Cardinals Batter Cliff Lee to Even Series with Phillies
By Editorial Staff
The Philadelphia Phillies seemed all but guaranteed to take a 2-0 advantage back to St. Louis. But, the Cardinals fought back against Cliff Lee and the Phillies, taking game two 5-4 and evening the series up at one.
After Saturday night’s drubbing, the Cardinals quickly found themselves behind in game two. Philadelphia jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning behind RBI singles from Ryan Howard and Raul Ibanez. The Phillies extended their advantage to 4-0 a frame later as Hunter Pence drove in his third run of the series.
A team dreads falling behind 4-0 to any pitcher, especially against one of Cliff Lee’s ability. Lee kept the Cardinals down over the first three frames, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out four.
But when they did hit him, the Cardinals hit Lee hard; they were just unable to break through. Rafael Furcal led off the first with a triple but was left stranded. David Freese got the next inning started with a double, but again the Cardinals were unable to cash in.
Finally, in the 4th, St. Louis broke through against Lee.
Following a walk and infield single, the Cardinals used back-to-back hits to reduce their deficit to two. After striking out Nick Punto for the second out of the frame, Lee surrendered another hit to Furcal. One runner scored, but Ibanez gunned down John Jay at the plate for the final out of the inning.
Now, firmly back in the game, the Cardinals leaned on their corps of relievers to keep things close. Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter struggled through three frames and was lifted for a pinch hitter during the club’s 4th inning rally.
St. Louis’s pen delivered, as six Cardinal relievers combined to log six scoreless frames. The group surrendered only a single hit while striking out six Phillies.
Following their bullpen’s lead, St. Louis’s offense contributed a pair of runs in the 6th and 7th to go up for good. Both runs were charged to Lee, who finished the night allowing five runs on 12 hits with nine strikeouts over his six innings of work.
Albert Pujols provided what proved to be the winning base hit with his RBI single in the 7th.
The Cardinals now head home happy with a split, and will look for starter Jaime Garcia to continue their momentum Tuesday night. Philadelphia hopes ace number three, Cole Hamels, can get the club back on track.
For more on the Cardinals and Phillies, be sure to check out Redbird Rants and That Balls Outta Here.