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Marlins jump on Kendrick and hold off Phils

Sep 10, 2008 - 5:54 AM By Vince DiGregorio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PHILADELPHIA (Ticker) -- Ultimately, the Philadelphia Phillies could not climb out of the deep hole dug by Kyle Kendrick.

Jorge Cantu, Mike Jacobs and Cody Ross each hit home runs as the Florida Marlins built an early eight-run advantage, then withstood a furious rally and held on to defeat the Phillies, 10-8, on Tuesday.

The loss dropped the Phillies (79-66) 2 1/2 games behind first-place New York (81-63) in National League East after the Mets posted a 10-8 victory themselves.

"Tonight, we fought like heck to get back in (the game), but we were too far back to catch up," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "Didn't get the big hit to catch up."

The Marlins did the bulk of the damage against Kendrick by scoring seven runs off the 24-year-old in the first two innings. Jacobs belted his 32nd home run, a two-run shot off J.A. Happ in the fourth, to give Florida what appeared to be a commanding 9-1 advantage.

"(Citizens Bank Park) is a place where hitters dream about hitting at," Jacobs said. "Anytime you can put a good swing on a ball here, it's got a chance to leave and it's always fun playing here."

Kendrick (11-9) was a pleasant surprise for the Phillies last year in their late-season drive to the NL East title, but has struggled recently, having lost four of his last six starts.

"We're in the race right now and it's not a good time to be going through this." Kendrick said. "I didn't feel any pressure. I just got hit. There's nothing more I can say."

Philadelphia had done nothing offensively against Florida starter Chris Volstad through three innings, managing just two singles, but both hits were sharp comebackers that struck the righthander. The second one, a liner by Carlos Ruiz, hit the 21-year-old in the right leg leading off the third that eventually forced him out of the game after the frame ended.

"The first one hit more glove and didn't bother me at all," Volstad said. "It's unfortunate, but that's baseball. The two hits I gave up were literally off of me.

"It feels all right now. I'm not too worried about it. I felt like I could have kept going, but we don't want to alter my mechanics or my delivery and put more strain on the arm than necessary. It was a decision we made just to be safe."

Trailing by eight, the Phillies began their comeback against Eulogio de la Cruz in the fourth. Ryan Howard hit his 41st home run - a two-run shot - and Pat Burrell tripled and scored on an RBI groundout by Shane Victorino that cut the deficit to 9-4.

After Ross homered off Happ in the fifth to make it, 10-4, Philadelphia added four in the sixth off de la Cruz and Doug Waechter. Victorino had an RBI single, Greg Dobbs a two-run double and Matt Stairs a pinch hit, RBI single that made the score, 10-8.

But five more Florida relievers combined to keep the Phillies scoreless with Kevin Gregg (7-8) getting the win. Matt Lindstrom retired the only batter he faced in the ninth for his second save.

"I was worried about the pitching," Florida manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "I couldn't tell you who was hitting for us. I was thinking about how many outs we've got left and what we've got in the bullpen. I know we won by two and that's as far as I can go right now."

Florida had eight of the combined 15 pitchers used in the game by both teams.

Kendrick quickly got himself in a jam in the first inning. With one out, he gave up two singles around a walk to load the bases. Dan Uggla lined a two-run single down the right field line before a sacrifice fly by Josh Willingham gave the Marlins a 3-0 lead.

"I just think (Kendrick) wasn't throwing strikes," Jacobs said. "He wasn't able to establish anything and obviously at this level, if you're not throwing strikes, it makes it tough on you."

Jayson Werth single-handedly manufactured a run for the Phillies in the bottom half. Werth reached on an infield single off Volstad, then stole second and third on consecutive pitches and scored on an RBI groundout by Chase Utley.

However, Florida jumped on Kendrick for four runs in the second.

After retiring the first batter, Kendrick gave up consecutive doubles to Volstad and Hanley Ramirez that made it, 4-1. John Baker walked and Cantu ended Kendrick's outing by blasting an 0-1 pitch into the left field seats for a three-run home run to make it, 7-1.

"(Cantu) is a low ball hitter," Kendrick said. "It was a fastball away. He just kind of dove out and hit it."

Kendrick lasted just 1 1/3 innings and allowed seven runs on six hits and walked two.

"Anytime you have an outing like that and not really give your team a chance at all, it's frustrating," Kendrick said. "Just got to fight through it."

Volstad gave up a run on two hits and struck out two batters before leaving the game. He was officially diagnosed with a right leg contusion.

"We didn't want to take any chances," Gonzalez said. "It was just a bruise, but with a 21-year-old kid whose got a big upside, I didn't want him trying to get through it and hurt his arm or something. I think he's gonna be OK."