CINCINNATI -- Kyle Kendrick promised at the end of Spring Training that experimentation time had ended. With April's arrival, the baby-faced sophomore's top priority is limiting damage and keeping his team in games long enough for the offense to do its thing.

So there was Kendrick, on a rainy, chilly Friday night in Cincinnati, beginning 2008 with the same game plan that had brought him success through his first 20 Major League starts. He survived five innings of jams by making the right pitch at the right time and getting a ball hit to a perfectly positioned fielder.

The Phillies' offense, fresh off an uprising the evening before, and now two games removed from being one-hit, didn't let their bats get waterlogged, despite a 94-minute rain delay. They pounced on Reds starter Josh Fogg and handed Kendrick an 8-4 win to open the four-game series.

"The bats are starting to come around," manager Charlie Manuel said. "We caught a couple on the screws tonight. This is a nice park to play in."

Chase Utley inflicted the most damage, clobbering two homers to right field and driving in three runs. The shots gave him 100 for his career, not that such an accomplishment would faze Utley.

"To me, it's just another home run," Utley said, though he will keep the ball as a memento. He preferred to discuss the pitches he hit.

"First one was a cutter, second one was a curveball," he said.

Pat Burrell stroked his first homer of the season, a two-run shot off Fogg during a three-run first inning. That set Kendrick up nicely.

The righty nearly gave it all back, surrendering one run in the bottom of the first and loading the bases with two outs. But, as has been his M.O., Kendrick escaped by inducing a comebacker from dangerous power prospect Joey Votto.

Kendrick gave up three straight hits and a run to start the third, but then got a double play and another comebacker to end the frame.

Sound familiar? It should, since it happened in most of Kendrick's starts last season.

"He got outs when he had to," Manuel said. "He took us through five innings and got us a win."

Kendrick said his sinker worked well when he didn't try to "hump up with it," or throw it too hard. It sunk the best when he relaxed and threw it naturally.

"It's good when I'm nice and easy, then I'll get that good sink," he said. "I threw the good ones when I needed to. And luckily, they hit balls at someone."

Utley noticed.

"A lot of credit goes to Kyle," Utley said. "He was in a few jams and didn't try to do too much. He didn't try to get three outs at the same time. He pitched well today. He was composed and limited the big inning."