Hamstring pulls Rollins off the field in Phllies' loss

Six weeks ago, Kyle Kendrick stood at his locker stall at Citi Field and was asked about the first 4 months of his last season under contract with the Phillies.

"It just hasn't been a great year," Kendrick said of having a 4.87 ERA through his first 21 starts. "I still have 2 months to finish strong."

Kendrick started what might be his final month of a Phillies uniform with his best performance of the season. That was a week ago, when he held the Braves to three hits in seven shutout innings at Turner Field.

But last night at Citizens Bank Park, he had a start not unlike most of the games he has pitched in 2014. There were flashes of success but not enough consistency.

Kendrick took the mound with the Phillies down a run in the eighth inning and allowed three runs as the Pittsburgh Pirates pulled away with a 6-4 victory.

Kendrick entered the eighth having thrown 111 pitches. Ken Giles, who has pitched regularly in the eighth, wasn't available; he had pitched four times in the last six games and twice over the weekend in Washington.

Kendrick said he asked to stay in the game.

"He had a real good seventh," Sandberg said of sticking with his starter, who struck out two of the three batters he faced in the inning. "With the way he pitched in the seventh, I gave him a shot in the eighth."

The inning began with Andrew McCutchen beating out a swinging-bunt single and advancing to second on a throwing error from Maikel Franco. The inning ended with the Pirates having sent eight batters to the plate and scoring four times.

Kendrick allowed three straight hits to begin the eighth and Jake Diekman took over and gave up a sacrifice fly and two doubles to the only three batters he faced.

Kendrick, who will file for free agency after the World Series, has a 4.57 ERA in seven starts since the beginning of August. If his start last night had ended after seven innings, he would have a 4.68 on the season; instead, he has a 4.83 ERA in 29 starts.

"Kendrick overall had good stuff," Sandberg said. "A little tough luck to start the eighth on the swinging bunt and a couple of hits and then the four runs and that was the difference."

Trailing 6-1, the Phillies pieced together a rally in the bottom of the eighth, beginning with Franco's second big-league hit, a single to right-center, and highlighted by a two-run triple from Utley. But Marlon Byrd grounded into a fielder's choice to strand two runners to end the rally, and Pittsburgh closer Mark Melancon pitched a perfect ninth.

Rollins injured

Jimmy Rollins briefly thought about putting on the brakes, but knew it was easier to keep going. He felt his left hamstring "grab" during his 270-foot trek to third base, when he hit a one-out triple and eventually scored in the fourth inning of the Phillies' 6-4 loss to the Pirates last night.

But when the Phillies returned to the field for the fifth inning, Rollins was on the bench and his availability for the 3 weeks that remain in the season is questionable.

Rollins said it wasn't "anything serious" and that he expects to return within 2 weeks, but he'll undergo an ultrasound to check to the severity of his left hamstring strain today.

"There's never a couple days with a hamstring," Rollins said. "With a hamstring, no matter if it's a Grade 1 - and I don't even know if it's that - you're looking at 10 days. So just going off of that, traditionally, hopefully I can get back around Oakland [Sept. 19] or something, finish out then. Maybe before that, but I'll just set my eyes there. That way I'm not trying to do nothing too strenuous to further injure it."

In Rollins' absence, the Phillies will likely turn to Freddy Galvis for everyday-shortstop duties. But Rollins does not believe the injury is serious enough to sideline him for the 19 games that remain on the schedule.

"It isn't that severe," he said. "Obviously we'll do an ultra-sound [today], to check the severity of it."

Rollins is hitting .243 with 17 home runs, 22 doubles and four triples in 138 games. He has a career-high 64 walks and has gone 28-for-34 in stolen-base attempts.

Barring a trade this winter, Rollins will return for his 16th season with the Phillies in 2015. He vested the 2015 option in his contract earlier this summer.

One hitch, which probably isn't even worth mentioning since players are rarely placed on the disabled list in September: Rollins' option would not vest if he's on the DL at the end of this season and a mutually-agreed-upon doctor deems him unready for Opening Day 2015.

"He's been durable," manager Ryne Sandberg said of his shortstop, who has started 130 games this season. "I'd say overall he's really done a good job on the offense side of things, being a spark at the top."

After arriving at third base for his fourth triple of the season, the 35-year-old Rollins was hopping around the bag while Chase Utley batted, in what looked like an attempt to loosen up his legs. After Utley grounded out, Rollins easily scored on Ryan Howard's two-out single to right.

Galvis replaced Rollins in the next half-inning.

"It's sore," Rollins said after the game. "When it happened, I wasn't sure if it was a cramp or a slight strain because it wasn't severe. As adrenaline wears down, it just gets a little more sore. But it wasn't anything serious - but enough to pull me out of the game before I do something crazy."