ST. LOUIS — Having been shut out in their last two games, and four times in the last week, the Cardinals did a couple of things different in Sunday’s game against the Phillies.
For starters, they put their leadoff on base four times, and they also managed to get hits with less than two outs. Both of those differences added up to them scoring just enough runs, four, to get the victory at Busch Stadium.
A leadoff single by Nolan Arenado led to their first run, on a single by Lars Nootbaar, in the second. A leadoff single by Austin Romine led to the tying run in the seventh and in the eighth, a leadoff single by Albert Pujols put what turned out to be the winning run on base.
In their two consecutive shutouts against the Phillies, all eight of their hits came with two outs and they put their leadoff hitter on base in just two of 18 innings, both times on walks.
Here is how the game broke down:
At the plate: Pujols had a three-hit day, including his 684th career home run that brought the Cardinals within 3-2 in the sixth. It was his second three-hit game of the series, the other coming on April 12. He had only three hits in his previous 25 at-bats. The homer was his fifth of the season and first since he hit two on May 22. It was the first home run by the Cardinals in a span of 202 at-bats … The Cardinals tied the game in the seventh when Tommy Edman’s double moved Romine to third and he scored on a groundout by Nolan Gorman … The winning run scored when the Cardinals loaded the bases with one out and pinch-runner Dylan Carlson, who was a late scratch from the starting lineup because of a sore right knee, scored on Edman’s sacrifice fly. He originally was called out at the plate but the call was overturned after being reviewed.
On the mound: The Phillies scored their three runs off starter Andre Pallante, who pitched into the sixth inning …Johan Oviedo worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings, pitching around a double and single in the seventh … Jordan Hicks worked a perfect eighth before Ryan Helsley set the Phillies down in order in the ninth.
Key stat: The Cardinals have not scored more than one run in an inning in their last 58 innings and have not scored more than two runs in an inning since hitting the four consecutive home runs in the first inning on July 2.
Worth noting: The Cardinals got two more players named to the NL team for the All-Star Game with the announcement that Arenado and Helsley had been named to the team. They join Paul Goldschmidt and Pujols … It’s still possible that Edman and/or Miles Mikolas could be named to the squad as a replacement for a player who opts out of the selection.
Looking ahead: The four-game series against the Phillies will conclude on Monday night with Mikolas the scheduled starter.