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The Phillies got six runs and good starting pitching for the second straight night last night. For the second straight night it was enough and they topped the Giants 6-2.

Lee led the way with his start in game one. Last night was Kyle Kendrick’s turn. Kendrick tossed seven strong innings to get the win and is 4-0 with a 1.71 ERA and a 1.00 ratio in 42 innings over his last six starts. Opponents have hit .219 against him.

The Phillies have scored 12 runs in the first two games of their set in San Francisco. Utley and Howard both homered last night, with Howard’s blast coming off of a lefty in the top of the ninth.

The Phillies are 16-18 on the year after beating the San Francisco Giants 6-2 last night. They have won two in a row and are 7-4 in their last 11 games. They are 10-8 since the end of the day on April 18, which is the best mark in the NL East. That says a lot about how the teams in the NL East are playing these days — the Phils are 11-12 since the end of the day on April 13, which is also the best mark in the division.

Kendrick got the start for the Phillies and went seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, both doubles. He struck out six and didn’t walk a batter.

Up 1-0, he set the Giants down in order in the bottom of the first.

Up 3-0, he set them down in order in the second, making an outstanding play on a Gregor Blanco bunt for the third out. Blanco bunted down the first base line, but Kendrick got to the ball and flipped to first while falling down in time to retire Blanco and end the inning.

Brandon Belt singled to shallow left to start the third and moved to third when Brandon Crawford doubled down the left field line. Kendrick struck the pitcher Tim Lincecum out for the first out before Angel Pagan flew to center for the second. Belt tagged and scored from third, cutting the lead to 3-1. Marco Scutaro was next and he ripped the first pitch he saw from Kendrick passed a diving Young and into the third base corner. Crawford scored from second and it was 3-2. Pablo Sandoval flew to right for the third out.

Buster Posey singled to center to start the fourth. Hunter Pence was next and hit a double-play ball to Young at third, but Young booted it for an error that left men on first and second with nobody out. Kendrick struck Blanco out looking for the first out and Belt out looking for the second before Crawford grounded to third to set the Giants down.

Just a fantastic job by Kendrick to get back-to-back strikeouts after the error by Young changes the inning from two outs and nobody on to two on and nobody out. Young had a shaky start to the year defensively at third, but has been much better than I expected there since.

Up 4-1, Kendrick allowed a two-out single to Scutaro in the fifth. Sandoval went down on a ball handled by Kendrick to end the inning.

Kendrick set the Giants down in order in the sixth.

The Phillies led 5-2 when he started the seventh. Crawford singled with one out and lefty Nick Noonan hit for the pitcher Lincecum. Noonan flew to center for the second out and Pagan flew to left for the third.

Adams started the eighth with the Phils still up by three. He allowed a one-out single to Sandoval, but struck Posey and Pence out behind Sandoval to keep the Giants off the board.

Adams has allowed two hits and a walk over four scoreless innings in his last four appearances.

Up 6-2, Papelbon set the Giants down in order in the ninth.

The Phillies scored a run in the top of the ninth, so Papelbon was pitching in a non-save situation for the fifth time in his last seven appearances. Pitching him in a non-save situation is fine. Pitching him with a huge less is less fine. The Phillies have won the last five games he has pitched in by an average of four runs.

He allowed two runs in an inning in his first outing of the year. Since then, Papelbon has thrown 12 scoreless innings in 12 appearances, allowing three hits and a walk while striking out seven.

Two scoreless innings for the pen in which they allow a hit, no walks and strike out three. Papelbon has thrown two days in a row and threw 14 pitches in the game.

The Phillie lineup against righty Tim Lincecum went (1) Rollins (2) Utley (3) Michael Young (4) Howard (5) Ruiz (6) Brown (7) Nix (8) Revere. Nix in right against the righty with righties Mayberry and Delmon Young on the bench. Revere plays center against the righty.

With one out in the first, Utley hit a ball that Lincecum fielded and threw away for an error, leaving Utley at second with nobody out. Michael Young followed with a walk before Howard singled on a ball deflected by Scutaro, scoring Utley to put the Phils up 1-0 with one down and men on first and second. Ruiz struck out swinging for the second out and Brown went down swinging to leave both runners stranded.

The Phillies get a run with some help, then can’t get more after putting two men on with one out. Utley’s ball was back up the middle and hit Lincecum on one hop. Lincecum slid for it near the first base line and made a bad throw to first. Howard hit his ball hard, but right at Scutaro. Scutaro had a good chance to make the play.

Nix and Revere singled back-to-back to start the second and Kendrick bunted them up to second and third with the first out. Rollins was next and grounded to second for the second out. Both runners moved up with Nix scoring to put the Phils on top 2-0. Utley was next and singled into center, scoring Revere. 3-0. Michael Young flew to right to end the frame.

Howard started the third with a walk, but Ruiz grounded into a double-play behind him. Brown grounded to second for the third out.

Nix singled to left to start the fourth with the lead cut to 3-2. He stole second, but Revere and Kendrick both struck out and Rollins grounded to first to leave him stranded.

