Philadelphia Phillies prevail over the St. Louis Cardinals with 3-2 win in Game 4 – MLB Playoffs
Ben Francisco hit a three-run homer on Tuesday, October 4 to help the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 in the NL playoff series at Busch Stadium. With Cole Hamels pitching six strong innings the Phillies’ victory tied the exciting series
2-2.
Ryan Madson held off the Cardinals’ hitters in the ninth to keep the game within their winning reach. Hamels contribution was key. "You don't want to make mistakes, you don't want to leave the ball over the plate," Hamels said. "Every pitch mattered, every
inning mattered."
Jaime Garcia who was having a rather forceful game, did not allow any runs until the sixth, had a tough time containing Ben Francisco who went for the three-run homer in the seventh. Although David Freese and Yadier Molina did have their individual singles,
their effort did not bear fruit.
Garcia’s inability to do the needed was bit of a disappointment for Tony La Russa.
With the series tied, Tuesday’s game began with Jaime Garcia pitching the first inning against the Phillies. The Cardinals’ starter was effective enough to contain the Phillies’ hitters and did not allow a single hit to end the inning scoreless.
Cardinals could not get any runs either although Albert Pujols’ first hit came in the very first inning of Cole Hamels. Both pitchers had their predictably strong innings whereby none of them ceded any space to the hitters.
It was in the seventh inning when back-to-back hits brought Ben Francisco on the plate who then hit a huge three-run homer to give the Phillies a much-needed 3-0 lead in the crucial game. As the Phillies secured a 3-0 edge, Vance Worley was brought in to
pitch the seventh.
David Freese had a single to centre to bring the lead down to 3-1, keeping the Cardinals’ hope alive in the game. Fernando Salas pitched a shut-out eighth for the Cardinals and Jason Motte allowed a hit in the top of the ninth.
As Ryan Madson came to pitch the ninth for the Phillies, Yadier Molina singled to centre, bringing the Cardinals closer to drawing the game. But all hopes were dashed as Madson had successive strike-outs to end the game with a 3-2 victory for the Philadelphia
Phillies.
Despite the setback, Albert Pujols thinks his team can still make a comeback. "Listen, we flip the page and come back ready to play with the same energy we've been having the last six weeks," said Albert Pujols, who had four hits. "We've been in this situation
before."
It will now be of immense interest to see how the Cardinals play Game 5 and possibly advance to the National League Championship Series and move one step closer to the World Series.
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