CINCINNATI — Last season, the Phillies didn't reach .500 until May 16.

This year, Chase Utley made sure they arrived a little sooner.

The lefthanded-hitting second baseman continued his torrid start, hitting two home runs – Nos. 99 and 100 for his career – and driving in three runs as the Phillies beat the Reds, 8-4, to improve to 2-2.

"How about those Fightins?....500," manager Charlie Manuel said.

In a game delayed 1 hour, 34 minutes because of rain, the Phillies' bats certainly weren't damp.

Only days removed from two straight losses to the Nationals, they scored eight runs on 10 hits and have now scored 16 runs in their last two games.

Much of the credit can go to guys like Utley and leftfielder Pat Burrell, who crushed a monster two-run home run into the second deck at Great American Ball Park to put the Phillies up, 3-0, in the first inning.

Burrell, whose shot was measured at 429 feet, added a double in the fifth inning and is now 5-for-13 this season.

Utley's two-run home run with one out in the third inning gave the Phillies a 5-1 lead. The second baseman is 5-for-14 this season with three home runs and five RBI.

With a tired bullpen and young starter Kyle Kendrick on the mound, the Phillies needed all the production their bats could provide. Kendrick (1-0) struggled at times, but did a nice job of working his way out of trouble. The righthander allowed hits to three of the first four Reds batters, giving up an Ken Griffey Jr.'s RBI single, but got Adam Dunn to fly out and Joey Votto to ground out with the bases loaded to escape the first-inning jam.

He ran into more trouble in the third, allowing three straight hits to start the inning, including Griffey's RBI double. But with men on first and third and no outs, Kendrick got Dunn to ground into a 4-6-3 doubleplay, and then coaxed Edwin Encarnacion into a groundout to escape the inning with a 5-3 lead.

"The offense put up some runs, and that really that helped," Kendrick said. "I was just hoping to miminize the damage, giving up one run rather than two or three and staying in crooked numbers."

Shortstop Jimmy Rollins, fresh off his late-game heroics in Thursday's 8-7 win over the Nationals, went 2-for-5 with two runs scored. He also gave the Phillies a 6-3 lead in the fourth with a groundout that drove in Pedro Feliz from third base.

Kendrick allowed one more run – on a sacrifice fly in the fourth – but pitched into the sixth inning despite his early trouble.

Although Kendrick didn't dazzle — he finished with four runs on eight hits with two walks and one strikeout — the fact that he was able to pitch into the sixth helped ease the burden on a bullpen that pitched 6 innings on Thursday.

"That was real good," Manuel said of Kendrick's five-plus innings. "But it's also good that the bullpen got people out."

Manuel said before the game he would not use righthanders Chad Durbin or Tom Gordon, giving the Phillies only five fresh arms. Madson, who threw 23 pitches Thursday, allowed one hit and no runs in two innings. Veteran Rudy Seanez, signed earlier in the week after being released by the Dodgers, pitched a perfect inning for the second straight day.

Lefthander J.C. Romero then served as the fill-in closer, pitching a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the victory, although he did not get a save, thanks to Shane Victorino's RBI single in the ninth that scored So Taguchi to give the Phillies a four-run lead.

The win should put to rest some of the talk of slow starts that has visibly perturbed some Phillies. The team has been plagued by poor Aprils the past three seasons. The Phillies' win over the Nationals Thursday marked the first time since 2005 that they didn't start a season 0-3.

Last night's win marked the earliest the team has reached .500 since that 2005 season, when they started 1-1.

Lidge ready

No disrespect to the lower levels of the game, but by the time Brad Lidge made his final rehab appearance for Class A Clearwater Thursday night, the Phillies closer had maxed out his tolerance for minor league baseball.

"As soon as I threw, I was like, all right, I need to get out of here," said Lidge, who joined the Phillies in Cincinnati yesterday and is expected to be activated from the disabled list today.

He's back just in time.

Fresh off a three-game series in which the bullpen pitched 11 innings, the Phils could use any fresh arm in the bullpen. The fact that it belongs to their marquee offseason acquisition makes it even better.

Lidge, who spent the first 5 days of the season on the disabled list while wrapping up his recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery, will pitch tonight if needed. He sees no reason he won't be able to pitch again tomorrow, too.

"I don't think I need to be babied," Lidge said.

The veteran righthander spent an extra week in Clearwater, Fla., attempting to make up for the time he lost after surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee Feb. 25. He said he is happy with his pitches, but still has a little more velocity to add to his fastball, which right now is clocking in around 93 mph.

"Normally at the start of the season, just based on the past, I'm not quite where I am a month or two into the season," Lidge said. "I think facing some major league hitters will bump up my velocity more to where I need to be."

Zagurski surgery

Lefthander Mike Zagurski, the Phillies' minor league pitcher of the year last year, had Tommy John surgery yesterday in Alabama. Zagurski, a 12th-round pick in the 2005 draft, appeared in 25 games with the Phillies last season, going 1-0 with a 5.91 ERA. He spent most of the offseason recovering from hamstring surgery. He injured his elbow late in spring training. *

For more Phillies coverage and opinion, read David Murphy's blog, High Cheese, at http://go.philly.com/highcheese.