Utley hit Lincecum’s first pitch of the fifth out to right-center, putting the Phillies up 4-2. They went in order behind him.

They went 1-2-3 in the sixth.

Rollins singled with one out in the seventh and scored on a two-out double by Michael Young. 5-2. Lincecum walked Howard intentionally to pitch to Ruiz and got Ruiz on a ground ball handled by Lincecum to leave Young stranded.

Revere bunted for a single off of lefty Jose Mijares with two outs in the eighth and took second on a throwing error by Belt. Frandsen hit for Kendrick and walked, but Rollins struck out looking to leave both runners stranded.

Revere bunts for the hit against a lefty. His numbers are about equally bad against lefties and righties, but I think we’ll see him sit for a while against lefties so Mayberry can hit against left-handed pitching.

Howard hit an 0-1 pitch out to center off of Mijares with two outs in the ninth. 6-2. Ruiz followed with a single, but Brown went down on a fly ball to left to leave Ruiz at first.

Second home run of the year for Howard off of a lefty. His isolated power against lefties is .258 in 18 at-bats, which is better than his isolated power of .221 against righties. The problem is he’s hitting .194 against lefties with one walk in 19 plate appearances.

Rollins 1-for-5 with an RBI. He’s 4-for-his-last-32 with four singles.

Utley 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. Six of his seven home runs on the year have come against righties and he’s hitting 133/212/300 against left-handed pitching.

Michael Young 1-for-4 with a walk and a double and an error. 4-for-his-last-8 with three doubles.

Howard 2-for-3 with two walks and a home run. 322/364/661 over his last 66 plate appearances.

Ruiz 1-for-5 and left five men on base. 3-for-25 on the year. 1-for-20 against right-handed pitching.

Brown was 0-for-5 and struck out twice. 1-for-his-last-16. He has one walk in his last 56 plate appearances.

Revere 2-for-4 to up his average to .233. We better be hoping Ben Revere can play, cause Mayberry in center field is a lock not to work. Revere is 5-for-13 with three walks so far in May (385/500/385).

Pettibone (2-0, 3.24) faces lefty Barry Zito (3-1, 3.06) this afternoon. The Phils are 3-0 in Pettibone’s three starts and all three have been pretty good. Opponents have hit .286 against him, but he’s walked just two in 16 2/3 innings. Zito has allowed 11 earned runs in his six starts, nine of which came in a single outing against the Brewers. He’s allowed two earned runs in 29 2/3 innings over the other five, which is an 0.61 ERA. For the sake of our sanity, and perhaps civilization as we know it, it does seem important to point out that he was charged with five unearned runs in those five starts. Still.

The Phillie rotation includes Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay these days, but Kyle Kendrick has clearly been the best starter of the group. Kendrick went seven strong innings last night as the Phils topped the Marlins 7-2.

Just about everybody thought it was a fluke when a 22-year-old Kendrick went 10-4 with a 3.87 ERA in 2007 and helped to pitch the Phillies into the playoffs. We might all want to reconsider. Kendrick is 28 now and he’s thrown to a 3.44 ERA over his last 46 starts going back to the start of 2011.

The Phillies, meanwhile, are having a lot of success against the Fish and the Mets and a whole lot less against everyone else. 8-2 against the Marlins and Mets and 5-14 against everyone else.

The Phillies are 13-16 on the year after beating the Miami Marlins 7-2 last night. The Phillies have won four of their last six.

Kendrick got the start for the Phillies and went seven innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks. Three of the hits went for extra-bases, a double, a triple and a home run. He struck out five.

Kendrick was charged with five runs in 5 2/3 innings in his first start of the season. Since then he’s made five starts in which he’s thrown to a 1.54 ERA with a 1.03 ratio. Opponents have hit .219 against him in those starts and the Phils have gone 4-1. Lefties are hitting 233/291/370 against him for the season.

Juan Pierre was the first batter of the game. He drew a walk and moved up to second when Donovan Solano singled to center. Pierre stole third before Placido Polanco hit into a double-play, scoring Pierre to make it 1-0 with the bases empty. Dobbs singled into left, but Kendrick retired Justin Ruggiano on a ground ball to short to end the frame.

Marcell Ozuna doubled with one out in the second, but Kendrick got the next two hitters to leave him stranded.

It was 1-1 when Kendrick started the third. Solano and Polanco singled back-to-back with one out, but Kendrick got Dobbs swinging for the second out. Ruggiano walked to load the bases, but Kendrick got Rob Brantley looking to leave them loaded.

Through three innings, Kendrick had allowed four singles, two walks, a double and a stolen base, but held Miami to a single run.

Adeiny Hechavarria tripled with one out in the fourth. The pitcher Alex Sanabia was next, though, and Kendrick got him on a ground ball to first with Hechavarria holding third for the second out. Pierre popped to Rollins to end the inning.

No run for the Fish after putting a man on third with one out.

The Phils led 2-1 when Kendrick set Miami down in order in the fifth. Solano smashed a ball back up the middle and off of Kendrick’s leg to start the frame, but Kendrick went after the ball quickly and threw to first to get the out.

Nice play by Kendrick. Solano hit the ball hard.

