Jaime Garcia shines as St. Louis Cardinals overpower Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1 – MLB Update
St. Louis Cardinals’ starter Jaime Garcia had a notable day as he pitched eight dominant innings and struck out five batters in the Cardinals’ 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Busch Stadium, St. Louis, on May 17.
Garcia allowed only one run on five hits and gave away one walk. He was satisfied with his performance and said, “After the error, you know what, I was locked in. Nothing affected me. I would say every time I go out there I get better and better mentally.”
Garcia was about to complete his shut-out inning but a pop fly was dropped on the outfield. After this game, he improved his ERA to 1.64. The Cardinals’ reliever Fernando Salas pitched a perfect ninth inning with one strike-out.
The first three innings went score-less for both the sides as the pitchers threw the ball in good line. The Cardinals opened their scoring account in the fourth inning and led off with 1-0 when Lance Berkman walked on the loaded bases and posted a run by
reaching at the plate. The Cardinals were on top until the seventh inning as the pitchers did their job and restricted the batters to score no run.
There were some amendments in the fielding position of the Cardinals as they made a defensive replacement during the seventh inning by shifting Tyler Greene as a second baseman. Greene said of the game, “I never felt so relieved for Berkman to get that hit.
I came up to him, gave him a big hug.”
Eventually, the Phillies scored their first run in the eighth inning and tied the game 1-all when Jimmy Rollins scored a single run on the sacrifice fly of Placido Polanco. The Cardinals’ batters put their efforts and clinched a 2-1 lead in the ninth inning
as Berkman completed his single on the loaded bases while Jon Jay reached on second base.
Berkman praised Jay in that way, “That wasn't that great of a hit. Roy's got good stuff, I was impressed.”
The Phillies’ starter Roy Oswalt was also economical as he permitted only one run on seven hits in five inning pitches. The relievers threw pretty well but Danys Baez gave the Cardinals a leading run in the end.
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