Philadelphia Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals: NLDS Game 1 – MLB Post Game Analysis
After falling three runs behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the first inning, Ryan Howard brought the Philadelphia Phillies back in the game to subsequently register an epic 11-6 win over the former on Saturday, October 1 in the first game of the National
League Divisional Series at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Roy Halladay did not impress in his first inning from the mound. Lance Berkman hammered the prospective NL Cy Young Award candidate for a three-run home-run down right-field, allowing Albert Pujols and Rafael Furcal a run each.
Halladay came back strong to halt the momentum initiated by the visitors, pitching seven scoreless innings thereon to increase the gulf between both teams after Howard had given the Phillies a much-wanted lead in the sixth inning.
Commenting of Halladay’s performance, Pujols said, "That's why he's the best in the game. We wanted to keep adding on it, but we just never put that inning together again."
Halladay was disappointed on his start and expressed that he could not have imagined something like this, especially with the form he had carried during the season. He further added that he had no alternative than to pitch his team to a win thereafter, successfully
doing it in the end.
Shane Victorino proved his talent yet again for the Phillies, going 3-for-4 and driving in two runs in addition to scoring one to keep the home-team in contention for an early lead in the NLDS. Victorino’s RBI in the fourth inning allowed Chase Utley to
complete a run and bring the deficit down to just two runs.
Kyle Lohse remained adamant at the mound for the Cardinals and his win seemed inevitable. However, a sixth inning scoring fiesta by the Phillies dashed Lohse’s hopes and as one could have expected, Howard was central to this onslaught.
Howard replicated Berkman’s effort in the sixth, smashing a go-ahead three-run homer to give the Phillies a crucial one-run lead and rekindle competition between the NL East Champions and Wild Card entrants. Lohse failed to reinstate himself on the mound,
hurling another loose pitch for Raul Ibanez to smash a two-run home-run and increase the lead to three-runs at the end of the sixth.
Octavio Dotel threw seven perfect pitches to complete the sixth inning for the Cardinals, striking-out two batters in the process. Marc Rzepczynski came on the mound in the seventh, but could last for only 11 pitches. He was unglued for three runs in this
stretch by the Phillies for the scorecard to show 9-6 at the end of the seventh inning. Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Hunter Pence scored a run each for the home side.
Making full use of his post-season debut, Pence drove in two runs in the eighth inning to prove his abilities to manager Charlie Manuel.
Cardinals produced three runs in the ninth inning but an eight-run lead proved to be a enough for the Phillies to defend.
The Phillies won their fifth consecutive division title and their management has repeatedly voiced concerns that any result less than a World Series title would be considered a failure for the franchise, which bagged a most-wins (102) in a single season
record this year.
The Phillies impressed with their all-round abilities in the first game, but it will be interesting to see how far the Phillies can cling to this momentum.
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