Cardinals Rally Falls Short Against Phillies

THE CARDINAL CHRONICLE
Cardinals Rally Falls Short Against Phillies
St. Louis, MO
By Ray Mileur

The St. Louis Cardinals made it interesting.

They made it uncomfortable.

They made Philadelphia work all the way to the final outs.

But they did not finish the comeback.

The Cardinals fell to the Phillies, 6-5, Monday night at Busch Stadium, dropping the opener of a three-game series that carries real weight in the National League Wild Card picture.

This one had the look of a quiet loss for most of the night. Philadelphia built a 6-2 lead, the Cardinals’ offense did not do much early, and St. Louis appeared headed toward another one of those games where the late innings felt more like formality than fight.

Then the eighth inning happened.

The Cardinals finally broke through against the Philadelphia bullpen, putting together the kind of late rally that has too often been missing. Iván Herrera doubled. Alec Burleson doubled him home. Jordan Walker singled. Masyn Winn doubled in Burleson. José Fermín singled to center, scoring Walker and moving Winn to third.

Just like that, 6-2 became 6-5.

Busch Stadium had life.

The tying run was 90 feet away.

The Cardinals had the game sitting there.

They just could not push the final run across.

That was the story of the night.

Enough fight to make it close.

Not enough finish to win it.

Philadelphia grabbed the lead in the second inning, and the Cardinals helped open the door. Brandon Marsh singled to right, and Derek Hill reached on a throwing error by Hunter Dobbins, allowing Marsh to score and Hill to advance all the way to third.

Edmundo Sosa, facing his former club, followed with a single to left-center field, scoring Hill and giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead.

The inning was costly, but Dobbins did well to prevent it from getting worse. Garrett Stubbs struck out, Kyle Schwarber walked, and Bryson Stott flew out to end the inning.

Still, the Cardinals were chasing early.

Dobbins settled in after that and gave St. Louis a chance. He worked five innings, allowed four hits, three runs, only one earned, walked three and struck out six. It was not his sharpest outing, and the error in the second hurt him, but he kept the game from getting away.

Philadelphia added a run in the fifth after Schwarber singled and moved to second on a Jordan Walker fielding error. Stott followed with a single, putting runners at the corners. Bryce Harper then grounded into a double play, with Schwarber scoring to make it 3-0.

The Cardinals were not doing much against Phillies rookie Andrew Painter through five innings. Painter kept St. Louis hitless until the sixth and used his fastball and breaking ball well enough to keep the Cardinals from finding any rhythm.

But the sixth finally brought a response.

César Prieto grounded out to start the inning before JJ Wetherholt drew a walk. Herrera followed with a double to deep left, putting two runners in scoring position.

Burleson came through with the first big Cardinals swing of the night, singling to right-center field to score both Wetherholt and Herrera.

That cut the deficit to 3-2.

For a moment, the Cardinals had Painter on the ropes. Alan Rangel came in from the bullpen, and after Jordan Walker struck out, Nathan Church singled to right, moving Burleson to second. Masyn Winn struck out to end the threat, but St. Louis was back in the game.

The problem was the Phillies answered immediately.

Luis Gastelum started the seventh and struck out Sosa, but Caleb Ferguson came in and could not find the strike zone. Stubbs walked, Schwarber doubled to deep right-center to score him, and the Phillies stretched the lead to 4-2.

Ferguson then walked Stott and Harper to load the bases, forcing Oliver Marmol to go to Gordon Graceffo.

Graceffo got the ground ball the Cardinals needed. Luis Arraez hit into a double play, and St. Louis escaped with only one run allowed.

That kept the game close.

But the eighth hurt.

Graceffo walked Marsh, and Justin Crawford followed with a double to deep right, putting two runners in scoring position. Sosa then delivered again, driving a double to deep center to score both runners and give Philadelphia a 6-2 lead.

That looked like the backbreaker.

Sosa finished with two hits and three RBIs, doing much of the damage against his former organization. Schwarber also had two hits, including the RBI double in the seventh.

The Cardinals had every reason to fold after falling behind by four runs.

They did not.

Herrera opened the bottom of the eighth with his second double of the game. Burleson followed with a double to right, scoring Herrera and making it 6-3. Walker singled to center, moving Burleson to third.

Church popped out, but Winn kept the inning alive with a double to right. Burleson scored, Walker moved to third, and the Cardinals were within 6-4.

Fermín then lined a single to center, scoring Walker and moving Winn to third.

Now it was 6-5.

The Phillies were on their heels.

The Cardinals had a chance to tie the game.

But that was as close as they got.

St. Louis finished with eight hits, and most of the damage came late. Burleson drove in three runs. Herrera doubled twice and scored twice. Walker had a hit and scored. Winn drove in a run with his 17th double. Fermín reached multiple times and delivered the final RBI.

There were positives.

There was fight.

There was a late push.

But there was also another loss in a game the Cardinals could not afford to let slip away.

That is the hard part.

The Phillies entered the series as one of the teams St. Louis is trying to chase in the National League Wild Card race. Head-to-head games like this matter. The Cardinals do not need moral victories in August. They need wins, especially at home, especially against the clubs sitting in front of them.

Monday night, they almost stole one back.

Almost does not count in the standings.

The Cardinals fell behind early, made two defensive mistakes, let Philadelphia add on late, and then watched the rally come up one run short.

That is a tough way to open the series.

Now St. Louis has to answer quickly. There are still two games left against Philadelphia, but the Cardinals have already lost the first one. If they want this series to matter in the right way, Tuesday becomes a response game.

The eighth inning showed the Cardinals still had some fight.

The final score showed they needed one more swing.

The Bottom Line
The Cardinals fought back.

They did not finish it.

Philadelphia built a 6-2 lead, St. Louis rallied for three in the eighth, and the tying run reached third base. But the Cardinals could not complete the comeback and dropped the series opener, 6-5.

There was fight.

There were timely swings late.

There was also another missed opportunity.

Phillies 6, Cardinals 5.

The Cardinal Chronicle, in association with Gateway Sports & MiLB Today
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Photo Credit: Hunter Dobbins, St. Louis Cardinals | MLB