I Agree With Kyle: Kendrick, Bullpen Unravel in 12-6 Loss

"Yeah, it was a bad outing.–Kyle Kendrick"

Cole Hamels gave the Phillies the chance to win the series, and Kyle took that chance, threw it a slow-moving, ill-advised fastball up in the zone, and watched it circle the bases, laughing at him relentlessly.

It’s hell being Kyle.  Just ask Kyle.

"“I guess that’s how it is with me. It’s been, ‘What have you done for me lately?”–Kyle Kendrick"

It’s also, “Oh, that’s right… you’ve been horrible.”

That’s unfair.  Kyle is a career space-filler.  And he doesn’t have the versatility or raw talent to be the guy he is always asked to be.  He didn’t ask the Phillies to trade Joe Blanton or get hurt all the time.  He just gets handed the baseball and told where to stand.

Sometimes he even does that well.

Not last night though.  Jimmy Rollins led the party off with a home run, giving the Phillies an immediate taste of victory.  It would turn to ash in their mouths as Kendrick trotted out to the mound in the second inning, during which he walked three Braves and surrendered three hits, leading to an ungodly amount of Braves.  In the fourth, he got dinged by past and future Phillie Michael Bourn to make it 6-1.

This year, each sign of hope, each positive step, has been equalized by a gaping hole.  Ryan Howard heroically tied the game with a three-run home run in the fifth; a glorious statement to a Braves team convinced they were at the controls of a steam roller.  Unfortunately, the bullpen took over from there–obviously they weren’t going to let Kendrick back out there–and provided about as much dominance as Kyle.

For 2.2 innings, Raul Valdes and Michael Schwimer combined for no hits, no runs, and four K’s.  Very nice, fellas.

Over the next 3.0 innings, Antonio Bastardo, Josh Lindblom, and Jeremy Horst combined for three hits, six runs, and SIX WALKS.

SIX.

So naturally we lost the game and Chipper Jones got to go home cackling like an idiot.

DOM WATCH 2012: Another RBI double.

When It All Went Wrong

Oh I don’t know, maybe at some point during one of the SIX GOD DAMN WALKS given up the by the bullpen, someone came up with the theory that “Hey… we may not pull this one out.”

Most Attractive Play

Howard’s three run shot had all the staying power of his Game One of the 2011 NLDS home run.  Unfortunately it became far less relevant.

His defensive prowess, however, will always be news.

Hero

The lineup, for trying.

Villain