Kyle Kendrick has more lives than the proverbial cat. On Sunday he turned in a stellar performance as the Phils routed Milwaukee in the Beer and Bratwurst city 8-0. Every time we drag out Kendrick's obituary he starts with his "reports of my demise" routine.
Sunday's outing was his second straight good show. Right now he's listed as the club's fifth starter, but other than Cole Hamels he's been pitching like a number two lately.
The putative number two these days is Roy Halladay and he continues to struggle. Last night he was dinked and dunked for two runs to begin the game against Cincinnati and ended up going seven innings. He yielded ten hits, five earned runs and a base on balls while striking out three. His teammates, in a rare show of support, bludgeoned the Reds' pitching for twelve runs. Halladay evened his mark at 7-7 but hardly looked like the Doc of old. The velocity is still down.
Meanwhile, Dom Brown is starting to sting the ball. He still won't remind anyone of Jayson Werth in right let alone Roberto Clemente, but he sure looks like a more confident player every day. Nothing improves one's self-image more than the notion that despite an o for, you're still going to be in there the next night.
John Mayberry, Jr, also had a good night. Juan Pierre had another good night. And how 'bout that Erik Kratz? If Chooch was the MVP of the first half, Kratz is making a strong run for biggest surprise if not MVP of the second half!!!
