Kyle Kendrick didn’t get much sleep on Tuesday night and it showed with his performance on the mound on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Kendrick was roughed up for seven runs on eight hits, a walk and a hit batsman in just two innings during the Phillies’ 9-2 loss to the Giants (see Instant Replay). The right-hander didn’t strike out any hitters and left some pitches right there for the Giants to take some big healthy swings.
They didn’t miss.
Kendrick had just six two-strike counts on the 16 hitters he faced and four of those guys ended up getting on base.
“He was having a tough time. It just wasn’t his night,” manager Charlie Manuel said. “He had one of those nights where everything they hit fell and went through. It’s just one of those things.”
Perhaps the cause for Kendrick’s sluggishness on the mound on Wednesday night was the fact that he and his wife Stephanie celebrated the birth of Kyle Kendrick Jr. on Tuesday at around 4:28 p.m. So after a whirlwind day, Kendrick didn’t take paternity leave. With Cliff Lee still day-to-day with a strained neck and the bullpen looking for help any way they can get it, Kendrick bit the bullet and took the mound.
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Things went south in a hurry.
The Giants sent eight hitters to the plate in the first inning and had four runs on the board before the Phillies even came off the field for the first time. It could have been worse if recent call-up Cody Asche hadn’t made a Brooks Robinson-esque catch and throw to rob Hunter Pence of a hit and an RBI.
Kendrick’s reprieve was short-lived. Though he faced three batters in the second inning, he wasn’t able to get an out in the third inning when the Giants got three singles, an error and a fastball in the back to plate three more runs.
Just like that, Kendrick’s night was over.
“I’m not going to make any excuses,” Kendrick said. “I wouldn’t change that for the world. It was awesome. I just have to make better pitches. That’s what it comes down to.”
New addition or not, Kendrick didn’t look too sharp in his outings leading up to Wednesday’s debacle. He gave up 37 hits and 22 earned runs in 25 2/3 innings for a 7.71 ERA in July. Though he won twice in the month, Kendrick got one of those wins thanks to 13 runs of support.
Meanwhile, Kendrick’s month-by-month ledger has shown his performances get worse after each month. In April, the veteran righty went 2-1 with a 2.41 ERA, followed by a 3-2 May in which he posted a 4.03 ERA and made it through six innings in five of six starts.
Kendrick opened June with a complete game, but took a no-decision in an 8-7 win in Washington where he allowed seven runs in 4 1/3 innings. Still, Kendrick was able to pitch at least six innings in five of his six starts in June for a 4.17 ERA.
After showing consistency at the end of the 2012 season as well as the start of this season, Kendrick is hoping to figure out the cause of this latest setback before he takes the mound again in five days.
“I think the last four or five starts I’ve been leaving things up,” Kendrick said. “I feel like I’m having one bad inning and I’m not minimizing the damage. I’ve been in tough ruts before, but I just have to keep making pitches. Today I had no command, the ball was up and when you’re like that, most pitchers end up getting hurt.”
Unlike the 13-8 win over the Mets, Kendrick didn’t get much help from his hitters. Chase Utley hit one just over the railing in right for a homer in the first inning, and picked up another RBI on a groundout in the eighth. Otherwise, that was about all the offense the Phillies could muster against Giants’ starter Chad Gaudin.
The Phillies had just five hits -- four off Gaudin in seven innings -- and went 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.
Meanwhile, the loss was the Phillies’ ninth in the last 10 games. At 50-57, the Phillies are a healthy 12½ games behind the Braves in the NL East and just a game ahead of the Mets for third place.
Are the Phillies about to be passed in the standings by the Mets?
To avoid something like that from happening, the Phillies will send Cole Hamels (4-13, 4.09) to the mound in the series finale. Matt Cain (6-6, 4.79) will pitch for the Giants.
When the Giants leave town, the Braves arrive for a three-game series this weekend threatening to destroy the Phillies’ very slim hopes at making a run for a playoff spot.