The Kyle and Domonic Show: Phillies 3, Marlins 1

Kyle Kendrick continues to pitch like Not Kyle Kendrick, going seven innings and allowing just two hits and one run, striking out a career high eight Marlins hitters, as the Phillies rode a fifth inning two run home run from Domonic Brown to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Miami Marlins. The Phillies have now won five straight games, and now sit 5.5 games back for the second Wild Card spot.

Kendrick did not allow a base hit until the sixth inning. Guys, there were actual "No-Hitter Alerts" for Kyle Kendrick. Which made me kind of nervous, since I had previously taken a blood oath to have Kendrick's face tattooed on my hiney if he ever pitched a Major League no-hitter. I really feel like we dodged a bullet tonight.

The game was scoreless until the fifth inning, when Domonic Brown hit a towering home run to right field, his second homer of the year, scoring Ty Wigginton from first and giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead. The Phillies would make it 3-0 by the end of the inning, after Michael Martinez scored on a wild pitch. In other news, Michael Martinez was on third base.

The Marlins only managed to get on the scoreboard in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Donovan Solano.

The Phillies bullpen, which has been stellar of late, contributed two innings, with Justin De Fratus, Jake Diekman, and Antonio Bastardo combining to allow just a single hit and striking out four. Bastardo racked up his first save since last summer.

Watching this kind of makes me sad, as it makes me think about how good this team was capable of being but for the injuries, slumps, and general Funks of Early Summer.

Gamegraph of Life after the jump

Source: FanGraphs