The big decision going into tonight’s game against the Mets was whether or not to let Kyle Kendrick pitch in his spot of the rotation. Charlie Manuel could have gone with Vance Worley. Worley pitched in Kendrick’s spot for game one of a double header against the Marlins on September 6 taking the loss after allowing two runs in five innings.
But as we all know, Manuel went with Kendrick. And like Worley did against the Marlins, KK went five innings and allowed two runs while only throwing 64 pitches. Kendrick didn’t pitch badly. He stayed within his usual game plan. His one big mistake was the solo home run he gave up to Jose Reyes.
On the other side of the diamond, Mets pitcher Mike Pelfrey only allowed four hits through the first seven innings. In a typical Jerry Manuel-head scratcher kind of way, the manager brought Pelfrey out to start the eighth. Now you can hold Phillies’ bats down, but usually not for long. The Phillies put together a string of hits and quality at bats and went on to score three runs in the inning off Pelfrey and Bobby Parnell.
The ninth inning also looked promising with Mike Sweeney hitting a double and moving to third on a Wilson Valdez ground out. However, Carlos Ruiz grounded out to end the game 4-3 in favor of the Mets.
This game had some interesting scenarios play out. Ole Charlie had Jose Contreras intentionally walk David Wright to load the bases and allowed JC Romero to pitch to Ike Davis, who was already 3 for 3 in the game. As you guessed, Davis hits a two RBI single to increase the lead to 4-0. If Contreras actually pitches to Wright, maybe he gets the out and the Phillies escape the inning still only down 2-0. If.
Injury update: Jimmy Rollins was again out of the lineup and Manuel said there is no guarantee he will play Sunday.
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