CLEARWATER, Fla. — A prank trade to Japan didn't shake Kyle Kendrick's confidence as much as a pair of rough outings did. He seems back on track now, so the Philadelphia Phillies don't have to consider keeping him under close surveillance.

"We had to watch him on the Skyway bridge there for a while," pitching coach Rich Dubee joked after Kendrick pitched five scoreless innings in a 3-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday.

Kendrick came out of nowhere last year to bail out a depleted rotation and help the Phillies win the NL East title. He went 10-4 with a 3.87 ERA in 20 starts after getting called up from Double-A Reading in mid-June.

But Kendrick's first major league camp didn't start off well. The 23-year-old right-hander was hit hard in his second and third outings. He gave up seven runs and nine hits in 2X\c innings against Atlanta, and six runs and seven hits in two innings against Toronto on March 9.

Kendrick allowed two runs in four innings in a minor league game last Saturday and topped that against the Pirates. He allowed two hits, walked two and hit one batter.

"I'm getting closer," Kendrick said. "I'm not there. Overall it was a good outing."

Ryan Howard, Geoff Jenkins and Pedro Feliz each hit solo homers off Pirates starter Ian Snell.

After Kendrick departed, Clay Condrey, J.D. Durbin and Tom Gordon held the Pirates to two hits over four innings.

Snell, scheduled to pitch the Pirates' opener, gave up three runs and five hits in 5¾ innings in his first start since getting an $8 million, three-year contract. He threw strictly fastballs against the Phillies.

"I did what I was told and I thought I did it pretty well," Snell said. "I kept the fastball down and put it pretty much where I wanted to. When I did get the ball up a couple of times, they hit it out. After a while, I'm sure they knew what was coming."