Philadelphia Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals: Game 4 – MLB Post Game Analysis
Kyle Lohse outpitched Roy Halladay to give St. Louis Cardinals a crucial 4-3 win against the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday, September 20 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Coming into the series, the Cardinals were 5.5 games behind Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card standings, but a 3-1 win in the four-game series reduced this deficit to just 2.5 games with ten games yet to play in the regular season.
The Braves, on the other hand, have failed to hold on to their lead, facing a serious dip in form over this stretch to reduce their chances of making it to the postseason after having dominated the National League Wild Card standings throughout the season.
They have dropped three of their previous four outings and with three of the remaining eight games against Phillies, the odds for their qualification are on the lowers side.
Cardinals had struggled to keep up with the Braves but a five-game winning streak followed by another string of five wins from six games has bolstered their chances of going through. A series against Philadelphia was their most uphill task in the conquest
of the top-spot and a positive result has not only done wonders to their confidence, but has also increased the probability of their qualification.
Needing just four games to set a club record for most wins in a single season, the Phillies came into the game looking to reduce this number to three and subsequently split the four-game series, but Lohse stood firm in their way to deny them either.
Halladay had not dropped a game since August 16 but an ordinary performance just before the all-important postseason reduced his win-loss record to 18-6, still keeping him in contention to win the National League Cy Young Award. Philadelphia’s ace tossed
eight innings and leaked four runs from six hits to see his ERA soar to 2.41 after reaching a season-best 2.34 in his previous start.
"Hopefully we'll get things going and finish on the right foot," Halladay said. "We've won all year and there's no doubt we'll continue that. There's no cause for concern. Naturally there's a little lull after you clinch."
Manager Charlie Manuel was critical of Philadelphia’s offensive effort and commented that he would like to see the batters scoring some runs before the playoffs begin. He further added that this surely is a rough patch for the Phillies but would not linger
on into the postseason.
The Cardinals, on the contrary, were happy to be in contention late in the regular season and team manager Tony LaRussa expressed his excitement on this achievement, saying that this is what the pennant race is all about.
Commenting on Lohse’s game-winning performance, LaRussa said, "You just can't give him enough credit. We had our best defensive team out there and we kicked it around. He picked everybody up all day."
Lohse pitched into the eighth inning and successfully restricted the home-side to just one run to win his 14th start of the season. He was well complimented by the relief staff, which followed suit to keep the scoring to a minimum. Octavio Dotel,
however, was the most prominent among the relief pitchers, saving his second game of the season after the Phillies had already added two runs in the last inning.
The loss did not hurt the Phillies with respect to standings, but will have serious repercussions for the Braves.
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