BOX SCORE
The festive atmosphere surrounding Ryan Howards return from the disabled list turned to loud, angry boos as the Phillies lost for the eighth time in their last nine games on Friday night.Brian McCanns grand slam in the top of the eighth inning capped a five-run rally as the Atlanta Braves broke open a scoreless game to beat the Phils, 5-0, at Citizens Bank Park. All five of the runs came against reliever Antonio Bastardo, who was booed off the mound.The Phillies are 11 games under .500 for the first time since June 2002. They are 1-8 with Chase Utley in the lineup and 0-1 with Howard.Starting pitching reportKyle Kendrick, who pitched to a 6.96 ERA in June, pitched well in his first start in July. He delivered seven shutout innings, allowed four hits, one walk and struck out five. Kendrick was pulled after 89 pitches with the score 0-0 in the eighth and the game quickly got out of control.Atlanta righthander Tim Hudson also pitched seven shutout innings. He allowed four hits, one walk and struck out none.Bullpen reportBastardo faced seven batters and allowed five to reach base on a single, three walks and a homer.The Phillies' top two relievers, Bastardo and Jonathan Papelbon, have allowed seven runs in less than two innings of work the last two nights and picked up two losses.Eric OFlaherty and Chad Durbin closed it out for the Braves.At the plateHoward, appearing in his first big-league game since rupturing his left Achilles tendon on Oct. 7, had two hits, a double in the first inning and a leadoff single in the seventh. He was stranded at second both times as the Phils went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.The Phils had just five hits.McCann has nine career grand slams, two this season against the Phillies.TransactionInfielder Hector Luna was sent to Triple A to make room for Howard.Up nextRighthanders Tommy Hanson (9-5, 3.70) and Joe Blanton (7-7, 4.85) are the pitchers Saturday night.
E-mail Jim Salisbury at jsalisbury@comcastsportsnet.com.