It felt like playoff baseball as the Cardinals and Phillies began a crucial 3-game series in Philadelphia. Hunter Dobbins took the mound for St. Louis while Jesus Luzardo started for the Phillies. It would be a classic back-and-forth affair, but Philadelphia would have the last laugh Friday night.
It’s been nearly a week since Joshua Baez made his historic Major League debut in Chicago and Friday night he reminded the world while he will be a force to be reckoned with. In the bottom of the 1st inning,
Jordan Walker reached on a two-out error when Stotts made an errant throw which allowed Jordan to reach second. He’d be able to walk home from there as Joshua Baez jumped on the first pitch he saw and punished the 98 mph four-seam fastball 360 feet into the right field stands giving the Cardinals an early 2-0 lead.
I’m not the St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach, but here’s a pro tip: DO NOT WALK ANYONE. Hunter Dobbins did not follow this advice in the bottom of the 2nd inning as he handed out a leadoff walk to Stotts. He would score when the next batter Brandon Marsh doubled cutting the Cardinals lead in half at 2-1. That lead would vanish with the next batter as J.T. Realmuto also doubled tying the score at 2-2. It’s to Dobbins credit that he didn’t allow any more runs after the Phillies successfully moved Realmuto over on a sacrifice bunt, he got a ground out and a fly out to end the Phillies 2nd inning.
The Phillies would take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Luis Arráez hit a one-out double. He scored on the next play when Alec Bohm hit a single, but Dobbins would get out of the inning when Stott grounded into a double play that became a double play when Oli Marmol challenged the safe call at first and it was overturned.
If you tried to imagine a nightmare scenario for the St. Louis Cardinals after Andre Pallante was delegated to the injured list Friday, it’s what happened in the bottom of the 5th inning Friday night when Hunter Dobbins had to be taken out of the game for an undisclosed injury after he threw one pitch to Trea Turner. The TV crew would later reveal the Cardinals said it was “right forearm tightness”. Manager Oli Marmol brought in Caleb Ferguson to take over mid-game duties for the Cardinals. After Ferguson walked Trea Turner, he got Bryce Turner to roll over an 80 mph slurve into a rally-killing double play. After a flyout to deep right-center from Arraez, the Phillies 5th inning was done.
If you’re wondering “hey, where are all the Cardinals offensive highlights?”, I was wondering the same thing as I watched Jesus Luzardo set down a dozen Cardinals-in-a-row. Well, that streak was shattered in the top of the 6th inning when Ivan Herrera reached on an infield single and then Jordan Walker gave the Philly crowd PTSD of the Home Run Derby when he absolutely destroyed a 97-mph four-seam fastball and sent it sailing 392 feet into the loving hands of the Phillies fans for a 2-run homer giving the Cardinals a 4-3 lead.
It didn’t result in a run, but an 11-pitch at-bat by José Fermín in the top of the 6th inning helped drive the pitch count of Luzardo up to 111 and get him out of the game. You won’t see it on a scorecard, but lengthy at-bats like the one from Fermín helped the Cardinals get into the Phillies bullpen.
Caleb Ferguson did a respectable job in his emergency fill-in roll for the ailing Hunter Dobbins, but he got into a bit of trouble in the bottom of the 6th inning when he gave up a leadoff single to Alec Bohm. He then struck out Stott looking, but gave up a single to Marsh after that giving the Phillies runners at first and second with just one out. That inspired manager Oli Marmol to send for Gordon Graceffo in the bullpen. He entered the game to face J.T. Realmuto. His second pitch was laced into left field for a RBI double tying the game 4-4 and giving the Phillies a chance to take the lead with two runners in scoring position and just one out. Crawford made good on that opportunity as he lifted a deep sacrifice fly to center scoring Marsh and giving Philadelphia a 5-4 lead. That’s all the Phillies would get after Trea Turner flew out to end the inning.
