Kendrick tosses 6 scoreless to lift Phils over Fla.

[August 07, 2008]  PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Kyle Kendrick pitched six scoreless innings, Ryan Howard homered and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Florida Marlins 5-0 on Wednesday night.

The NL East-leading Phillies moved 2 1/2 games ahead of Florida. The New York Mets entered the day two games behind.

Kendrick (10-5) allowed four hits and pitched around five walks to win at home for the first time since beating Cincinnati on June 2. Kendrick matched his win total from his rookie year when he came from nowhere last season and bailed out a depleted staff to help the Phillies win the division.

Chad Durbin tossed two scoreless innings, and Ryan Madson finished to complete the five-hitter.

Marlins starter Anibal Sanchez (1-1) gave up four runs -- three earned -- and five hits in five innings in his second start since returning from shoulder surgery.

Sanchez won 10 games and threw a no-hitter as a rookie in 2006, then missed most of last season after having surgery in June to repair a torn labrum.

Howard drove one out to left-center to give the Phillies a 4-0 lead in the third. He's tied with Adam Dunn for the major league lead with 32 homers.

Howard just missed hitting another opposite-field shot in the fifth. His liner to left hit the top of the wall and he had to hustle to get a double, diving headfirst into second base.

The Phillies scored in each of the first three innings against Sanchez. Chase Utley's RBI double in the first made it 1-0. Shane Victorino walked with one out and scored when Utley ripped a liner to right-center.

Geoff Jenkins reached on Sanchez's fielding error to start Philadelphia's second and Chris Coste was hit by a pitch. Eric Bruntlett's double down the left-field line scored Jenkins. Coste scored on Kendrick's groundout to shortstop for a 3-0 lead.

Pinch-hitter Mike Cervenak bounced a single to left for his first major league hit and RBI, giving the Phillies a 5-0 lead in the sixth.

The Marlins stranded 10 runners, including eight over the first four innings. They had only one fly out against the sinkerball-throwing Kendrick.

Notes: Phillies setup man Tom Gordon left his rehab appearance for Single-A Clearwater with discomfort in his right elbow. He'll be examined by the team physician on Thursday. ... Utley extended his hitting streak to 11 games. ... The Marlins activated C Matt Treanor from the disabled list and optioned C Paul Hoover to Triple-A Albuquerque. ... Florida 3B Jorge Cantu was 0-for-3 with a walk, snapping a 13-game hitting streak.

[Associated Press; By ROB MAADDI]

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