By Sarah Berkowitz
For Kyle Kendrick, signing with the Colorado Rockies looked like an over-the-hill pitcher just trying to squeeze out one more season in the bigs.
But it’s evidently more than that.
Kendrick was a significant part of the Phillies’ run from 2007 to 2011, when only Cole Hamels and Jamie Moyer threw more regular-season innings for the team.
Yet Kendrick made just one playoff appearance in that span, since he’s the kind of pitcher who gets described as a sinker-baller not because he’s actually a ground ball machine, but because he doesn’t strike anyone out. Still, major league teams keep giving him the ball, so he’s got to do something well, right?
So far, he’s doing something well for Colorado, where he delivered six strikeouts and no walks in seven shutout innings in his team debut while also going 2-for-3 with a double at the plate in a 10-0 win over Milwaukee that was almost reprehensibly degrading to the Brewers.
How did his old buddies do? They lost 8-0 to the Red Sox, thanks to five Boston home runs, four of which came off Hamels. Late in the game, the cable feed from Philly cut out, which forces one to consider things like symbolism and omens.