The Phils led 4-1 Ruggiano homered to center to start the sixth. 4-2. Kendrick retired the next three.

He set the Marlins down in order in the seventh. Lefty Chris Coghlan hit for the pitcher Jon Rauch and struck out looking for the first out.

Adams set Polanco, Dobbs and Ruggiano down in order in the eighth with the Phils still up by two.

Adams drops his ERA to 3.27 with the outing. He hasn’t allowed a hit or a walk over two innings in his last two appearances.

Papelbon started the ninth with a 7-2 lead after the Phils scored three in the bottom of the eighth and set the Marlins down in order.

Ideally, Papelbon wouldn’t be pitching in the ninth with a five-run lead no matter how many runs you score in the bottom of the eighth. The Phillies play ten more days in a row before their next off-day, which is on May 13.

Papelbon allowed two runs in an inning in his first appearance of the year. Since then he’s thrown nine scoreless innings in nine appearances.

Overall the pen went two scoreless innings in the game in which they struck out two and did not allow a hit or a walk. Adams threw 14 pitches and Papelbon eight. Neither of them has thrown more than one day in a row.

The Phillie lineup against righty Alex Sanabia went (1) Rollins (2) Utley (3) Michael Young (4) Howard (5) Delmon Young (6) Brown (7) Mayberry (8) Kratz. Revere on the bench with a swollen finger, so Mayberry plays center against the righty. Delmon Young makes his first appearance in right as a Phillie. Kratz catches.

Michael Young doubled to center with two outs in the bottom of the first and the Phils down 1-0. Howard struck out swinging to leave him stranded.

First extra-base hit for Young since April 10. He came into the game 19-for-his-last-63 (.302) with 19 singles.

Brown lined a homer out to right with one out in the second, tying the game at 1-1. Mayberry and Kratz went down behind him.

Kendrick dumped a soft single into center to start the third, but Rollins grounded into a double-play behind him and Utley struck out for the third out.

Howard homered to left with one out in the fourth, putting the Phils up 2-1. Brown delivered a two-out single later in the frame, but Mayberry flew to left to leave him at first.

Kratz walked to start the fifth and Kendrick bunted him to second with the first out. Rollins was next and hit a ball to second that Solano didn’t handle for an error, leaving the Phils with runners on the corners and one out for Utley. Utley flew to right, deep enough for Kratz to tag and score, putting the Phils up 3-1. Michael Young followed with a single, sending Rollins to third. With Howard at the plate, a passed ball scored Rollins (4-1) and moved Young up to second. Howard was walked intentionally and the righty Sanabia got the righty Delmon Young to ground to short to end the inning.

Marlins tally an error, a passed ball and an intentional walk in the frame and the Phillies gave them one out on a bunt. If they get an out on the ball booted by Solano they are out of the inning with no damage done.

Righty Jon Rauch walked Mayberry with one out in the sixth. Kratz struck out for the second out and Kendrick grounded to second to end the inning.

It was 4-2 when righty Tom Koehler set Rollins, Utley and Michael Young down in order in the seventh.

Koehler came back to start the eighth. He walked Howard and Nix back-to-back before Brown singled to left, scoring Howard to make it 5-2 with nobody out and runners on first and third. Mayberry was next and he went down on a ball handled by the pitcher for the first out with Brown moving up to second. With Kratz at the plate, a wild pitch scored Nix (6-2) and moved Brown up to third. Kratz singled into left and Brown scored. 7-2. Frandsen hit for Adams and grounded into a double-play to end the inning.

Not quite sure why the righty Koehler seemed like the right guy to use in a two-run game to face Howard, Nix and Brown to start the inning. Lefty Mike Dunn had thrown 17 pitches the day before. Whatever the reason, it didn’t work out well for Miami as all three of them reached to start the frame and the Phils went on to score three runs.

Rollins was 0-for-4 to drop his average to .243. 220/289/341 against righties.

Utley 0-for-3 with an RBI.

Michael Young 2-for-4 with a double. His UZR/150 at third base for the year is -0.3.

Howard 1-for-2 with two walks and a home run. One of the walks was intentional. He came into the game with three walks in 105 plate appearances for the season. He now has five, two of which are intentional.

Delmon Young 0-for-3. 2-for-9 with a home run on the season.

Brown 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. 12-for-his-last-31 with a walk, two doubles and two home runs (387/394/645).

Mayberry 0-for-3 with a walk. He has a huge opportunity to work his way into an everyday role with the Phillies willing to sit Revere, but things went real bad for him when he has a similar chance in 2012. The Phillies damage his value as a player when they play him in center — the more he plays center the more his overall value will decrease, cause he’s not very good there. He’s 5-for-his-last-35 at the plate (.143). His dWAR for the year as calculated by Baseball-Reference is -0.6. The Phillies have played less than a fifth of the season.

Kratz 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. He’s 7-for-his-last-26 with four walks and a home run (269/367/385).

