Final Score: Cardinals 5, Phillies 2
The Phillies’ season-long offensive struggles continued on Tuesday, and unlike the previous night, they weren’t able to rely on lights-out pitching to steal a win.
Cardinals starter Carlos Martínez kept the Phils’ bats relatively quiet all night, surrendering just two hits, and St. Louis added a pair of key two-out doubles to even up the four-game series at one game apiece.
Despite their ineffectiveness at the plate, the Phillies were within just a run of St. Louis when Zach Eflin left in the seventh. But Sam Coonrod’s first pitch of the night nearly left the yard, resulting in a two-run double for Paul Goldschmidt. All of St. Louis’ five runs came with two outs, and Martínez, an overall stellar defensive effort and an effective bullpen did the rest of the work.
The Phillies move to 11-12 on the season and will look to regain the series lead Wednesday.
Top Plays
- Bryce Harper was up to his usual aggressiveness in the first inning, taking second on a base hit that trickled off Paul DeJong’s glove into shallow center. It put runners on second and third with one out. J.T. Realmuto drove in Rhys Hoskins with a sac fly, and Didi Gregorius popped out to end the threat.
- Brad Miller is not a natural left fielder, and he demonstrated that in the bottom of the first. Nolan Arenado hit a two-out ball that Miller would’ve been wise to let drop, but he tried to make an awkward sliding grab and came up empty. It rolled to the wall, scoring Dylan Carlson and tying the game at one.
- Tommy Edman gave the Cardinals a 3-1 lead with a double down the right-field line in the second inning.
- Arenado made a play in the third inning that would’ve been unbelievable if it wasn’t Arenado. Harper popped a ball into foul territory, and Arenado sprinted to the spot before swiping his glove at the ball, coming up with the inning-ending grab. He’s won eight straight Gold Glove Awards for a reason.
- Realmuto lifted a fly ball to right to lead off the fourth inning, and Justin Williams misjudged how much room he had, feeling for the wall before he reached the warning track and lunging at the ball at the last second. It tipped off his glove and Realmuto coasted into second. He then took third on an errant pickoff throw and scored on a groundout from Gregorius.
- Realmuto smoked a ball down the right field line with two outs in the sixth inning that probably would’ve been a double, but Paul Goldschmidt had other plans. The three-time Gold Glove Award winner made a diving backhanded stop and took it to the bag himself to end the inning.
- Goldschmidt continued the Cardinals’ two-out barrage in the seventh, swatting the first pitch from Sam Coonrod off the top of the right field wall. Two runs scored to put the Phillies down 5-2.
- The former Cardinal Miller got a rude welcome back to Busch Stadium, hitting a seventh-inning ball 94 mph but right at Edman to start an inning-ending double play.
- José Alvarado fired a scoreless eighth inning in his return from the injured list. His velocity reached triple digits six times.
Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance
Zach Eflin: 6.2 IP, 9 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 0 BB, 8 SO, 104 pitches
Eflin didn’t have his best stuff or command on Tuesday, as he left several pitches over the middle of the plate. In typical Eflin fashion, he settled in nicely after the first two innings, retiring 10 straight at one point. He would’ve had a quality start were it not for the Goldschmidt double off Coonrod. His ERA on the season is 3.58.
Carlos Martínez: 7.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 SO, 93 pitches
Martínez didn’t let the Phillies reverse their early offensive struggles, conceding only two hits — one to Miller and one to Harper. He benefited from some good luck, as the Phillies squared up several balls right at Cardinals’ gloves, but with a defense like the Cardinals have, he can afford to pitch to contact. It worked out alright for him on Tuesday, and his ERA dropped to 4.76.
Phillies Nuggets Player of the Game: Nolan Arenado
Goldschmidt gave the Cardinals two huge insurance runs and played solid defense, but Arenado’s first-inning double reversed the Phillies’ momentum quickly, he added another two-bagger later in the game and played even better defense.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Wednesday, April 28 vs. St. Louis Cardinals at 7:45 pm ET
- Busch Stadium
- NBC Sports Philadelphia
- 94 WIP
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