St. Louis Cardinals edge past Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 – MLB Recap
St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 4-3 in the first game of their four-match regular series encounter on Thursday, April 18 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
Cardinals led in the fourth inning and kept the lead towards end of the game. Their hitters showed great resistance against the healthy pitching lineup of Phillies.
Right fielder Carlos Beltran played brilliantly on his four at bats. He scored one run on two hits. He ran for an RBI and maintained his .396 slugging percentage.
“It's a good ballpark to hit in, Anything can happen if you hit the ball good. I hit it pretty good but I never thought it was going to leave the ballpark," Beltran said.
“He had a great night for us, It's not easy to hit the ball out the other way, but we've had no bigger hit this season," manager Mike Matheny said of Beltran.
Catcher Yadier Molina also played well up-front in the first five innings. He ran for two RBIs and showed good slugging percentage at .483.
Cardinals’ pitchers also played well and gave great support to their team. Starter Adam Wainwright pitched seven innings and received nine hits and only three runs.
He allowed three earned runs and struck out four on his 2.48 ERA. Closer Edward Mujica pitched 1.1 innings and received two hits. He struck out two and maintained his ERA at 1.42.
“With a lineup like that and a hitter's park, the main purpose was to keep the ball down. For the most part I was able to," Wainwright said.
On the other hand, the Phillies performance remained low during the entire game. Only few Phillies batters showed some resistance against the Cardinals pitchers.
Second baseman Freddy Galvis scored one run on five at bats. He ran for an RBI and maintained his slugging percentage at .550.
Phillies starter Cole Hamels was hammered hard as he allowed three runs and five hits. He also allowed three earned runs as his ERA went high at 6.46.
Relief pitcher Mike Adams also could not play well as he allowed one run and two hits. He also received one homer on 2.57 ERA.
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