On Friday night, the St. Louis Cardinals defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in a big 12-4 victory with Tyler Lyons on the mound. On Saturday night, the Cardinals once again defeated the Phillies in a rout, this time 10-1 with John Lackey on the mound.
But on Sunday afternoon, it was the Phillies turn to rout the Cardinals.
The Cardinals struggled to produce runs and the pitching was at its worst of the series, as the Phillies won the game 9-2.
For the game, the pitching matchup on the mound featured Michael Wacha (9-2, 2.48 ERA) for the Cardinals, going up against the Phillies’ Adam Morgan (0-0, 0.00).
Morgan started off the game with a 1-2-3 top of the first inning, and Wacha only allowed a single by Maikel Franco in the bottom of the first. The Cardinals were then held scoreless in the top of the second inning.
The bottom of the second inning began with a double to center field by Domonic Brown. Cody Asche followed with a double of his own, scoring Brown, making it 1-0 Phillies. Cameron Rupp singled, putting runners at the corners for Freddy Galvis. While Galvis bunted during his at-bat, the Cardinals were able to get Asche out at home. Morgan then struck out swinging.
With two outs, Ben Revere walked, loading the bases for Ceaser Hernandez, who singled, scoring Rupp as well as Galvis. Franco then struck out ending the inning, but not before the Phillies took a 3-0 lead.
Both Morgan and Wacha threw 1-2-3 half innings during the third inning, as the Phillies took their three run lead into the fourth.
Cardinals shortstop Jhonny Peralta led off the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run to make it a 3-1 game.
Meanwhile, the Phillies added to their run total in the bottom of the fifth inning with the score still 3-1. Revere led off the inning with a single. On a throwing error by Wacha, Revere ended up on second base and later advanced to third base on a fly out by Hernandez. Franco doubled to score Revere, and Ryan Howard followed with a single, scoring Franco, making it 5-1 Phillies.
In the middle of pitching a shutout top of the sixth inning, Luis Garcia entered the game to relieve Morgan. And Garcia continued to keep the Cardinals at bay, as the score remained 5-1. Seth Maness then relieved Wacha, whose final line of the game was: 5 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 7 Ks.
During the bottom of the seventh inning, Odubel Herrera hit a single, later stealing second base. And with Revere up to bat again, Herrera would score, making it 6-1.
The final three runs for Philadelphia came in the bottom of the seventh inning with a three run home run by Andres Blanco with Howard and Brown on base, as they took a 9-1 lead with Matt Belisle on the mound.
Jonathan Papelbon entered to pitch the ninth inning, and while Jason Heyward hit a home run to make it 9-2, that would be all the Cardinals scored in the inning as Philadelphia took the series finale by the score of 9-2.
Wacha lost just his third game of the season, while Morgan won his first. St. Louis dropped to 45-24 on the season, while Philadelphia improved to 24-47 on the year.
Tuesday, Carlos Martinez will get the start on the mound.
(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
