PHILADELPHIA — Friday’s Game Report: Phillies 5, Cardinals 3
It was a night to remember for Nolan Arenado. That wasn’t the case for the rest of the Cardinals.
Arenado became the first Cardinal in 17 years to hit for the cycle on Friday night, but the rest of the lineup combined for fewer hits, three, than Arenado had by himself in the loss to the Phillies in Philadelphia.
Arenado tripled in the first inning, homered in the third inning, doubled in the sixth and singled in the eighth, the first Cardinal to hit for the cycle since Mark Grudzielanek in 2005. Arenado also hit for the cycle in 2017 when he was with the Rockies.
The only negative for Arenado on the night was that his fielding error in the fifth inning opened the way to a three-run inning for the Phillies that wiped out a 3-0 Cardinals lead.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: The only other hits for the Cardinals were a double and single from Paul Goldschmidt and a single by Juan Yepez … Arenado drove in all three of the Cardinals runs … They also had three walks, two from Brendan Donovan, but were just 1-of-8 with runners in scoring position … They combined for a season-high 15 strikeouts, three by Dylan Carlson.
On the mound: Miles Mikolas allowed four of the Phillies runs, two of which were unearned because of the Arenado error. Mikolas also allowed a home run in the sixth that broke the 3-3 tie … A home run off Johan Oviedo in the seventh gave the Phillies an insurance run.
Worth noting: The Cardinals have now had at least one triple in five consecutive games … Nolan Gorman, after making a pinch-hit appearance Friday night, is expected to be back in the lineup on Saturday after recovering from a sore hand when he was hit by a pitch earlier this week … Jordan Hicks could be activated from the injured list before Saturday’s game … Steven Matz is scheduled to make his second rehab start for Memphis on Saturday night.
Looking ahead: Matthew Liberatore will get the start against Kyle Gibson in the second game of the series on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals will have to make a roster move to add Liberatore to the active roster.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains