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Kendrick able to minimize damage vs. favorite foe

MIAMI -- Rockies starter Kyle Kendrick bent against the Marlins on Friday night -- particularly in the sixth inning -- but he didn't break.

Although Kendrick (2-8, 5.87 ERA) took the loss in Colorado's 5-1 defeat, the righty allowed just two runs in a hard-fought 6 2/3 innings. The performance was on par for his career against Miami, as the 30-year-old is now 14-4 (55 earned runs in 146 2/3 innings) in 23 starts against the Marlins.

"It's kind of a tough loss," Kendrick said. "That's what matters and hopefully we'll come out tomorrow and get them."

It's a hard one to swallow considering he put the Rockies in a position to win after escaping the sixth inning.

After Martin Prado homered to open the frame for a 2-0 Miami lead, Kendrick walked Christian Yelich and allowed a single to Giancarlo Stanton. But he regrouped to force two flyouts and a popout to escape the jam.

"It was nice to get away only with one [run] and minimize the damage," Kendrick said.

Said manager Walt Weiss: "He pitched through a couple jams, and to get us into the seventh there ... that was a great job by Kyle."

Kendrick got two outs in the seventh before exiting, having thrown 104 pitches. He scattered seven hits, as the only other run he allowed came on a Marcell Ozuna two-out RBI single in the fourth after a nine-pitch at-bat.

"Ozuna had a good at-bat there for the first run," Kendrick said. "You have to give him credit there, because I made some good pitches that he fouled off and I didn't want to walk him. ... Prado was just a 3-1 get-me-over cutter that I kind of got lazy with and paid the price for it."

Steve Wilaj is an associate reporter for MLB.com.
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