Manny Being Manny, Manny Beating Phillies
Manny Ramirez came up big in last night's 8-4 victory over the Phillies. Kyle Kendrick did not.
Manny Being Manny, Manny Beating Phillies
Todd Zolecki
Kyle Kendrick wishes he had an explanation.
He was 2-1 with a 1.45 ERA in his last three starts and 4-2 with a 3.28 ERA in his last eight starts before he got rocked last night in an 8-6 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He allowed seven runs in just 3 1/3 innings, which makes this arguably the worst start of his career.
"It's unbelievable," he said. "That's baseball. What can you say? The last three starts have been great, then you come into this one and I have the best stuff out of all those starts and get shoved. What can you do? Just forget about it, and move on."
Kendrick hurt himself in a disastrous third inning. He allowed a one-out single to Matt Kemp, then walked Andre Ethier and hit Jeff Kent with a pitch to load the bases. Manny Ramirez stepped into the batter's box, and you can guess what happened next. Ramirez, who is a .331 career hitter with the bases loaded (he is a .313 career hitter overall), ripped a double to left-center field to score the game's first two runs. Kendrick allowed four more runs in the third as the Dodgers took a 6-0 lead.
"They've got a tough lineup now," Charlie Manuel said. "Not only Manny, but (Casey) Blake. That gives them more balance in their lineup. That gives them a better hitting team. They're tough. Manny is tough, especially with the bases loaded. For some reason, he really bears down with the bases loaded.
"Once you get past (Ramirez), you've still got (James) Loney and (Russell) Martin and Blake standing in there. That's pretty good. I had interest in Blake. He was in Cleveland, and I saw him when he was with the Twins. He's pretty good. He can get big hits for you."
Including a two-run homer that capped the scoring in the third.
"I just couldn't control the damage," Kendrick said.
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For what it's worth, the Mets and Marlins also lost.
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In the Phillies Notebook: more on Brad Lidge, the Phillies sign a top draft pick and more.
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Ryan Howard knocked in a couple runs to give him 32 home runs and 100 RBIs. He is just the second player in franchise history to have three-straight seasons with at least 30 homers and 100 RBIs. The other? Chuck Klein. He accomplished the feat from 1930-32: 40/170 in 1930, 31/121 in 1931 and 38/137 in 1932. Howard had 58/149 in 2006 and 47/136 in 2007.
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I've been up for more than 21 hours, so I think it's time to cash out before I crash out in the pressbox.
I don't understand your vent John. Are you being facetious about Howard? If he goes to arbitration this year he may get a pay cut (lol). That said, I'll take the league leader in HR and RBI any day, regardless of his ave. Anyone notice Arizona just got Dunn for free?— jeff gross- In spite of Dunn's power and big HR /RBI stats every year, his average has always left a huge void in the Reds lineup and you could always count on getting him to strike out a lot to end rallies/innings for them......my fear is Howard is just another Dunn and we'll have this huge void in our lineup too.....and Dunn wasn't had for free, supposedly a ML ready pitcher and someone else from the 40 man roster, that's not cheap....now the DBacks may let him walk after this year and take the 2 draft picks they'll get for him, so they may restock their farm system with a rental player...it's a wash.— Mark1npt
- In spite of Dunn's power and big HR /RBI stats every year, his average has always left a huge void in the Reds lineup and you could always count on getting him to strike out a lot to end rallies/innings for them......my fear is Howard is just another Dunn and we'll have this huge void in our lineup too.....and Dunn wasn't had for free, supposedly a ML ready pitcher and someone else from the 40 man roster, that's not cheap....now the DBacks may let him walk after this year and take the 2 draft picks they'll get for him, so they may restock their farm system with a rental player...it's a wash.— Mark1npt
- from what I saw they got a pitcher who was 1-4, and two Players to be named later. I agree that he's no great asset, another Howard as you say, (but with less power). Just found it interesting how the Reds are selling anyone and everyone.— jeff gross
- I'm being sarcastic, Jeff. I think Howard is a bit of a fraud. Amazing power - and that's it. When you strike out as much as he does, and hit at that average - again, this is who Howard really is, it seems, not the MVP guy - then sorry, it ain't all skill when your flailing bat does actually connect. Look at his body. And the concrete glove. And the fact that he's gotten progressively worse over the last 2 years. Like I said before, I'll take Polanco.— John in LA
- While I also would love to see the Howard of two years ago re-apear, this Howard is also an asset to the team. Even with his sh*tty average and way too many K's teams can't pitch around Chase as he's up next. Unfortunately, Chase this year isn't Chase. I would serriously think about moving Pat to 3 and Chase to 5.— jeff gross
- Guess he was up 20 and half hours and missed the 9th inning when the Phils added two more runs. To lose the game 8-6.— Beef69
- the kid has guts and is very teachable, with young kids you need to take some lumps. he is working on another pitch and if he gets that down that will help.. the kid never gives up and he is a pleasure to have,if we get rid of him or trade him he will come back to haunt us,i am for keeping the kid in the starting rotation. win losses tell it all not the era so much.— pattymac3
- I wouldn't call Kendrick a kid any more. He's finishing up his second season and needs to be recognised as a full fledged member of the team. That said, his numbers are good, and he will improve. Any talk of moving him to pen, minors, or other team is simply assinine. Remember, Howard won his MVP in his second year after coming up midway through first season, just like Kendrick did.— jeff gross
- I wouldn't call Kendrick a kid any more. He's finishing up his second season and needs to be recognised as a full fledged member of the team. That said, his numbers are good, and he will improve. Any talk of moving him to pen, minors, or other team is simply assinine. Remember, Howard won his MVP in his second year after coming up midway through first season, just like Kendrick did.— jeff gross
- I try to pretend that Howard is actually a designated hitter in the National League. The very thought of him with a baseball mitt is scary.— maximusud
- Howard is the dominate forse in the nat'l leauge. Only the Philadelphia fan could so foolish. Either way Howard will laugh his way to the bank next yr $15,000,000 richer for one season while YOU complain about his 15-20 errors a yr.— Truth
Howard is the dominate forse in the nat'l leauge? Spelling aside, are you kidding? Yes, he A force in the NL, but he's far from the dominant presence he was 2 years ago. At that time, he was completely and utterly FEARED by opposing pitchers. Now, sure he has power and can drive in runs. But pitchers are clearly not intimidated by Ryan Howard like they once were. If we're just talking offense, you certainly can't rank him head and shoulders above Pujols, Lee or now Manny in terms of dominance. Making such over-the-top statements does not help your admittedly low credibility.— bobby- Howard's defense is just one of the many small reasons why the Phils are just not good enough to win more than our division (the wildcard is probably out of reach). Too many hitters with poor knowledge of the strike zone and mediocre starting pitching are also unrelievable problems. My suggestion to people would be to enjoy this team while you can--they are exciting to watch most of the time. I don't believe the Phils can go very far with the current clueless management (ownership) team who only seem to be concerned about making money. After a couple more years players like Howrd and Hamels will leave via freee agency or trades and we'll be a last placed team again. So... enjoy the contention while you can.— James TL
- Howard, must have a block in his head. He goes on a tear by hitting the ball to the opposite field. Now he's trying to pull the ball again ,grounding out to the right side of the infield. Special ed ?— pat h
