David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports
After an one hour and 20 minute rain delay, the Philadelphia Phillies looked to bounce back and get the bats rolling against the Cincinnati Reds. Reds pitcher Homer Bailey had different ideas about how the night would go.
Bailey was exceptional tonight, only allowing two hits in eight innings of scoreless pitching and striking out 10 Phillies batters. He located well and had a live fastball with plenty of movement throughout his outing, and also had help from Mother Nature on a couple of deep balls hit by Ryan Howard and Dominic Brown.
Luckily for the Phillies, Kyle Kendrick had an outing parallel to that of Bailey’s, hurling seven strong shutout innings and collecting four strikeouts himself. Kendrick’s location was impressive as well, as the hurler did a good job of pitching backwards and mixing pitches to keep the Reds hitters off-balanced.
A second rain delay was issued after the top half of the ninth inning in a scoreless ball game. After approximately 45 minutes, crew chief Jim Joyce decided to suspend the game. The contest will resume tomorrow afternoon before the third and final game of the series.
Pitching was an early concern after terrible outings from Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay to start the season, but the rotation as a whole have righted the ship. All five starters have gone at least six innings in their most recent outings. Unfortunately, the elephant in the room has returned.
What is most concerning for the Phillies right now is the lack of run support for their outstanding starting pitching of late. Since the power surge in the last two games of a series with the New York Mets, the Phils offense has only been able to muster a measly three runs over 34 innings pitched by their starters in the last five games.
With Carlos Ruiz still 11 games from returning from his suspension and Delmon Young out until early May, the answers for their offensive woes must come from within the current lineup. Considering the red-hot Atlanta Braves improved their astounding record to 12-1 tonight, the Phillies will find themselves in an early divisional hole if the answers do not come quickly.
