Lance Berkman helps St. Louis Cardinals defeat Philadelphia Phillies 12-2 – MLB Update
St. Louis Cardinals’ first baseman Lance Berkman, starter Chris Carpenter and out-fielder Jon Jay each had a notable day as Jay and Berkman hit two home-runs while Carpenter pitched seven solid innings in the Cardinals’ 12-2 win against the Philadelphia
Phillies at Busch Stadium, St. Louis on June 23.
The Cardinals’ batters avoided the clean sweep in a three-game series and finished it 2-1.
In the first inning, the Cardinals added one run to get off the mark and took a 1-0 lead. Jay struck a solo homer (422 feet) towards right-field. The Cardinals’ batters stepped on the gas during the second inning and exploded three runs to take a 4-0 lead.
Tony Cruz singled to right-field and Colby Rasmus scored one run. The second and third runs were taken by Skip Schumaker and Cruz when Ryan Theriot singled off the centre-field.
Third inning again went in favour of the Cardinals as they added one run and got a 5-0 lead. Matt Holliday posted a single run on the grounder of Schumaker towards second base. The pitchers tossed curveballs and did not give away any run during the fourth
and fifth inning. Carpenter allowed only one run on five hits with one earned run and struck-out seven batters. He permitted only one walk on his 124 pitches.
The Phillies’ batters posted their first run in the sixth inning when Ryan Howard drove a single-run shot towards right-field and Shane Victorino added one run. On the other side, Rasmus scored one run to extend the Cardinals’ lead 6-1 when Cruz singled
to centre-field and Schumaker moved to second base.
During the seventh inning, the pitchers controlled the runs of the batters but the Cardinals blasted six runs in the eighth inning and led off with 12-1. Yadier Molina, Daniel Descalso, Theriot, Jay and Holliday each singled while Berkman hit a three-run
homer (392 feet) towards left-field to complete a six-run campaign.
The Phillies were able to add one run in the ninth inning to cut their deficit 12-2 when Carlos Ruiz homered (351 feet) to left-field. Danys Baez was very expensive for the Phillies as he pitched just one inning with an ERA of 5.51 and allowed six runs on
four hits including six earned runs. He gave up two walks on 33 pitches.
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