4/22/13
It was a cold night in Philadelphia as the Phillies took on
the Cardinals in the rubber match of this series. The Cardinals have not shown
so far how potent their offense is. Carlos Beltran and Yadier Molina have been
the most consistent hitters for the Cardinals so far. David Freese, Matt
Holliday (who was not in the lineup tonight), Allan Craig, and Jon Jay have
been underperforming at this point in the season. Their starting pitching has
been a constant, but the bullpen has not. Their bullpen has been a problem
because their closer, Jason Motte, has been on the 15-day disabled list to
start the season because he had surgery on his elbow. Meanwhile, the Phillies
have been inconsistent on the offensive end. One night they score six runs, the
next night they don’t score any runs. Their starting pitching has kept the team
in games, but the offense has not supported their great pitching performances.
The Phillies have had to change their lineup this series. Jimmy Rollins has
regained his leadoff position while Ben Revere was pushed down in the batting
order to hitting seventh. Kyle Kendrick took the mound for the Phillies while
Jake Westbrook started for the Cardinals. Both of these pitchers are similar.
They both like to induce groundballs and are not strikeout pitchers. Which
Phillies team would show up in this game?
The first inning started off fast with both teams scoring.
The Cardinals got on the board first on a Matt Carpenter solo homerun that
barely cleared the fence.
As the Phillies were batting, Rollins led off the game with
a triple into the deepest part of the ballpark in left centerfield. As John
Mayberry Jr. drew a walk, Chase Utley hit a sharp groundball into right field
that scored Rollins and the game was tied at one. Ryan Howard was next to bat
and he launched the ball into centerfield which scored Mayberry Jr. and the
Phillies took the lead 2-1. When Michael Young flew out to left field, Utley
forgot how many outs there were, and he got doubled off at second base.
The Cardinals had their chances in the next few innings, but
Kendrick made some solid pitches and made the Cardinals fail to execute with
runners in scoring position.
In the sixth inning, the Cardinals tied the game up at two.
Craig singled into centerfield to start the inning. As Molina struck out to
record the first out, Matt Adams blooped a double into left field. Freese got
an RBI groundout to third base which scored Craig and that made the game tied.
The Cardinals had a chance to take the lead on a Pete Kozma single into right,
but as much as Howard has a bad history with throwing the ball to second base,
Adams couldn’t score from third. Westbrook tried to bunt his way on to first to
get an infield single to score the go-ahead run, but that failed miserably as
Westbrook was thrown out at first to end the inning.
The Phillies had the bases loaded in their half of the sixth
inning, but Revere grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Antonio Bastardo replaced Kendrick in the seventh inning. He
made Jay hit a groundball to second base, but Utley threw a wild throw to first
base, and Jay took second on the overthrow. As Carpenter moved Jay over to
third base on a sacrifice bunt, Beltran took a walk. Chad Durbin relieved
Bastardo and faced Craig. Craig hit a hard groundball that just went over
Rollins’ glove. Jon Jay scored and the Cardinals regained the lead at 3-2.
Westbrook started the seventh inning and allowed a single to
Erik Kratz. When Laynce Nix got announced as the pinch hitter for Durbin’s spot
in the batting order, Westbrook was taken out of the game and Fernando Salas
was called on to relieve him. Nix hit a game-tying double into left centerfield
as Kratz hustled all the way from first to score. Randy Choate relieved Salas
as he was called upon to record the final out of the inning.
Mike Adams relieved Durbin in the eighth inning and had an
easy inning. However, the eighth inning was not so kind to the Cardinals.
Mitchell Boggs replaced Choate and he allowed two singles to Michael Young and
Domonic Brown. Revere, who has had bad luck at the plate, hit what seemed to be
the game-winning single as he laced one up the middle. Young scored and the
Phillies took the lead 4-3. The big blow in this game was when Kratz blasted a
three run homerun into left field right after Revere’s RBI single. This made
the game 7-3, which was the final too. Marc Rzepczynski relieved Boggs and
recorded the final two outs of the eighth inning.
Jonathan Papelbon came out in the ninth inning even though
it was not a save situation. He made this game over easily.
Overall, Kendrick has been a solid contributor. He’s been
doing what the team needs him to do. He pitched six innings, allowed eight
hits, two runs, walked one, and struck out six batters. Westbrook was good, but
not great. He threw six-plus innings, allowed seven hits, three runs, four
walks, and struck out four batters. Boggs woke up the Phillies bats as he
pitched 1/3 of an innings, allowed four hits, and four runs. Even though Durbin
allowed a run in the seventh inning, the bullpen as a whole pitched well for
the Phillies. Even more surprising is the bench for the Phillies. Nix and Kevin
Frandsen have seen their share of contributions early in the year.
Can the Phillies keep
these kinds of games up? Sound off and stay tuned tonight as the Phillies host
the Pittsburgh Pirates. A.J. Burnett will start for the Pirates as minor league
call-up Jonathan Pettibone makes his major league debut for the Phillies
filling in for John Lannan, who is currently on the 15-day disabled list.
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