Kyle Kendrick blew up in the 5th inning and though the offense was able to rally back, the bullpen could not hold on to the lead as the Phillies lost to the Diamondbacks 8-6.  Kendrick started off well, not allowing a run in his first 4 innings of work, but he gave up 5 runs in the 5th and was removed from the game.  His final line was 5 earned in 5 innings, with 4 walks and 4 strikeouts.  Thought the pitching didn’t do them any favors, it was a productive afternoon for the Phillies offense as each of the 8 position players had at least one hit.  After Kendrick gave up an early 3-0 lead, the Phillies rallied back to take a 6-5 advantage into the bottom of the 7th, when Dany Baez gave up the tying run.  David Herndon allowed 2 runs to score in the 8th for the final margin.  The loss means the Phillies dropped 2 of 3 to a Diamonbacks team that started Kris Benson, Ian, Kennedy, and Rodrigo Lopez in the series.  Here are a few thoughts on the game:

• The Phillies started sort of an odd lineup, with Ross Gload and Greg Dobbs in the first two spots and 3rd string shortstop Wilson Valdez hitting 7th.  The lineup paid immediate dividends, however, as Gload singled to lead off the game and Dobbs followed with a two run homer.  If Charlie can keep finding ways to get his bench guys regular at bats, we should see it pay off later in the season both in terms of rested regulars and clutch pinch hits.
• Kyle Kendrick didn’t look particularly sharp in the first 4 innings even though he didn’t give up a run, and then of course it all came crashing down in the 5th.  He got squeezed a few times by the plate umpire, but that didn’t change the fact that he wasn’t challenging hitters and missed a lot of his spots.
• Yesterday’s game aside, the Phillies haven’t been hitting a lot of home runs lately.  However, they are doing a much better job of manufacturing runs this year than in recent seasons past.  They put together some run-scoring innings in the 5th and 6th innings, with Chooch coming up with good at bats in both frames.  It seems like he’s been in the middle of a lot of the good things that have happened offensively for the Phillies this year.
• I don’t have even a little bit of confidence in Dany Baez.  He is often all over the place, and his fastball, though fairly hard, is straight as can be.  He wiggled his was out of trouble in the 6th inning, and then Charlie inexplicably sent him out there to start the 7th.  He promptly gave up the tying run.  I’m so glad we gave Baez a 2 year contract.
• David Herndon, like Kendrick, was the victim of some tough calls from the plate umpire that changed his outing a little bit.  However, if he’s leaving his pitches up in the zone like he was today, he isn’t going to have success no matter what kind of strike zone he is getting.
• The Phillies head to San Francisco tomorrow to begin a 3 game series with the Giants.  Roy Halladay pitches the first game, which hopefully means we won’t have to see very much of our bullpen.