole Hamels is destine to be this years Cliff Lee with no run support.
If you think about it honestly, where would this 2013 Phils Team be without Kyle Kendrick who has gone out every 5th Day and besides Pitching well, has given the Phiks a real chance to win a game. It’s scary to even think about isn’t it.
I predicted that KK would finish the year with more wins than Doc.
Maybe I really meant more wins than Cole.