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Kendrick, Lannan eye more offensive support in series finale

Jul 31, 2008 - 10:19 AM Philadelphia (58-49) at Washington (38-69) 7:10 pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- With solid support from his offense, a pitcher can overcome a poor outing to get a win - a concept Kyle Kendrick knows well but something John Lannan only wishes he had.

Kendrick and the Phillies attempt to close out a three-game sweep of Lannan and the Nationals when the teams meet on Thursday.

Despite being winless in his last four starts, Kendrick (8-5, 4.70 ERA) is among the leaders in the majors in terms of run support as Philadelphia has provided him with 90 runs over 21 starts, including 17 in one game.

However, that support has taken a downturn lately as the righthander has been given six runs to work with over his last four outings. Such was the case in Friday's 8-2 home loss to Atlanta, as the Phillies were held scoreless while Kendrick was still in the contest, saddling him with the loss despite allowing one run and seven hits over six frames.

Kendrick does not figure to get any sympathy from Lannan (6-10, 3.33), who has received 39 runs of support in 20 outings, by far the worst mark in the majors for a pitcher that has made at least 15 starts.

In 15 of his turns, the Nationals have scored two runs or fewer.

It was more of the same for the lefthander in Friday's 3-2 setback to the Dodgers. Lannan, who permitted three runs and six hits over seven innings, took his sixth loss when he has yielded three runs or less.