Kendrick, Phillies Win Series Opener; Pull to Three Games Back in the Wild Card.

Final: Braves 2, Phillies 6.

WP: Kyle Kendrick (10-11, 3.89 ERA) LP: Tommy Hanson (12-9, 4.46 ERA)

The Cubs made an epic comeback earlier this afternoon home against the St. Louis Cardinals, which increased hope for the Phillies of making the playoffs. A win tonight for Philadelphia would mean that they would just be three games back with 11 games left to play. Mission accomplished.

Right in the bottom of the first, the Phillies picked up where they left off last evening in the top of the ninth inning away against the New York Mets. After Juan Pierre tripled for the sixth time this season, Chase Utley brought him home on a ground out RBI, his 39th overall in the 2012 regular season.

Over the span of the next few innings, three different Phillies homered to give them a 4-1 lead: Kevin Frandsen (2), Ryan Howard (13) and Carlos Ruiz (15). Ryan Howard now has 299 career home runs, three of which came during the month of September so far (20 RBIs in that stretch).

Chooch picked up another insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning to increase the lead to four runs. That would be it for Tommy Hanson tonight, as he lasted just 5.1 innings. Two innings later in the bottom of the eighth inning, Chase Utley went yard for the 11th time this season, and the 199th time in his career to extend the Phillies lead to 6-2.

Starter Kyle Kendrick lasted six and two-thirds innings tonight on 98 total pitches (65 for strikes). He threw well enough to earn his 10th victory of the season, and lower his ERA to a respectable sub-4.00 mark.

The Phillies' four offensive home runs tonight set a season-high for the club.

Roy Halladay starts tomorrow afternoon, 4.05 pm EST start, against lefty Mike Minor. The game can be seen on FOX and heard on 1210 WPHT AM & 94 WIP FM.

Attendance: TBA.

Starting Pitching Summary:

Tommy Hanson: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO, 3 HR, 4.46 ERA
Kyle Kendrick: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO, 0 HR, 3.89 ERA

In the 'Pen:

Atlanta

Cory Gearrin (6th): 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 1.62 ERA
Luis Avilan (7th, 8th): 2.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 1 HR, 2.25 ERA

Philadelphia

Jeremy Horst (7th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER , 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 1.09 ERA
Antonio Bastardo (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 4.47 ERA
Jonathan Papelbon (9th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 2.33 ERA

Scoring Summary:

Bottom of the 1st (Braves 0, Phillies 1): Chase Utley grounds out. Juan Pierre scores.
Top of the 2nd (Braves 1, Phillies 1): Brian McCann grounds out. Freddie Freeman scores.
Bottom of the 3rd (Braves 1, Phillies 2): Kevin Frandsen homers (2) on a fly ball to left field.
Bottom of the 4th (Braves 1, Phillies 3): Ryan Howard homers (13) on a fly ball to center field.
Bottom of the 4th (Braves 1, Phillies 4): Carlos Ruiz homers (15) on a fly ball to left center field.
Bottom of the 6th (Braves 1, Phillies 5): Carlos Ruiz singles on a line drive to right fielder Jason Heyward. Chase Utley scores.
Top of the 7th (Braves 2, Phillies 5): Jose Constanza singles on a soft fly ball to center fielder John Mayberry. Dan Uggla scores.
Bottom of the 7th (Braves 2, Phillies 6): Chase Utley homers (11) on a line drive to right field.