The St. Louis Cardinals put on a pitching clinic and needed just two runs to take down the National League East leading Philadelphia Phillies 2-0 on Friday night at Busch Stadium.
St. Louis scored both runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. Thomas Saggese singled to start the inning, Yohel Pozo followed that with his first double of the season which scored Saggese. A single by Lars Nootbaar advanced Pozo to third, Nootbaar later advanced to second on a wild pitch, and then after back to back strikeouts to Jordan Walker and Brendan Donovan, Phillies starter Aaron Nola issued back to back walks to Nolan Arenado and Alec Burleson, the walk to Burleson bringing home Nootbaar
The game also featured an interesting defensive formation by the Cardinals. Masyn Winn made a nifty play in the first inning when he charged a high chopper, avoided the second-base bag and threw onto first to beat speedy Phillies shortstop Trea Turner. However, Winn left the game in the second inning with lower back spasms, causing the Cards to get creative with their lineup because super-utility defender Brendan Donovan started the game as the designated hitter.
The Cardinals moved Saggese from second base to shortstop. To avoid having to relinquish the DH, they somewhat shockingly moved catcher Pedro Pagés from behind the plate to second base -- a position he had never played at the big league level. Pozo, who was promoted earlier in the week when Iván Herrera went on the injured list with a bone bruise in his left knee, entered as the Cards catcher.
Later in the night, the game truly took on an old-school National League feel as St. Louis had to pinch-hit for pitcher Andre Pallante after they had lost the designated hitter because of their zany substitutions.
Cardinals starting pitcher Andre Pallante was unhittable in the game, allowing just two hits in seven innings against the Phillies, striking out four batters and walking two, before he was pulled in the eighth inning for Phil Maton. Ryan Helsley allowed the only other Philadelphia hit in the ninth, recording his second save of the season. Pozo (3-4, 1 RBI) and Saggese (2-4) led the way hitting for the Cardinals in the win.
The Cardinals and Phillies go again tomorrow at Busch Stadium. Miles Mikolas starts for St. Louis against Cristopher Sánchez for Philadelphia. First pitch is at 1:15, pregame will be at 1:05 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
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