“Before Kyle Kendrick took the mound Saturday, his manager had a question for him.
Charlie Manuel wanted to know if Kendrick was angry.
“Yeah, a little bit,” Kendrick told him.
The starter had a reason to be fuming. Five days earlier, Kendrick had been ticketed for the minors, fresh off a dismal outing in St. Louis, and exiled from the rotation he’d been part of since Opening Day.
If not for an injury to Jamie Moyer and a quiet week on the trade market, he might have been pitching for Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Saturday.
Instead, Kendrick was back on the mound in Philadelphia — and the Colorado Rockies felt the sting of his anger.
Kendrick tossed seven strong innings, allowing only one run on six hits, to lead the Phillies to a 10-2 win over the Rockies at Citizens Bank Park.
“Who wants to get sent down?” Kendrick asked. “It was frustrating, but stuff happens for a reason. I used it positively and went out there and showed some people were wrong, showed I belong here.”
On paper, the matchup looked brutal for the Phillies, with All-Star starter and Cy Young contender Ubaldo Jimenez taking the mound against the recently banished Kendrick. Instead, it was Jimenez who appeared ready for a trip to the minors.
After retiring the side in the first inning on nine pitches, the wheels fell off for the Rockies’ starter, who struggled mightily with his control.”