The big news from tonight's game was the injury to second baseman Chase Utley and how we got a tale of two Kyle Kendricks as the Phils dropped the first game of a three-game set.The Philadelphia Phillies dropped a tough one to the Cincinnati Reds tonight by a score of 7-3. Reds starting pitcher Johnny Cueto went eight innings and gave up six hits and a lone earned run while former Phillie Scott Rolen blasted his 300th career home run, which was a two-run blast with two on, that broke a scoreless tie.
Cincinnati (43-34) are now 6-1 in their last seven games and still sit atop the NL Central.
The 24-year-old Cueto had an interesting night as he had outstanding defense played behind him as he was beneficiary of two double plays in the first four innings as well as a big throw out of Chase Utley at second base in the fourth inning, a play that will cost the Phillies much more in the long run.
Utley was pinch-hit for in the ninth inning as manager Charlie Manuel told the media that Utley was being removed due to a hand injury.
The Utley injury continues a trend for the Phillies, where the opening day roster can't seem to get on the field together this season.
With catcher Carlos Ruiz, third baseman Placido Polanco, pitchers Ryan Madson and J.A Happ already out, the Phillies are missing a chunk of their regular roster and they were already without shortstop Jimmy Rollins for a significant amount of time this season. If Chase Utley misses a bunch of time this season, this team would be losing more than I can even illustrate here, this could be a catastrophic loss.
I mentioned earlier about how tonight's start would be a big start for Kyle Kendrick, well he performed well...through three innings of work. Kendrick struggled the second time through the Reds' order and he finished with 6 and 1/3 innings pitched giving up five earned runs on eight hits while striking out four. Kendrick continued to be inconsistent but instead of being either good or bad he was both in one start, it's hard to figure this guy out.
Well, the Phillies well go from one unknown to another tomorrow when Joe Blanton will take the mound for the Phils. Blanton has been better in his last two starts and has a overall record of 3-5 with an ERA of 6.53.
First pitch for Phils/Reds tomorrow night is set for 7:10 pm.
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