Pettibone (1-1, 4.35) faces righty Ricky Nolasco (2-2, 3.82) tonight. Pettibone’s made two starts for the Phils and both have been okay. Opponents have hit .333 against him, but he’s done well to limit the walks, walking just two in 10 1/3 innings. Nolasco has allowed more than three runs in just one of his six starts. He faced the Phils on April 12 and held them to a run over six innings. The Phils won the game 3-1 when they scored two runs charged to Jon Rauch in the top of the tenth.

The Phillies rallied late to beat the Cardinals and earn a series split last night, scoring once in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game and four times in the bottom of the eighth to pull away. Kratz was a big part of both rallies, starting the seventh with a single and coming around to score before smashing a three-run homer in the eighth.

Kendrick gave the Phillies his third strong start in a row, allowing two runs over six innings. He’s allowed four runs in 19 innings over his last three starts.

The Phillies have played 19 games on the season. In the rotation, Lee and Kendrick have been very good, combining to throw to a 3.04 ERA in their eight starts. Hamels, Halladay and Lannan have made the other 11 starts and all three members of that trio have an ERA over six for the year. In 11 starts they have combined to post a 6.23 ERA.

The Phillies are 8-11 on the year after beating the St Louis Cardinals 7-3 last night. The teams split the four-game set.

Kendrick got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing two runs on eight hits and a walk. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, a double and a home run. He struck out six.

Kendrick allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings in his first start of the year. Since then he’s thrown to a 1.89 ERA and a 1.21 ratio in three starts.

He struck Jon Jay out looking for the first out of the game in the top of the first, but Matt Carpenter was next and the lefty hit a 3-2 pitch from Kendrick out to left-center. 1-0. Carlos Beltran followed with a single into center, but Allan Criag went down swinging for the second out and Yadier Molina popped out to Young in foul territory for the third.

Lefties hammer Kendrick and the lefty Carpenter gets him early in the game.

Kendrick walked Matt Adams to start the second with the Phils up 2-1. David Freese was next and moved Adams up to second with a single before Pete Kozma flew to left for the first out. The pitcher Jake Westbrook bunted the runners up to second and third. Kendrick got Jay on a ground ball to Howard at first to set the Cardinals down.

He struck out Carpenter in a 1-2-3 third.

Molina and Adams singled back-to-back to start the fourth, putting runners on first and second for Freese. Freese struck out looking, Kozma flew to left and Westbrook went down on a ground ball handled by Kendrick to leave the runners stranded.

The Adams single dropped in front of Brown and looked like it should have been catchable. The crowd voice some displeasure.

Kendrick set the Cards down in order in the fifth.

Craig singled to center to start the sixth. Kendrick struck Molina out for the first out before Jay moved Craig up to third with a double. Freese was next and grounded to third with Craig scoring to tie the game at 2-2. Kozma was next and singled to right with Craig going to third. Kozma took second as the throw came in, but Westbrook went down to leave both runners stranded.

Bastardo started the seventh. Jay led off and hit a ball to Utley, but wound up safe at second on Utley’s throwing error. Carpenter bunted Jay up to third with the first out and Beltran walked behind him. Durbin came in to pitch to the righty Craig and Craig singled to left, scoring Jay to put the Cards up 3-2 and moving Beltan up to second. Durbin walked Molina to load the bases with one out, but struck Adams out swinging for the second out and got Freese to line to Howard to set the Cards down.

Second big mistake for Utley in the game — a throwing error in the seventh after he was doubled off of second to end the first. Durbin allows the first two men he faces to reach base, but holds St Louis to a single run with the help of a big strikeout of Adams for the second out.

Bastardo faces three batters in the game. He walks one, gets one out on a bunt and the other reaches on Utley’s error. The unearned run he allowed in the game is the only run he’s been charged with in 6 1/3 innings over seven appearances for the season.

Durbin faced four hitters in the game, allowing a single and a walk to the first two batters he faced before retiring the next two.

Durbin dropped his ERA to 4.50 on the year with the outing. His first two appearances of the year were both bad, but since then he has thrown five scoreless innings in four appearances.

The game was tied at 3-3 when Adams set the Cardinals down in order in the eighth. Righty Shane Robinson hit for the pitcher Randy Choate and struck out for the second out.

Nice outing for Adams, who had allowed a run on four hits and a walk over 1 2/3 innings in his last two times out.

Papelbon started the ninth with the Phils up 7-3. He allowed a one-out single to Beltran, but got Craig on a ground ball and struck out Molina to end the game.

Non save situation for Papelbon. He allowed two runs in an inning in his first appearance on the year, but he’s been great since, allowing two hits and a walk over six shutout innings.

Overall the pen went three innings in the game, allowing an unearned run on two hits and two walks and striking out three. Nobody in the pen has thrown more than one day in a row. Durbin threw 22 pitches in the game, Bastardo 13, Papelbon 12 and Adams nine.

The Phillie lineup against righty Jake Westbrook went (1) Rollins (2) Mayberry (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Young (6) Brown (7) Revere (8) Kratz. Mayberry hits second for the first time this year. He started nine games hitting in the two-hole in 2012.

