Hit Batters, Walks, and a Huge 8th Inning Lead Phillies to Win Over Cardinals
By: Mike Reisman
After a day off yesterday, the Phillies came to St. Louis to begin a three game series with the Cardinals. However, they would be fortunate enough to not have to face former MVP Albert Pujols who fractured his forearm and is now out for 4-6 weeks. They would also have the luxury of starting Roy Halladay. Tonight though, starters would barley matter, as the bullpens, especially the bullpen of the Cardinals, would be the difference makers in tonight's game.
The game started off seemingly normally, both pitchers playing on top of their games. Neither pitcher allowed a run until the 5th when the Cardinals got a run on a fielder's choice, giving them a one run lead. The Phillies would come back to tie the game in the 7th when Ross Gload singled, scoring Raul Ibanez. The Cardinals would retake the lead in their half of the inning on a sac fly, making the score 2-1.
Then came the 8th inning, and the Cardinals bullpen. The Phillies would send 14 batters to the plate in the inning, and the Cardinals would send five different pitchers to the mound. As a whole, the relievers would hit two batters (both hit by Jason Motte), leading to one run, they would walk four batters, leading to two runs, and they would allow five hits, leading to six runs. In total, the Phillies would score nine runs, making the score 10-1.
From that point, the Phillies would have no trouble putting the Cardinals away, getting the win to improve their record to 46-28. Michael Stutes would get the win, improving to 2-0.
Tonight was an interesting night, not only because of the offensive explosion (or should I say pitching implosion) in the 8th, but also because of the way that Roy Halladay was used. Charlie Manuel would pull Halladay after six innings and 97 pitches, even though Halladay only allowed one run on four hits and two walks. He also struck out five batters. I love that Manuel decided to rest Halladay, whether it was solely to put in Ross Gload as a pinch-hitter or to rest the ace, it doesn't matter, letting him rest was a great choice.
Besides the explosion, the offense was pedestrian at best. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the 8th inning was due mostly to the Cardinals awful pitching. In fact, the only Phillies player who did well during innings other than the 8th was Carlos Ruiz, who was 4-4 with a run and an RBI. Chooch needs games like this, as he isn't having such a great year and stat padding games like these will really help him, especially in the eyes of critical fans.
The Phillies return tomorrow at 8:15 as Cliff Lee will take on Kyle Lohse.