Phillies Nation

Braves Pummel Kendrick; Rosario Sharp In Loss

Posted by Tim Malcolm, Tue, March 04, 2008 09:22 PM

Kyle Kendrick got knocked around today in a 10-1 loss to the Braves. In fact, it was Kendrick’s worst outing as a member of the Phillies, giving up seven runs on nine hits in just 2.2 innings. The defense around him only aided to his struggles, as Carlos Ruiz made an errant pickoff throw and Geoff Jenkins had a bad throwing error in right field.

For that dark cloud, there was a tremendous silver lining: Francisco Rosario was spectacular. The righty vying for a middle relief spot went 3.1 innings, giving up just two hits while striking out four and walking none. That’s a nice rebound from a spotty outing a few days ago. I never minded Rosario, just as long as his control was smooth. He has the type of velocity you’d want in a middle relief guy — someone who just gets outs and quickly. This outing really helped his cause, especially as one more Minor League demotion means he’s waiver fodder.

Ryan Howard had an RBI single in the first inning. Not a lot of focus is on Howard’s fine play at the plate so far, and maybe there should be. The big man has been spraying the ball all over the outfield, hitting both lefties and righties. And he’s only struck out three times.

Eric Bruntlett continued his strong hitting, Shane Victorino went 2-for-3, and that old Greg Golson got a hit in his only at bat. He’s hitting a clean .750 for the Spring (not counting his B-game performance).

Vic Darensbourg had a scoreless inning, though he gave up two hits, while closer-ad-interim Tom Gordon gave up three runs on three hits in his one inning.

What we got out of this game:

1. That Kyle Kendrick’s 2008 status will probably scare us for a while longer.
2. There’s hope yet for Francisco Rosario.

The team will break into two for its first split-squad foray of the Spring. One half will play the Blue Jays. Brett Myers gets the start. The other half will play the Tigers, which will begin with JD Durbin. Chances are we’ll see Chad Durbin and Shane Youman, as well.

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