The Phillies were down 1-0 when Rollins led off the bottom of the first with a triple to left-center. Mayberry followed with a walk, which put runners on the corners for Utley. Utley singled into right, scoring Rollins to tie the game at 1-1 and moving Mayberry up to third. Howard followed with a fly ball to center, deep enough for Mayberry to tag and score, putting the Phils up 2-1. Utley moved up to second. It brought Young to the plate and Young flew to shallow left. Utley must have lost track of the outs, cause he was way off of second and doubled-off easily to set the Phillies down.

Great to see Mayberry drawing a walk, especially against the righty. Just terrible base-running by Utley.

The Phillies went in order in the second.

Mayberry singled with two outs in the third. He stole second before Utley struck out swinging to leave him stranded.

Howard singled to start the fourth, but Young grounded into a double-play behind him. Brown drew a walk before Revere grounded to short to end the inning.

Young has grounded into four double-plays over his last eight games. Four GDP in his last 29 PA would have him grounding into about 83 over 600 plate appearances. That might not even happen.

Rollins singled with two outs in the fifth, but Mayberry struck out behind him.

The game was tied at 2-2 when Utley started the sixth with a double. Howard moved Utley up to third with a ground out and walks to Young and Brown loaded the bases for Revere. Revere grounded into a double-play to end the inning.

No run for the Phils after the leadoff double or after putting a runner on third with one out.

They were down 3-2 when they hit in the seventh. Kratz led off with a single to center. With the righty Westbrook still on the mound, Nix hit for Durbin and righty Fernando Salas came in to face him. Nix doubled to center, scoring Kratz to tie the game at 3-3. Rollins struck out swinging for the first out before Mayberry moved Nix up to third with a ground out. Lefty Randy Choate came in to pitch to Utley and Utley flew to left to leave Nix at third.

First of two big hits that Kratz would have late in the game. This one helps him score on Nix’s double to tie the game.

Righty Mitchell Boggs got Howard to start the eighth before Young reached on an infield single deflected by the pitcher. Brown was next and moved Young up to third with a single into center. Revere singled into center, scoring Young to put the Phils up 4-3 with men on first and second with one out for Kratz. Kratz hit the first pitch he saw from Boggs out to left, putting the Phils up 7-3. Frandsen hit for Adams and the lefty Marc Rzepczynski came in to pitch to him. Frandsen reached on an infield single and moved up to second when Rollins singled to left. Mayberry struck out swinging for the second out and Utley grounded to Carpenter to end the inning.

Six hits in the innings for the Phils. Five singles and the big home run for Kratz.

Rollins 3-for-5 with a triple in the game. 6-for-18 with two doubles and a triple in the four-game set. 257/295/419 for the year.

Mayberry 1-for-4 with a walk and struck out twice. 5-for-13 with a walk and two doubles in the series. 316/409/553 for the year. 323/417/581 against right-handed pitching.

Utley 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Big base-running mistake early and a throwing error late. 5-for-15 with two walks and a double in the set. 294/347/529 on the season.

Howard 1-for-3 with an RBI. 4-for-7 with an RBI in the series. 277/300/385 for the year.

Young 1-for-3 with a walk. 4-for-14 with a walk in the series. 333/389/439 on the season. 10-for-his-last-35 with ten singles.

Brown 1-for-2 and walked twice. 1-for-5 in the series with four walks. 228/313/351 on the season.

Revere 1-for-4 with an RBI. 4-for-13 with a triple in the series, which is his only extra-base hit of the year. 213/253/240 for the year.

Kratz 2-for-4 with a three-run homer. 5-for-11 with a home run and four RBI in the series. 214/211/357 on the season. No walks in 57 plate appearances.

Righty Jonathan Pettibone makes his debut tonight against righty AJ Burnett (1-2, 2.63) as the Phils face the Pirates. Pettibone has made two starts at Triple-A in 2013 and both of them were bad. Opponents have hit .385 against him and he’s pitched to a 9.64 ERA. All four of Burnett’s starts have been pretty good — he’s struck out 35 in 24 innings in his four starts.

Kyle Kendrick pitched very well last night, but the Phillies are still struggling terribly to score runs. It hasn’t cost them last night’s game yet — the game was tied at 0-0 when it was suspended in the ninth inning due to heavy rain. It is scheduled to be completed late this afternoon before the teams play game three of the set tonight.

The Phillies have two hits in the game, singles by Young and Utley, and no walks. They have struck out 12 times.

Over their last five games, the Phillies have scored zero runs before the start of the sixth and two runs before the start of the seventh.

Kendrick has been the bright spot of the game for the Phillies so far. His start was outstanding as he allowed a pair or singles and two walks over seven shutout innings. He’s allowed two runs in 13 innings over his last two times out.

The Phillies are still 6-7 on the year. Last night they played eight and a half innings against the Reds. The game is tied at 0-0 and will resume tonight at 5:30.

Kendrick got the start for the Phillies and went seven shutout innings, allowing two hits and two walks. Both of the hits were singles and he struck out four.

Zack Cozart singled to left with one out in the bottom of the first. Kendrick got Joey Votto on a ground ball to Utley for the second out with Cozart moving up to second. Brandon Phillips walked to put men on first and second, but Kendrick struck Jay Bruce out swinging 2-2 to leave both men stranded.

