Saturday, April 27, 2013

2011 Topps Diamond Anniversary #341 Kyle Kendrick

Phillies 4, Mets 0
Game 24 - Friday Night, April 26th in New York
Record - 10-14, 4th Place, 6 games behind the Braves

One Sentence Summary:  Kyle Kendrick dominated the Mets with a complete game, three-hit shutout as the Phillies won, 4-0.

What It Means:  Don't look now, but Kendrick is currently the team's ERA leader (2.41) and he's tied for the team lead in victories (2) with Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay.  I have to believe that no one saw this coming.

What Went Right:  Kendrick secured his second career shutout with 107 pitches - 73 of which were strikes.  He struck out five.

Ryan Howard contributed a three-run home run in the sixth, his third of the season.  Michael Young enjoyed a 3 for 4 night, and he drove in the first run of the game right before Howard's homer.

Featured Card:  Of course it had to be Kendrick.  As is the fate of any team's fourth or fifth starter/occasional long-man, Kendrick hasn't had a lot of cardboard appreciation in his career.  For the past three years, he's earned a spot in the Topps flagship set and the postcard-sized team issued sets.  Before that, he had a smattering of cards in various Upper Deck issued sets and he found his way into the 2008 and 2009 Topps Heritage sets.  His baseball card appearances peaked in 2007, his "rookie card" year.

I wanted something a little flashy for Kendrick's outstanding effort, so I went with his Diamond Anniversary parallel card from the 2011 Topps set here.  Hopefully Topps is taking notice of his strong performance so far this year and we see Kendrick with a few more 2013 cards.

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