Kendrick shines, Phillies cruise

FROM THE MORNING CALL

PHILADELPHIA — Charlie Manuel had only one question for Kyle Kendrick before Saturday's game.

"I asked him if he was (ticked) off [about being demoted on Tuesday]?" Manuel said. "He said, "Yeah, a little bit.' 'I said, 'That's good.'"

Kendrick channeled those frustrations perfectly on Saturday. The right-hander, who had been in the big leagues the entire year but was sent down to Triple-A Lehigh Valley last week, threw seven innings of one-hit ball (on his regular turn) and got loads of run support from his teammates in the Phillies' 10-2 victory over the Rockies at Citizens Bank park.

"Stuff happens for a reason, I guess," Kendrick said. "You use it as a positive … show 'em I belong here. That's what I tried to do, and I'll do it again next time."

Kendrick, who won for the first time since July 3, allowed six hits and one walk in his 103-pitch outing. He said he watched fellow right-hander Roy Halladay closely on Friday to get an idea of how to attack Colorado's lineup.

"I watched him … a lot of cutters in and changeups … try to keep them off my sinker," Kendrick said. "That's kind of what I did. Mix it up."

The Phillies (51-46) beat up 15-game winner Ubaldo Jimenez, sending him packing after just two-plus innings. They batted around and erupted for seven runs in the third inning, none of which came via a home run, and then added two more in the sixth and one more in the seventh, making it the most runs they've scored since putting 12 on the board against the Pirates on July 3.

It was the second night in a row the Phillies had an inning in which they plated at least five runs and scored at least six for the game.

"I think the level of focus as a team has been better the last few days and the quality of the at-bats have been significantly better, and it shows," said Raul Ibanez.

Was it the team meeting before Friday's game that made the biggest difference?

"We all recognized the situation, what's been going on, that we haven't been playing to our potential," Ibanez amitted. "I think everybody in here is going to look at themselves in the mirror. These guys are professionals and hold themselves accountable. Was there one thing said? There were a lot of things said in the meeting and they were all true. This team has character and is made up of a bunch of guys that really want to get the most out of their abilities, and guys that are honest to themsevels about how well they should be playing. Everybody in here expects to play well, and everybody in here expects to win."

Jimenez cruised through the first inning, retiring the side in order on nine pitches.

But his command started to waiver in the second and although the Phillies didn't score, he threw 22 pitches and gave up a hit and two walks.

His blow up came in the third. The first six batters who faced him all reached, including four via a walk. Ryan Howard highlighed the rally with a bases-clearly, stand-up triple.

"We swung the bats well as a team," Ibanez said. "We put pressure on the opposing pitcher to throw strikes. Guys got in there and handled their business and did a nice job forcing him to throw strikes. He's a great pitcher with great stuff and at the very least, we made him throw a lot of pitches and tried to wear him down."

The Phillies plated two more runs that inning courtesy of Jimmy Rollins' two-run triple, which came in his second at-bat of the inning, and got another home on a wild pitch.

"It was a really good collective effort," Ibanez said. "We were able to string them together in the same inning, which was good."

The offense has taken a lot of heat lately for not producing, and rightfully so. But it appears that Ibanez is coming out of his funk. He hit a two-run home run in the sixth to make it a 9-1 game. He's now hitting .355 (11-for-31) with seven RBIs in his last eight games.

amanda.housenick@mcall.com

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