Kendrick struggles terribly against lefties, but not so much last night. He handled the lefty Votto for the second out in the first and then struck the lefty Bruce out to leave two men stranded. Neither of those guys (or their fellow lefty Shin-Soo Choo) got a hit off of him in the game — he gave up two singles, both to righties.

He set the Reds down in order in the second.

Choo walked with one out in the third. Cozart was next and grounded out to third with Choo moving up to second with two down. Votto was next and lined a ball into right, but Nix made an outstanding diving catch to end the inning.

Fantastic Nix who caught the ball in an all out dive moving forward to take a hit away from Votto. Choo likely would have scored started from second with two outs.

Kendrick set the Reds down in order in the fourth.

Ryan Hanigan singled to left with one out in the fifth. Pitcher Homer Bailey bunted Hanigan up to second with the second out, but Kendrick got Choo on a ground ball to Utley to end the inning.

Again Kendrick comes up big against the lefty to end the inning with runners in scoring position.

Kendrick struck out Votto and Brandon Phillips in a 1-2-3 sixth.

He got Bruce, Todd Frazier and Xavier Avery in a 1-2-3 seventh.

Bastardo threw a 1-2-3 eighth. Righty Chris Heisey hit for the pitcher Homer Bailey and flew to left for the first out.

Bastardo has now allowed one hit and two walks over six scoreless innings in six appearances for the year.

Aumont started the ninth and was ahead of Zack Cozart 1-2 when the game was suspended.

The Phillie lineup against righty Homer Bailey went (1) Revere (2) Rollins (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Young (6) Brown (7) Nix (8) Quintero. Nix plays right against the righty with the righty Mayberry on the bench. Quintero catches with the slumping Kratz sitting. Revere continues to lead off despite a .276 on-base percentage for the season coming into the game.

The Phils went in order in the top of the first.

Young singled with one out in the second, but Brown grounded out to second for the second out with Young moving up to second and Nix popped to third to end the frame.

The Phils went in order in the third.

Utley singled with one out in the fourth, but was caught stealing before Howard struck out to set the Phillies down.

The Phillies have stolen 11 base this year and been caught four times. 73.3% safe. Revere safe in five of seven attempts (about 71.4%). Mayberry has no stolen bases and was caught stealing once.

Brown and Nix struck out in a 1-2-3 fifth.

Kendrick struck out as the Phils went in order in the sixth.

Utley struck out as the Phils went in order in the seventh.

Bailey struck out Young and Nix in a 1-2-3 eighth.

Lefty Aroldis Chapman started the ninth and set the Phils down in order. Kratz hit for Quintero and struck out swinging. Mayberry hit for Bastardo and ripped a ball towards third, but Frazier made a nice play to take a hit away from him. Revere struck out swinging to set the Phillies down.

The game will resume tonight at 5:30.

Lannan (0-2, 2.77) faces righty Mike Leake (0-0, 6.75) tonight in the final game of the series, which starts at 7:10. Lannan has two good starts in two tries for the Phils. Opponents are hitting .178 against him with one walk in 13 innings. Leake has also made two starts and neither of them has been good. Opponents are hitting .327 against him and he’s walked six in 12 innings.

The Phillies scored five runs in the bottom of the first last night on their way to a 7-3 win. Their first six hitters of the game combined to go 4-for-6 with a single, a double, two home runs and two walks off of Mets starter Jeremy Hefner.

It was the second straight miserable start for Hefner against the Phillies going back to last season. In his last two starts against the Phils, Hefner has allowed 12 earned runs on 12 hits and four walks over three innings.

The Phils feasted on the bottom of the Mets rotation in the series, scoring 12 runs in the six innings pitched by Dillon Gee and Hefner as they won the last two games.

The Phillies scored all seven of their runs last night on home runs. Utley hit a two-run shot in the first, which was followed soon after by a three-run bomb by Brown. Nix hit a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the sixth.

Michael Young continued his hot hitting, going 2-for-3 with a double. He’s 9-for-his-last-16 with four extra-base hits. 455/538/773 against right-handed pitching in the early going, coming off of a 2012 season in which he hit 257/291/352 against righties.

The Phillies are 4-5 on the year after beating the New York Mets 7-3 last night. They take the series two games to one. First series win of the year for the Phils in three tries. First time they have won two games in a row on the season. They are 0-4 when Hamels or Halladay start and 4-1 when somebody else starts.

Kendrick got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing two runs on eight hits and two walks. Four of the hits went for extra-bases, two doubles and two home runs. He struck out six.

5.40 ERA and a 1.71 ratio after two starts. Lefties are hitting .480 against him — 12-for-25 with two walks, three doubles, a home run and 480/519/720 line.

Jordany Valdespin was the first hitter of the game and reached on a softly hit infield single. Daniel Murphy flew to right for the first out, bringing David Wright to the plate with Valdespin still on first. Kendrick struck Wright out swinging as Valdespin took off for second. Kratz threw him out from his knees on a bounce to end the inning.

Impressive throw by Kratz.

