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The storyline of this game should have been about Kyle Kendrick's 8 masterful innings, but instead the story was the bullpen's implosion and a heartbreaking loss.
After a terrific spring, Kyle Kendrick has been ugly in his first two starts, brining a 17.47 ERA into tonight's ballgame against the Braves. He was the exact opposite in this game, pitching eight scoreless innings and allowing just four hits and two walks. He had terrific movement on his pitches, pinpoint control, and essentially cruised through his outing.
He ran into trouble just once in the fourth. After retiring nine of the first 10 batters he faced, Atlanta had the bases loaded with one out, but Kendrick got Glaus to hit into an inning-ending double play. Kendrick pumped his fist and smiled as he returned to the dugout.
After his last rough outing, Kendrick asked Roy Halladay what he needed to do differently. Halladay told him he needed to be more aggressive, and aggressive he was in this game. He aggressive and showed the poise we saw so much from Kendrick a couple years ago.
Despite throwing only 108 pitches, Manuel said he had no plans to have Kendrick pitch the ninth after he noticed the Braves started to hit some balls hard against Kendrick.
Then came the ninth. Ryan Madson came in to save the game for Kendrick. After a one-out walk to Chipper Jones, he retired Brian McCann and there were two outs. He then threw a meaty 1-1 fastball down the middle to Troy Glaus, which he smashed deep into the seats in left-center. That put the lead at 1 as rookie sensation Jason Heyward stepped to the plate. With an 0-1 count, Heyward showed he is the real deal as he pulled a low-and-outside changeup for a game tying homer into left field.
Madson escaped with a tie in the ninth, but the game didn't last much longer. After the Phils failed to score in the top of the tenth, Jose Contreras left a hanger for Nate McClouth, who deposited the ball into the seats for a walk-off Atlanta win.
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