The Cardinals erupted for five hits and four runs in Wednesday's fifth inning and throttled Zack Wheeler and the Phillies 7-1 at Busch Stadium. The Cards have won their last three series and have captured seven of the past 10 games.
Frustrated losers on Monday when they had no one to blame but themselves in the first game of a critical series that could hold Wild Card implications, the Cardinals hit an inflection point and needed to muster a strong response – even with them about to face Phillies aces Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler.
Respond, the young and feisty Cardinals certainly did, winning in dramatic fashion on Tuesday and throttling the veteran Wheeler in a four-run fifth inning that featured plenty of loud contact at steamy Busch Stadium.
The Cardinals got RBI doubles from Alec Burleson and Jordan Walker and an RBI rocket from Ivan Herrera to pull away from the Phillies and win 7-1 – a victory that gave them a much-needed series win over a Philadelphia team that they are trying to track down for a playoff slot.
After losing their first six series after the break for the MLB All-Star Game, the Cards have rallied to win three straight series over the Yankees, Rockies and Phillies. They have won seven of their last 10 games.
"I think we're going to just putting our best foot forward, playing baseball how we want to play it and keep stringing together good at bats and pitching well and see how it turns out in the end," Burleson said to Cardinals TV. "This is a really fun group, we've got a lot of talent and we're going to continue to keep
Burleson had two hits and three RBI, while Nathan Church drove in two more with a double and a sacrifice fly. Standout rookie JJ Wetherholt had a single, two walks and scored twice.
St. Louis fell 6-5 in Game 1 of the series after committing two fielding errors, walking seven Philly hitters and stranding the potential tying and go-ahead runs in the eighth inning. They showed their steely resolve by getting key moments from Masyn Winn (RBI hit in 0-0 game), Ryan Stanek (bases loaded escape) and Everson Pereira (homer-robbing catch, 430-foot homer) in a 2-0 victory.
Locked in a 1-1 game through 4 ½ innings on Wednesday, Cesar Prieto broke an 0-for-27 skid to open the season with a leadoff single to open the fifth inning. Following a JJ Wetherholt single that put runners at the corners, Herrera was ready for a 96.1 mph 3-2 pitch from Wheeler and drilled a 105.1 mph laser into right-center. Burleson, one of the best bad-ball hitters in MLB, then laced a letter-high fastball to the wall in center field to score Wetherholt and Herrera. Not to be outdone, Jordan Walker followed with his 24th double of the season to make it a 5-1 game.
On a hot, steamy day, the Cardinals made the 36-year-old Wheeler face eight batters and throw 35 pitches in a knockout fifth inning.
The Cardinals will get three more shots at the Phillies next weekend in Philadelphia. That stop will come at the end of a three-city, 11-game road trip. The Cards will play three at Wrigley Field against the rival Cubs starting on Friday and then head to Cincinnati for a rare five-game series in four days. The Cards will play a doubleheader in Cincinnati on Monday (12:40 p.m. CT and 5:40 p.m. CT) – the first game being a makeup from a washout back on May 22 and the second game being the regularly schedule game. The Cardinals will get to add a 26th player to the roster, likely a pitcher to weather the doubleheader.
Then, comes the trip to Philadelphia for three more showdowns. The Phillies will appear in MLB’s “Field of Dreams” Game in Iowa against the Twins on Thursday night before finishing that series in Minnesota.
Leahy stays hot, pushes streak to nine games
Kyle Leahy, who has already blown past his career-most 88 innings pitched last season as a reliever, has successfully made the transition to the starting rotation. The 29-year-old right-hander struggled getting through lineups a third time – a common problem when pitchers transition from the bullpen to a starting role – early in the season, but he used his stellar evaluation skills to make the adjustment.
He came into Wednesday riding a streak of eight straight starts with two or fewer earned runs allowed – four of them in which he also pitched at least six innings.
On Wednesday, he surrendered just one run to the power-packed Phillies lineup. He got a double play to end the second inning, and he pitched around third-inning traffic by striking out Kyle Scwarber and getting Trea Turner to ground out. In the fourth inning, with a run in and the potential go-ahead run on third, Leahy used a changeup to strike out Brandon Marsh looking and a slider to fan JT Realmuto to end the threat.
Leahy improved to 9-4 and lowered his ERA to 3.38 over 23 starts. Over his past two starts, he has 14 strikeouts and no walks in 10 innings of work.
