Phils take pride in this one

TO PUT IT plainly, the Phillies were simply playing for pride yesterday.

Not only was the series with the New York Mets already lost before the game even started, but any chances the Phils may have had of closing the gap on their division foes - whom they won't face again until August 27 - was lost as well.

If pride alone was equivalent to wins in the National League, the Phillies would be considered World Series contenders. But it's not, and the Phillies, despite a 5-3 win over the Mets at Citizens Bank Park, still find themselves staring at a five-game deficit in the NL East after entering the series within three.

"We needed this win of course, I think everybody knew that," said Charlie Manuel. "It's a good win for us. At the same time we've got to stay in there and go play it out."

Part of the reason it was a good game was another solid performance by rookie righthander Kyle Kendrick, who pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up six hits and two runs.

While it was his longest outing since the 22-year-old made his major league debut June 13, Kendrick felt he had more in him before Manuel pulled him in the seventh.

The manager said he wasn't comfortable with Kendrick facing Mets pinch-hitter Ricky Ledee, a solid fastball hitter, so he brought in lefthander J.C. Romero from the bullpen.

"I wasn't disappointed at all," said Kendrick.

He had no reason to be. Before yesterday's game, the Phillies' offense had been doing a great job of covering up Kendrick's lack of experience. In his first three starts the Phillies had scored 28 runs.

But Kendrick has held his own on the mound, much to the delight and surprise of Manuel.

"For him to be so inexperienced, he's pitched much better than I would have ever thought," said Manuel, who admitted he thought Kendrick would have only been a five-inning guy at most.

Instead Kendrick, who is now 3-0 with a 4.38 ERA, has given the Phillies at least six innings in each of his four starts.

Before the seventh inning, it was hard to tell how many of the 45,289 fans were Phillies fans and how many were for the Mets. But after Shane Victorino drilled a two-out solo shot off Aaron Heilman that collided with the right-field foul pole, it was clear that there were just a handful of Mets rooters in the stands.

"It was big. I was just trying to put a good swing on the ball and get some runs on the board," Victorino said after giving the Phillies a 4-2 lead.

Chase Utley, who tripled to right field after Victorino's at-bat, scored on Aaron Rowand's single to add the final run and give the Phillies their first lead heading into the eighth inning since their 11-4 victory over Cincinnati on Tuesday.

"Any time you have a lead it's good but you still have to play," Victorino said. "You play nine innings, so it doesn't matter whether you're up five runs or down five runs you still have to go out and find a way to win and get through the game."

Jose Reyes put the Mets on the board when he singled, stole second and scored on Paul Lo Doca's single in the first inning. The Mets' other runs came when Carlos Delgado homered in the second inning and in the ninth when Delgado walked and eventually came around on a single by pinch-hitter Ruben Gotay.

Gregg Dobbs, who hit .409 with three doubles, a triple and four RBI on the seven-game homestand, drove in one run in the second to tie the score at 1-1, then a two-run homer by Jimmy Rollins in the third gave the Phils a 3-2 lead. Rollins is now batting .319 with four homers and nine RBI against the team he claimed the Phillies would dethrone during spring training.

While Victorino said the team didn't look at yesterday's game as a must-win, he did agree that pride was on the line.

"It's definitely about pride. But ultimately it's about victories and where you're at in the standings come those last few weeks of the season," he said. "Every win we can get counts. We need wins." *