Philadelphia Phillies lose two-game series to St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 – MLB Update
St. Louis Cardinals put in a good performance as they defeated Philadelphia Phillies 2-1 at Busch Stadium, St. Louis on Tuesday, May 17.
The Phillies are struggling. Whether it’s because almost all their best men are sitting in the Disabled List or because their ace pitchers can’t carry the games on their shoulders anymore, one way or another it can be seen without a doubt that their flawless
performances are deteriorating at an alarming speed. The National League leaders suffered their fourth consecutive loss at the hands of the Cardinals and subsequently lost their two game series against them as well.
Previously, Cliff Lee, the ace that makes up part of the fabulous group of pitchers in the Power Rankings Number one team was a shadow of his self as he gave up six walks which is a career high for him. This time, Roy Oswalt was set to take the mound. Like
anticipated, Oswalt performed brilliantly, but the offence is what let the team down.
"A few two-out hits hurt me," Oswalt said. "Overall, my velocity was a little bit better. Strength-wise was a little bit better."
This was Oswalt’s first big league start in three weeks and he sacrificed only one run through the duration of five innings. Given that he just returned from the Disabled List, he pitched fastballs which are always a good sign.
The fact remains that the Phillies aren’t getting many hits. “It seems like we’re all in a rut right now,” Ben Francisco said afterward. “Our pitching is doing a good job, but we’re not getting big hits.”
The game against the Cardinals was the fourth in which the Phillies couldn’t manage to come up with five or more hits. Like usual, they remained well below that limit as they scored a single run throughout the game. The run came in the eighth inning as Placido
Polanco belted out a sacrifice fly to deep centre-field off which Jimmy Rollins scored.
The runs that came from the Cardinals’ side were in the fourth and ninth inning. The first run was by Yadier Molina who singled to left-field as Lance Berkman scored and Allen Craig moved himself to second base during the play.
The next run came in the very last inning and Berkman singled to deep centre-field as Jon Jay scored. Matt Holliday moved to second base and Albert Pujols moved to the third.
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