Kendrick started the second with a 5-0 lead. John Buck homered to left-center with one out. 5-1. Lucas Duda followed with a double to right and Mike Baxter walked behind Duda, putting men on first and second with one down for Ruben Tejada. Tejada singled softly to right, loading the bases for the pitcher Jeremy Hefner. Kendrick struck Hefner out looking for the second out and Valdespin out looking to end the frame.

Valdespin struck out looking at a 3-2 pitch that looked like a ball to me, but whatever. Still a great job by Kendrick to get out of the inning after the Mets load the bases with one out.

Tired of John Buck. He was 4-for-12 in the series with three home runs and drove in six of the 13 runs New York scored. Duda was pretty impressive as well — 3-for-4 with a double and two home runs last night. 5-for-9 with a double, two home runs and a walk in the series.

Kendrick set the Mets down in order in the third.

Duda homered to right with one out in the fourth. 5-2. Baxter followed with a double, but Kendrick got Tejada on a ground ball to Utley that moved Duda up to third for the second out. Righty Justin Turner hit for the pitcher Hefner, but Kendrick got him on a ground ball to Utley as well to set the Mets down.

The game was delayed by rain for 27 minutes in the bottom of the fourth. Kendrick returned after the delay to start the fifth. Valdespin led off and bunted for a single. Murphy was the next batter and Kendrick walked him, putting two men on for Wright. Wright struck out swinging for the first out. Ike Davis was next and he hit a blooper into left-center. Revere made a nice running catch for the second out. Murphy was way off of second and Revere threw there to double him off and end the inning.

Very nice play by Revere, both to get to the ball and to make the throw. His momentum was taking him away from second base, but he managed to get off a pretty reasonable throw to get Murphy. Not sure exactly what Murphy was thinking — best guess would be he thought Revere was going to throw home or couldn’t throw at all. Either way it was bad base-running and a nice play by Revere.

Baxter singled to right with two outs in the six. Tejada flew to Revere for the third out.

Bastardo started the seventh with a 7-2 lead. Valdespin reached on an infield single with one out, but Bastardo got the next two.

Three scoreless innings over three appearances for Bastardo. He’s allowed a single and two walks.

Adams started the eighth. He struck Buck out for the first out and Davis out for the second before Duda hit a 2-1 pitch out to right. 7-3. Lefty Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit for the pitcher Scott Rice and Adams struck him out looking to end the frame.

Adams was pitching for the second day in a row. He’s now allowed a run on two hits in 3 1/3 innings over four appearances. He has struck out seven. I assume if there was no off-day today, Manuel would have called on Aumont rather than Adams to pitch the eighth with a five-run lead. Aumont has made one appearance since April 1 and two on the year.

Papelbon threw the ninth in heavy rain. Tejada led off with a single, but Marlon Byrd was next and Papelbon got him to ground into a double-play. Valdespin struck out looking to end the game.

Glad to see Papelbon used in a non-save situation there. After allowing two runs in an inning in his first appearance of the year, he’s allowed one single in two scoreless frames his last two times out.

Overall the pen goes three innings, allowing a run on the Duda homer off of Adams. Three hits, no walks and four strikeouts. Adams has pitched two days in a row, but will surely be available Friday in Miami given the off-day today.

The Phillie lineup against righty Jeremy Hefner went (1) Revere (2) Rollins (3) Utley (4) Howard (5) Young (6) Brown (7) Mayberry (8) Kratz. Mayberry in right again against the righty after a big day against righty starter Dillon Gee in game two of the set.

Revere led off the bottom of the first and walked on five pitches. With Rollins at the plate he stole second, but slid through the base and was tagged out for the first out. It cost the Phils a run, cause Rollins doubled to right and Utley followed that with a home run to center. 2-0. Howard singled and Young walked before Brown blasted a 2-1 pitch down the right field line and well out for another homer. 5-0. Mayberry struck out looking for the second out and Kratz flew to center.

Really not a fan of the Revere stolen base, even if it works and it doesn’t cost the Phillies a run. If the only batter the pitcher has faced in the game is Ben Revere and he walked him on five pitches, it’s a good sign he hasn’t settled in yet. Make him get an out first.

The lead was cut to 5-1 when the Phils went in order in the second.

Howard singled to right with one out in the third on a ball that hit the wall after a bounce or two. Young was next and ripped a line drive in to left-center for a double, sending Howard to third. Hefner got behind Brown 3-0 after Brown had hit a moon shot in his previous at-bat, then put him on intentionally to lead the bases for Mayberry. Mayberry popped to short with the runners holding for the second out. Kratz was next and blooped a ball into right-center, but Valdespin made a nice shoestring catch after a long run to retire the side.

Big play by Valdespin takes runs away from the Phillies.

Howard can’t run. Young can, at least a lot better than I thought he could. I had no idea. The hustle double was the third time in two games he made an aggressive play on the bases and was safe.

Mayberry can’t bring the runner home from the third with one out, popping out to short with the bases loaded and one down. He also struck out in the bottom of the first as the first batter retired by Hefner.

The lead was cut to 5-2 when lefty Josh Edgin struck out Kendrick, Revere and Rollins in the fourth.

