Cardinals vs. Phillies - National League Championship Series: Part 1
Prior to the qualifications for the National League Championship Series, the Cardinals had to go through some of the most testing times. Despite the hurdles, the team did not give up, weathering the storm with perseverance to prove their worth. It was Chris
Carpenter – a pitcher of unquestionable credentials, who pitched a shutout against the Houston Astros to win the wild card, and to pave the way for NLCS.
The NLCS, similarly, was a battle that was predominated by the pitchers.
The playoff National League Championship Series began with the characteristic passion that it always generated. Bringing together two of the zealously followed teams of the Major League Baseball, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies, the
duel was to be ultimately decided by the performance of the pitchers.
The St. Louis Cardinals descended on the ballpark with a combination that had the potential to outdo the Phillies. However, the Phillies won the first game by 11-6; a defeat that was a bitter pill to swallow for the Cardinals.
Nonetheless, the best-of-five-games series saw the Cardinals back in the second game. The Cardinals came down hard on the Phillies with a 5-4 victory. This time, as was expected, the pitching maestro Carpenter contributed his bit. The player, even though
failing to pitching more than 3 innings, did create huge pressure for the Phillies.
The return in the series was something that the Cardinals had to do if they were to survive in the series. Once they won the second game, Jason Motte – who was among the six relievers to bring this victory to the Cardinal said, “We've been doing this all
year. We don't give up,” Motte said. “People counted us out, (but) we kind of went out there and just kept playing hard.”
It was Cole Hamels of the Phillies who prevailed in the Game 3 whereby the team won the game by 3-2. Like said earlier, the victor – in the end, would be the one with the strong bullpen. Although Jaime Garcia of the Cardinals pitched well, giving up only
3 runs in the 7 innings, it was Hamels who had a shutout in his six innings to bring victory to the team.
Although the Cardinals hitters did their best to turn the tides, it was the relievers of the Phillies who maintained their poise and did not let the game go off their hands. Even though Pujols had four hits, he could not turn the game into the Cardinals’
favour.
Albert Pujols said, “Listen, we flip the page and come back ready to play with the same energy we've been having the last six weeks.”
That was something that Ryan Howard referred to once the game concluded. “To steal a game here, if worse comes to worst, we come back home and we've got another game with Doc (Roy Halladay) on the mound,” Phillies slugger, Ryan Howard said. “We put ourselves
in a great situation.”
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