By RYAN LAWRENCE

rlawrence@delcotimes.com

MIAMI – In each of the last two seasons, Kyle Kendrick has been all by himself on the island of misfit pitchers.

Stretched out as a starter each spring, Kendrick was nothing more than an insurance policy for a starting rotation already filled with five of his teammates. But as a swingman who had to be on call if a starter went down, Kendrick could never get his seat too warm in the bullpen either.

Prior to Tuesday, Kendrick had still managed to make 15 starts in each of the last two seasons thanks to injuries. His most recent two starts came in the wake of the trade that sent Joe Blanton to the Los Angeles Dodgers two weeks ago.

Despite the vacancy, Kendrick has continued to take the mound for his starts just as he had in each of the last two summers: looking over his shoulder, waiting for the latest hook back to the ‘pen.

But something changed Tuesday night in Miami: Kendrick pitched with the confidence of an athlete that finally felt secure in his role.

In an unexpected encore of Cole Hamels’ shutout Monday night, Kendrick fired seven shutout innings to lead the Phillies to a 1-0 win over the Marlins. Kendrick’s outing came four days after having a chat with Charlie Manuel, a conversation that ended with the manager telling the 27-year right-hander that he would stay in the rotation.

“Yeah, it helps,” Kendrick said. “But you just have to go out there and pitch. That’s the main thing. I know they’re behind me. I know that. The talk went well. I just have to stick to who I am and I was able to do that tonight.”

Jimmy Rollins supplied all the offense the Phils would need on the game’s second pitch, ripping his 41^st career leadoff home run off Miami ace Josh Johnson. The win was the third straight for the Phillies (54-62), who are eight games under .500 for the first time since June 30.

The Phils are 10 games back of a playoff spot.

“We’ll just keep playing; we’ll try to stay low-key,” Manuel said of a Phillies team that is 17-12 since the All-Star break. “We’re still breathing.”

Kendrick’s third start in place of Blanton came a night after Tyler Cloyd improved to 12-1 with a 2.23 ERA in 20 starts at Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

After Kendrick gave up six runs in 3 1/3 innings against Atlanta last Wednesday, Cloyd’s name was mentioned regularly from inquiring fans and reporters alike. The 25-year-old Cloyd is a combined 15-1 with a 2.16 ERA in 24 starts between Lehigh and Double-A Reading. 

Kendrick heard the whispers. So he spoke with Manuel before last Friday night’s game at Citizens Bank Park.

“I had a talk with him,” Manuel said, rolling his eyes at what he must have thought was one of the most overblown player-manager discussions in recent history. “(Pitching coach Rich) Dubee had a talk with him. Kendrick's dad had a talk with him. About 50,000 people in Philly had talks with him.”

And?

“He responded good,” Manuel said. “That’s what we talk about. We talked about the consistency part. At times, he’s show you he can be good. He can be very good.”

In 16 starts this season, Kendrick has allowed two runs or less in eight games. But he has also allowed five runs or more in six games.

Kendrick was on a similar tract last year, giving up two runs or less 10 times while also giving up four or more in three of his 15 starts.

Whether or night Tuesday night was the springboard toward finishing the 2012 season with consistency as a starter for the first time since 2007 won’t be known until the games are played out. But Kendrick at least took a step in that direction.

In seven innings against Miami, Kendrick yielded five singles and no extra base hits. He struck out six while walking zero.

“Sometimes I over-think stuff or get cutter happy,” Kendrick said when asked about his inconsistency. “Last game I threw 30 cutters; that’s not me. Dubee and I talked about going with who I am, being who I am.

“When I have success I’m doing what I did tonight: just sinker, pound the sinker, throw changeups and get early contact. I threw four cutters tonight; that’s who I am.”

Kendrick gave up leadoff hits in the fourth and sixth innings, but pitched his way out of each mini-jam by eking through the middle of the Marlins order while allowing the ball to leave the infield only one time.

After seven innings and 87 pitches, Kendrick’s night was over. But unlike the last time he threw seven shutout innings – on July 6 against Atlanta – the bullpen made his work stand up. Josh Lindblom and Jonathan Papelbon retired six of the seven hitters they faced to help the Phils capture their fourth win in five series since the trade deadline.

Perhaps both the team and the pitcher without a permanent home on the pitching staff are trending upward for the final two months of an otherwise lost season.

“I’m just going out there trying to pitch well and keep us in games and go as long as I can in the game, go as deep as I can,” Kendrick said. “Obviously if I finish strong, that makes it easier on me for next year. But that’s out of my hands. I just have to go out there and give us quality outings.”

The victory was the first 1-0 win buoyed by a leadoff home run for the Phillies since June 12, 1969, when Johnny Briggs homered and Grant Jackson pitched a shutout.