By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
The St. Louis Cardinals outhit the Philadelphia Phillies, but were unable to push runs across against the National League East leaders as they fell 4-1 at Busch Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Phillies got on the board first in the first inning. After Miles Mikolas retired Bryson Stott and Trea Turner to start the inning, Bryce Harper singled and Kyle Schwarber walked, before Nick Castellanos doubled to drive both in runners, a hit that was deflected off Victor Scott II to Lars Nootbaar in the outfield. Max Kepler flied out to right field to end the inning.
After Philadelphia added one more run in the fifth inning, an RBI double from Stott scoring Brandon Marsh, the Cardinals found their way onto the scoreboard in the sixth inning. Luken Baker hit his second double of the season after Nootbaar struck out to open the inning, and Baker came home to score on an RBI single from Willson Contreras.
The Phillies final run of the game was in the seventh inning. Alec Bohm hit a leadoff single and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt from Marsh, and then to third with a sacrifice fly by Stott. Bohm scored on a single by Turner.
Mikolas took the loss, falling to 0-2 on the season, pitching five innings and giving up three runs on three hits, walking two and striking out six. Contreras led the way hitting going 2-4 with an RBI. St. Louis hit into five double plays in the loss. It was the first time the Cardinals have hit into that many in a game since April 27, 2011.
The Cardinals did make a roster move prior to Saturday's game. Masyn Winn, whose back spasmed following a stellar defensive play in the first inning of Friday’s 2-0 win over the Phillies, was placed on the 10-day injured list. The move wasn’t made until two and a half hours before first pitch of Saturday's game after the shortstop showed up to Busch Stadium and reported little progress in the tightness of his back. Lefty slugger Nolan Gorman, who strained his right hamstring on April 1, was activated off the 10-day IL to replace Winn on the active roster.
The Cardinals and Phillies wrap up their three game series tomorrow. Matthew Liberatore starts for St. Louis against Zack Wheeler for Philadelphia. First pitch is at 1:15pm, pregame coverage begins at 1:05 on KY 102 (102.5 FM).
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.