St. Louis Cardinals defeat Philadelphia Phillies 5-0 to close in on postseason spot – MLB Update
The St. Louis Cardinals blanked the Philadelphia Phillies 5-0 in the third game of the four-game series on Sunday, September 18 to gain a crucial one-game lead over the Major League stalwarts at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Cole Hamels has been the most dependable pitcher in Philadelphia’s rotation but the Cardinals, showing their desperation for a postseason berth, produced four runs from his seven innings to leave the home side tattering.
Albert Pujols unleashed his arms in the first inning for a two-run home-run to impose early pressure on the Phillies before Allen Craig replicated this effort in the sixth inning to double the lead for the visitors. Ryan Theriot scored his only run of the
game on Craig’s home-run to add to his solitary hit from four at-bats.
Hamels leaked seven hits and four runs in his ordinary spell of seven innings to lose his ninth game of the season. The starter struck-out nine opposition batters but the two home-runs were expensive enough to deny him an opportunity to level his career-high
15 wins.
Phillies’ manager Charlie Manuel praised the effort put in by the Cardinals and said, "Their pitcher pitched well. He was changing speeds and had a good sinker. The double plays made it difficult to score runs."
Joe Blanton replaced Hamels in the eighth inning but failed to halt Craig’s hitting intent. Having scored two runs already, the first on Pujols’ home-run, Craig smashed his second home-run towards centre-field to complete a five-run battering of the home
side. The Phillies are renowned as one of the best pitching outfits in the Majors but this performance was dreary in comparison.
Craig drove in three runs to compliment his three hits in four at-bats, helping his batting average surge to .314 for the season.
This win brought the Cardinals just 3.5 games shy of the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card race with 10 games remaining in the regular season. Pujols clarified the team’s intent and said, "We took today's game. Flip the page and hopefully come tomorrow and
try to win the series."
A few more wins for the Cardinals coupled by a poor performance by the Braves may well see them qualify for the postseason.
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