The start was so promising. The sun was shining. Charlie Manuel talked about hope and the energy and exciting atmosphere in South Philadelphia. Chase and Ryan got back-to-back hits multiple times. Dom Brown and Erik Kratz destroyed a pair of baseballs. Kyle Kendrick even looked really sharp for a minute. But it ended in a shellacking. More specifically, it ended with fans departing as early as the sixth inning as darkness and its windy chill of disappointment covered Citizens Bank Park. Really. It turned ugly fast.
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The Phils got off to an early lead with a little small ball from the heart of the order and a pair of long balls from the young outfielder and fill-in catcher. They scored in all of the first three innings but went silent the rest of the way.
How bad did it get? They were hitless after Michael Young's one-out single in the third, according to Todd Zolecki, with only one base runner the rest of the way.
It was the other way around for the Royals who couldn't get much of anything going in the first four frames. They only managed two his after four innings, but they unloaded on Kyle Kendrick after that, as well as on reliever Jeremy Horst who was brought in during the sixth to attempt and save him.
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Chad Durbin (1.0 IP, 1 ER) and Raul Valdes (2.0 IP, 4 ER) also contributed to the masacre. The middle relievers continue to be a real worrisome area for this team.
The Royals finished the game with 19 hits. The final score was 13-4.
Back at it tomorrow with John Lannan on the hill.
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In a ridiculously small redeeming moment of sorts, the 15% or so of fans remaining in the bottom of the ninth had a pretty good sarcastic rally towel moment. Kudos, Philly fans.
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