Young singled to center with two outs in the fifth. Brown flew to center on a sliding catch by Valdespin to end the inning.

Second nice play of the game by Valdespin in center after he took a hit away from Kratz with the bases loaded to end the third.

Kratz singled off of righty Latroy Hawkins with one out in the sixth. Nix hit for Kendrick and hit a 3-1 pitch out to right-center, extending the Phillie lead to 7-2. Revere grounded to third for the second out before Rollins singled to left. Lefty Scott Rice came in to pitch to Utley and retired him on a fly ball to center for the third out.

Rice set Howard, Young and Brown down in order in the seventh.

Righty Bobby Parnell threw a 1-2-3 eighth with the lead cut to 7-3. Galvis hit for Adams and flew to left for the third out.

Revere was 0-for-3 with a walk and a caught stealing in the game. 1-for-11 with two walk in the series drops his line to 211/268/211 after 41 plate appearances. Made a nice play to double Murphy off of second base. The Phillies are averaging about 4.67 runs per game, which is remarkable given that their leadoff man is on-basing .268. Revere is 0-for-8 against lefties on the year.

Rollins 2-for-4 with a double. 4-for-12 with three doubles in the game. 316/350/526 for the year. 357/400/607 against right-handed pitching. I think Rollins will lead off and Revere will be dropped to seven or eight soon if Revere does not start hitting.

Utley 1-for-4 with a two-run homer in the game. 2-for-10 with two walks and a home run in the series. 333/395/636 for the year.

Howard 2-for-4 with two singles. 3-for-11 with a home run in the series. 200/237/286 for the year. If you’re team is scoring 4.67 runs per game, your leadoff man is on-basing .268 and your cleanup hitter is on-basing .237 and slugging .286, something is going pretty well somewhere else.

Michael Young is one of the things going very right offensively. 2-for-3 with a double and a walk in the game. 5-for-11 with a walk, a double, a triple and a home run in the series. He seemed to run the bases unusually well in the series, aggressively successful in taking an extra-base on three occasions. 375/459/594 on the year.

Brown 1-for-3 with a walk and a three-run homer. 2-for-11 with a walk and a homer in the set. 242/286/424 for the year. Hitting .231 against right-handed pitching.

Mayberry 0-for-4 and struck out twice. 2-for-8 with a double and a home run in the series. 263/391/579 for the year.

Kratz 1-for-4 in the game and made a nice throw to nail Valdespin in the top of the first. 3-for-9 with a double in the series. 207/200/379 for the year. Hasn’t drawn a walk in 30 plate appearances.

The Phillies are off today and play the Marlins in Florida tomorrow night.

Kyle Kendrick led the way yesterday as four Phillie pitchers held the Yankees to an unearned run on two hits and a walk and the Phils topped New York 4-1.

Domonic Brown hit his sixth home run, a solo shot in the fourth inning. 1-for-3 on the day. 397/465/714. He has 25 hits in official spring games, which is the most for any player across both leagues.

Howard was 1-for-4 with his fifth homer, a solo blast in the seventh. 317/338/633. He’s walked just three times in 65 plate appearances, but now’s probably not the time to quibble.

Nix 2-for-4 with a double. 238/273/333, but with better results if you count the games that don’t count.

Utley 2-for-4 without a double. 227/358/341. You might not think of Utley as a guy who hits .258, but he has hit .258 over his last 816 plate appearances since the end of 2010. So you might want to think about starting.

Rollins started at short and went 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. 3-for-12 with a double and five walks in limited official action.

Jermaine Mitchell started in center and went 0-for-4. 7-for-21 with two walks and five extra-base hits. 333/391/714. No longer leads the team in OPS.

Lerud got the start behind the plate and went 1-for-3 with a double and a walk. I’d still guess he’s going to have trouble getting past Quintero for the backup catcher job. Lerud is 3-for-14 with a double, a home run and three walks (214/353/500). Quintero hasn’t been good defensively, he’s made two errors and been charged with a passed ball, and is 5-for-18 with two walks and five singles at the plate (278/333/278). At least in the official games, it seems that Lerud has outplayed Quintero. I don’t think it’s going to matter, though.

Kendrick started the game for the Phillies and allowed an unearned run over six innings on two hits, a double and a single, and no walks. The run scored in the fourth. Brett Gardner led off with a bunt single and took second on a throwing error by Kendrick. He would score on a one-out double by Ichiro.

Kendrick has a 5.14 ERA and a 1.14 ratio. If you throw to a 1.14 ratio for long enough, your ERA is going to go down from 5.14.

Adams struck out Travis Hafner in a 1-2-3 seventh. He has allowed two hits and no walks in five scoreless innings in official spring action.

Papelbon got three fly balls in a 1-2-3 eighth. Seems to have settled down quite a bit since ugly, ugly results early. 15.43 ERA and a 2.14 ratio for the spring.

Durbin pitched a scoreless ninth. He allowed a one-out walk, but got the next two hitters to end the game. 4.00 ERA and a 1.33 ratio.

The Phils are off today and face the Red Sox tomorrow night.