The Phillies lose 2/3 to the Saint Louis Cardinals in a rainy three-game affair.
Monday night would be a hype competitive game in which both teams leaned on their starters. Christopher Sánchez was again phenomenal as he cruised to six innings pitched while allowing two runs and striking out eight. The Phillies’ offense, however, could not take advantage of the good pitching they received. The only two runs they scored came from an Edmundo Sosa RBI single in the fourth, which at the moment tied the game 1-1, and a JT Realmuto legging out yet another double play ball, which allowed Kyle Schwarber to score and again tie it at 2-2. The Cardinals would respond again in the seventh as Masyn Winn would take Matt Strahm deep to give the Cardinals the 3-2 lead. With ground outings from Kyle Leahy and future Phillie Ryan Helsley (hopefully), the Cardinals were able to shut the door on the Phillies for the win in the series opener, 3-2.
Mother Nature would delay this series a day as rain washed away Tuesday, leading to a doubleheader on Wednesday. Game one of the doubleheader was an intense affair. The Phillies would again get a great outing from their starter as Jesús Luzardo would torpedo the Cardinals over seven innings. The left-hander would only allow one run while striking out six as his season ERA has now dropped to 2.00. In the bottom of the seventh, after the Cardinals had made it 1-0 in the top half, the Phillies would finally respond. After Weston Wilson and Rafael Marchán got on base and were on second and third, Bryson Stott would single on a ball that was kept in the infield, but still allowed Wilson to score to make it 1-1. With Runners on first and third with two outs, it would be a bloop single to centerfield, which was nearly caught, which allowed Marchán to score to make it 2-1. Stott on the same play would be tagged out on a play the Phillies challenged as they said Cardinals catcher, Pedro Pagés, blocked the base path, but it was unsuccessful. From there, the Phillies would hand the ball to José Alvarado in the eighth. After only recording one out, but allowing two baserunners and a passed ball that had runners on second and third, Rob Thomson, interestingly, went to the pen, not giving Alvarado his normal space to figure out the jam he was in. In came Orion Kerkering, who has allowed 50% of all inherited runners to score this year, but he would get a quick pop out and strikeout to end the inning, in what ended up being a smart move. The Phillies would again turn to Jordan Romano in the ninth, who would once again make quick work of the Cardinals. He would strike out the side as the righty continues to look completely over the early-season issues. That is six straight outings without allowing a run that have included three saves and eight total strikeouts. The Phillies would take game two of the series, and game one of the doubleheader, 2-1.
In the final game of the series and the back end of the double header, the Phillies’ offense would erupt for seven runs that included home runs by JT Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber, and Alec Bohm. It was certainly a solid night for the offense would be up 5-1 after the first inning and score seven total runs…Unfortunately, Aaron Nola would allow nine runs before the end of the fourth inning. The Phillies would lose 14-7. Nola would look terrible and get lit up, allowing nine runs on thirteen baserunners over 3.2 innings. The final two runs would be allowed once he was out of the game when Tanner Banks allowed the inherited runners to score, but still a pitiful performance. Taijuan Walker and Carlos Hernández would oversee the scoring of five more runs as the Phillies would go down and not make another noise, losing a laugher by the football score of 14-7.
The Phillies are now 2-4 against the Cardinals this year as they lost 2/3 in both Saint Louis and Philadelphia. On the road against the Cardinals, the Phillies felt lifeless as they were at maybe the lowest point of the year, but this was a hot baseball team coming home. Not sure what, if anything, the Cardinals did specifically, but at least in this case, the Phillies were due for a letdown after winning five straight series. The Cardinals, so far this year, have also been a much better team than anyone has expected. Starting pitching outside of Aaron Nola continues to thrive, and as for Nola, he is certainly in the most frustrating season of his career, as he just can’t seem to get it together. Nola is 1-7 this season with a 6.16 ERA. Nola’s anemic start stands out like a sore thumb in a rotation filled nearly to the brim with superstars. There is still plenty of hope and time for Nola to right the ship, but this has been bad to say the least. On the positive side, the offense continues to chug along; they have their faults, but have been much better responding to bad games or rallying back in games than they have in previous seasons. Also, the bullpen has done much better of late, and if this is the Romano we continue to get, this would be a marvelous addition. The Phillies should be able to land on their feet as they get to play a terrible Pirates team this weekend in Philadelphia. Sunday’s game specifically should be fun as the Phillies get their first chance to face Paul Skenes.