Phillies suffocate Cardinals' offense

PHILADELPHIA -- Kyle Kendrick and Placido Polanco gave Philadelphia fans reason to stand and cheer on a night when they all stayed in their seats.

Kendrick threw seven impressive innings, Polanco hit a two-run homer and the Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 on Wednesday night.

In a return to normalcy, no fans ran onto the field at Citizens Bank Park after consecutive games were marred by unruly behavior.

A crowd of 44,261 was the 54th straight sellout in Philadelphia. Everyone stayed in the stands for a change. Some were startled when a ball girl dashed onto the field during a pitching change in the eighth before quickly realizing she simply was going to get reliever Dennys Reyes' jacket from the bullpen.

On Monday night, a teenager was Tasered in the outfield after eluding security for about 30 seconds. A 34-year-old man ran onto the field and gave himself up without incident Tuesday night. He was booed by other fans after interrupting Cole Hamels in the middle of his windup before he threw his first pitch in the top of the ninth. The Phillies were up 1-0 before the delay and Hamels lost his shutout two batters later.

All the focus was back on the players Wednesday, and Kendrick and Brad Penny provided another pitchers' duel in a matchup of NL division leaders.

Kendrick (1-1) allowed six hits in his second-best performance this season. Danys Baez and Jose Contreras both tossed a perfect inning to finish it.

"He got the ball and threw it," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said of Kendrick. "He had rhythm and tempo and he had command. He pitched good."

Shane Victorino hit a solo homer for the Phillies, who have won five of seven.

Penny (3-2) gave up three runs and five hits, striking out six in six innings. It was the 14th straight quality start by Cardinals starters, their longest streak since 1973 when they also had 14 in a row.

"Sometimes you have to credit the other team," Penny said. "A couple of guys hit the ball out of the ballpark and their pitcher pitched a good game."

Penny retired his first nine batters before Victorino singled to start the fourth. Polanco hit the next pitch into the seats in left-center for a 2-0 lead. It was the first homer allowed by Penny this season.

Victorino connected in the sixth for a 3-0 lead. Pinch-hitter Greg Dobbs had an RBI double off Mitchell Boggs in the seventh.

The Cardinals had their best chance to score with runners on first and third and one out in the seventh. But Kendrick got Brendan Ryan to ground into a double play.

"I had a chance to drive in a run, but I didn't get it done," Ryan said.

Kendrick, who won 21 games for the Phillies from 2007 to 2008, had been struggling. He entered with a 7.61 ERA and pitched more than five innings in only one of his previous five starts. He tossed eight scoreless innings in a 4-3 loss at Atlanta on April 20.

"It definitely helps your confidence," Kendrick said. "I attacked down and let them put the ball on the ground."

Noteworthy

* Albert Pujols extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a fourth-inning single. But he's just 10 for 54 against the Phillies since 2008.