The Cardinals mounted a threat in the top of the 7th inning when Pedro Pagés led off with a single into left field. Nathan Church was brought into the game to pinch-run for Pedro and stole a base to get into scoring position with no outs. JJ Wetherholt smartly took a strike when he saw Church get the huge jump off of first, but unwisely took a called third strike for the first out. Ivan Herrera unfortunately struck out on a sweeper from Phillies reliever Kerkering which would have been ball four. Kerkering generously threw a wild pitch to the backstop to move Church up to third anyway with Jordan Walker at the plate. All Jordan Walker could manage this time around was a gentle pop-out to Bohm in foul territory behind first to end the Cardinals 7th inning.
St. Louis would have another opportunity in the top of the 8th inning when Alec Burleson came off the bench to pinch-hit for Joshua Baez. He quickly singled into right field. Burleson then advanced to second on a passed ball from Kerkering. Alec would move over to third base with just one out when Blaze Jordan grounded out. José Fermín unfortunately popped out unable to bring Burleson in for the second out. Everson Pereira was next up and he was nailed on the hand by a pitch from Kerkering giving the Cardinals runners at first and third with Bryan Torres coming up. Phillies manager Don Mattingly pulled Kerkering out of the game and brought in Brooks Raley to face Torres. Bryan came through like a champ when he slapped an 80 mph sweeper into center for a RBI game-tying single to make it 5-5. Jimmy Crooks tried to replicate the Torres slapper into center, but hit his too hard and flied out to center to end the top half of the 8th.
It was up to Justin Bruihl to keep the game tied in the bottom of the 8th. He got Stott out for the first out on a ground out to second, but the next batter Bryan De La Cruz hit a single into the right field gap that would have been a double against just about any other right fielder not named Jordan Walker who rifled a throw into second base which made De La Cruz rethink going to second. That would be a small, but important moment as Bruihl got Realmuto to ground into a force out at second that almost became a double play for the second out. If Walker had not held De La Cruz to a single, this would have played out differently. JJ Wetherholt ended the inning with a Winn-like play at short as he slid to grab a ball hit into the hole and then threw the ball while still on the ground to second for an inning-ending force out.
The Phillies brought in their closer to shut down the Cardinals in the top of the 9th inning. Jhoan Duran struck out Wetherhol and Herrera, but he did not strike out Jordan Walker. Jordan shattered his bat as the big half of it followed the ground ball to Turner at short and Walker beat the throw to first for a two-out single. That brought up Alec Burleson in a key spot. Alec did not make good contact and his dribbler up the middle ended up in an all-too-convenient spot right over second base where it was grabbed for the force out.
The Cardinals chose Luis Gastelum to hold the Phillies at bay in the bottom of the 9th inning. He would be dueling with the top of the Phillies lineup starting with Kyle Schwarber who he struck out with a wicked full-count changeup. Trea Turner was next. He struck out Turner out on three off-speed pitches that made Trea look helpless. All he needed to do was get Bryce Harper out to send the game to extra innings. He was successful getting Harper out on a weak groundball to second. To extras, we go!
The Phillies brought in Alex McFarlane to face the Cardinals in the top of the 10th. The free runner for St. Louis was Alec Burleson and Blaze Jordan was the first man up. He didn’t advance Burleson with a weak pop-out to short center. José Fermín came through like a champ with a clutch single into left field which scored Burleson who looked like he was running with his pants on fire giving the Cardinals a 6-5 lead. Everson Pereira seemed determined to lay down a sacrifice bunt even with a 2-strike count, but ended up pulling back the last bunt attempt and grounded into an inning-ending double play.
It was up to Luis Gastelum to nail the Phillies down in the bottom of the 10th. Marmol brought in Masyn Winn to short for his defense. The Phillies had Bryce Harper as the free runner to start their 10th. Luis Arraez was first up for Philadelphia. He ripped a two-strike single into right as the Phillies held up Harper at third fearing Walker’s arm. Edmundo Sosa was brought in to pinch-run for Arraez as he represented the potential winning run. He faced Alec Bohm next who broke all of our collective Cardinals hearts as he blasted a ball to the wall in deep center which scored Harper and Sosa giving the Phillies a game-winning triple with the final score ending up 7-6.
The St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies will tangle again Saturday night as it’s Quinn Mathews starting for the Cardinals in place of Andre Pallante who was sent to the injured list. The Phillies will send RHP Andrew Painter to the mound. First pitch is scheduled for 5:05pm central time with the game broadcast available via Cardinals.tv.
