Cole Hamels steers Philadelphia Phillies to 3-2 win over St. Louis Cardinals – MLB Update
Cole Hamels pitched six scoreless innings for the Philadelphia Phillies to give them a crucial 3-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday, October 4 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri in game three of the National League Division Series.
After having split the first two games at home, the Phillies needed at least one win from the next two games to keep themselves in contention for the Championship Series. A win first up has now given them a chance to wrap up the series as early as Wednesday,
October 5.
Commenting on the strong situation which the Phillies are in, Ryan Howard said, "To steal a game here, if worse comes to worst, we come back home and we've got another game with Roy Halladay on the mound. We put ourselves in a great situation."
Hamels allowed just five hits in six innings and was then tactfully removed by manager Charlie Manuel unscathed. Jaime Garcia matched Hamels’ effort for the Cardinals and tossed six scoreless innings on the trot, but a managerial error by Tony La Russa of
continuing with his starter in the seventh proved to be wrong.
With the scores level at 0-0 at the top of the seventh, Ben Francisco came in as pinch hitter for Hamels and unleashed a three-run home-run in his only at-bat to virtually seal the low-scoring tie. The 405-feet hit towards left-field allowed Shane Victorino
and Lance Berkman a run each.
La Russa said, "Well, it didn't work, so that's bad managing. I'm watching him pitch and was really pleased. I thought he was the guy to continue pitching and I knew the matchups were in our favour. It didn't work."
Allen Craig, playing at left-field for Matt Holliday, reduced the deficit to one-run in the bottom of the seventh inning. However, Ryan Madson pitched effectively in the depth to disallow freedom to Cardinals’ offence, saving the game for the Phillies. Albert
Pujols scored in the ninth inning for the Cardinals but the effort was just not enough to push the game to extra innings.
Talking to reporters after the game, Pujols emphasised that the team has been in this situation before and is capable of staging a comeback in the series.
With Roy Oswalt to start for the Phillies in game four, it will be interesting to see how the Cardinals respond.
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