• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Kendrick, Polanco team up to lead Phils over Yanks

Jun 18, 2010 - 3:40 AM By BEN WALKER AP Baseball Writer

NEW YORK(AP) -- Kyle Kendrick kept the New York Yankees guessing and got the win. Placido Polanco, Jayson Werth and Jose Contreras all earned saves.

Kendrick stayed ahead for seven innings and Polanco's sprawling catch led Philadelphia's great show with the gloves as the Phillies downed the Yankees 7-1 Thursday night to win the interleague series.

"I know that everyone likes to talk about our offense and how we've struggled, but it all goes back to pitching and defense," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.

The Phillies beat Andy Pettitte (8-2) and took two of three. Shortly before the first pitch, the giant video board in center field blared highlights from Pettitte's victory over Philadelphia at Yankee Stadium last November in the clinching Game 6 of the World Series.

Shane Victorino homered and the Phillies did some damage with the bats in a four-run ninth. But this was Kendrick's night, from the moment he struck out leadoff man Derek Jeter.

A day after 47-year-old lefty Jamie Moyer's soft tosses bamboozled the Yankees, they had no luck timing the changeups from Kendrick (4-2).

"He looked very confident," Manuel said.

Then again, the 25-year-old righty held an advantage - Mark Teixeira was the only player in the New York lineup who'd previously faced Kendrick, and he was just 1 for 12.

Kendrick gave up four singles in seven innings and left with a 3-1 edge. There was no official save, although his fielders certainly contributed.

After Robinson Cano's RBI single in the sixth cut the Yankees' deficit to two runs and put runners at the corners with two outs, Nick Swisher lifted a foul fly down the left-field line.

"At first, I definitely thought it was back in the stands, three or four rows deep," Kendrick said.

Polanco hustled back from third base, tumbled over the tarpaulin and made a backhanded grab while reaching into the seats. Kendrick flashed a big smile, waited to greet Polanco and gave him a high-five.

"It kept going away from me. I was going to make an effort," Polanco said.

Kendrick said the catch reminded him of the daring play Jeter once made at the old Yankee Stadium, a headfirst hurtle into the stands against Boston. Polanco rated his play a bit below that one.

"It was a good play, but not that great," Polanco said. "He broke his face."

Werth ran into the gap to make a diving catch on Cano's liner into the gap that ended the fourth. Contreras made a nifty, behind-the-back snag on Curtis Granderson's sharp comebacker in the eighth.

Philadelphia won two in a row for the first time in nearly two weeks and joined Tampa Bay as the lone visiting teams to win a series in the Bronx this season.

The Phillies pulled away in the ninth. The inning came to a strange end when Ben Francisco's bid for a two-run single deflected off the leg of teammate Raul Ibanez and skittered past Jeter at shortstop. The Yankees ran off the field while Francisco stood at first base, and it took the umpires a couple of minutes to confer and call the out.

Victorino, subbing for injured leadoff man Jimmy Rollins, hit a two-out, two-run homer to left field in the fifth that made it 3-0. Pettitte shouted at himself as Victorino quickly rounded the bases with his 11th home run.

"I felt good, but I wasn't wholeheartedly behind the pitch to Victorino. Somehow, he kept it fair. But for me, it was a stupid pitch," Pettitte said.

Carlos Ruiz stopped an 0-for-23 slump by doubling twice. He scored in the ninth when, after sacrificing earlier in the same spot, Wilson Valdez fooled the Yankees by swinging away for a single. Soon after Damaso Marte sailed a pitch that broke a sign on the backstop, Polanco and Ryan Howard had sacrifice flies and Ibanez hit an RBI double.

NOTES: The Subway Series resumes Friday night at Yankee Stadium with Javier Vazquez facing the Mets' Hisanori Takahashi. The Mets took two of three from the Yankees last month at Citi Field. ... Rollins (right calf) is scheduled to play the entire game Friday night at SS for Class-A Clearwater. He'll be re-evaluated Saturday in Philadelphia.