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 Kyle Kendrick rebounded after several of them.
The Phillies, no-hit by Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Josh
Beckett on Sunday, pounded the Colorado Rockies 9-0 Monday to end
Kendrick's personal 10-game losing streak.
First baseman Ryan Howard homered and drove in a season-high five
runs to pace Philadelphia's 12-hit attack. Howard finished with
three hits, as did center fielder Ben Revere and second baseman
Chase Utley. John Mayberry Jr. contributed a pinch-hit, two-run
homer.
"That's the thing about this game -- you can have a bad day
yesterday, but then you can go ... to the next day, and you start
fresh, 0-and-0," Howard said. "I think everybody came in with that
mindset."
Kendrick (1-5) long sought a fresh start, as he was winless since
beating the Chicago Cubs on Aug. 6, 2013, a stretch of 17 starts. It
was the longest losing streak of his career, the third-longest
active streak in the major leagues and the longest by a Philadelphia
pitcher since Matt Beech dropped 11 straight in 1996-97.
Working against the majors' highest-scoring team on Monday, Kendrick
allowed six hits while striking out two and walking four in 6 2/3
innings.
"Obviously, it was nice," he said. "The guys swung it well. I didn't
have my best command. I had a lot of guys on base early and just
made some pitches when I had to."
Kendrick, who worked with men on base in every inning, needed 93
pitches (59 strikes) to get through his start.
"I'm used to getting some (victories)," he said. "It was tough.
Obviously, it was a little grind sometimes. You pitch well and don't
get that (victory), obviously that's what we're playing for -- to
win ballgames.
"You just have to keep going out there and try to keep games close,
pitch deep into a game, but some of those wins and losses are
sometimes out of your control, so you've just got to keep battling."
Reliever Mike Adams struck out Colorado shortstop Troy Tulowitzki
with two men on to end the seventh, preserving what was then a 4-0
Philadelphia lead.
Antonio Bastardo and Justin De Fratus each followed with a scoreless
inning of relief for Philadelphia, which handed the Rockies their
second straight shutout and third of the season.
"We hit some balls well early, usually with two out, but couldn't
put together an inning," Colorado manager Walt Weiss said. "Then the
game got away from us."
In the meantime, the Phillies gave Kendrick some unaccustomed
offensive support. They averaged just 2.51 runs a game during his
losing streak.
Revere opened the bottom of the first by punching a single through
the right side of the infield, Philadelphia's first hit since he
singled in the seventh inning of Saturday's 5-3 victory over the
Dodgers. However, Rockies right-hander Jhoulys Chacin, aided by a
double play later in the first, pitched to the minimum number of
batters over the first 3 2/3 innings.
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Utley singled with two outs in the fourth, and he moved to second on
the first of three wild pitches Chacin threw in the inning. Howard,
hitless in his previous 17 at-bats, followed with an RBI single to
right.
Revere drove in a run with an infield single in the fifth, and Utley
singled to start the sixth. Howard then lined a 1-1 changeup from
Chacin (0-4) into the center field seats for his eighth homer of the
season, his first since May 8 against the Toronto Blue Jays, 15
games earlier.
Chacin went five-plus innings and allowed four runs on seven hits
while striking out five and walking one.
The Rockies' most serious threat against Kendrick came when
Tulowitzki singled and left fielder Carlos Gonzalez walked to open
the sixth. Kendrick fanned catcher Wilin Rosario, retired first
baseman Justin Morneau on a grounder and got second baseman Josh
Rutledge on a foul pop-up to end the threat.
Philadelphia broke it open by scoring five times off the Colorado
bullpen in the seventh. Utley doubled home the first of those runs,
and Howard contributed a two-run single. Mayberry then hit a 2-2
pitch from reliever Rex Brothers into the left field seats for a
two-run homer.
It was Mayberry's second homer of the season. Both came as a pinch
hitter.
NOTES: The Phillies announced that LHP Cliff Lee, placed on the
disabled list last week due to a strained left elbow, was
re-evaluated Monday but not cleared to begin throwing. He will be
evaluated again Thursday. He said he doesn't expect to be activated
after the minimum 15-day stay on the DL. ... Philadelphia is 32-11
against the Rockies since the beginning of the 2008 season, the
Phils' best record against any team. That includes a 19-4 mark in
Citizens Bank Park. ... Phillies C Carlos Ruiz ended an 0-for-14
slump with a fifth-inning single. ... Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki
went 2-for-4, his 19th multi-hit game of the season. However, he
committed a throwing error in the sixth inning, ending a 50-game
streak without a miscue.
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