Phillies Offensive in Cards Series Finale
By Matt Veasey
4. 33. Final. 0. 6
The Philadelphia Phillies were shutout by the host Saint Louis Cardinals in the finale of a four game series at Busch Stadium on Thursday afternoon.
The offensive woes of the Phillies lineup during the 2016 season are well documented. The club has played 29 games, and in 18 of those they have scored three or fewer runs.
On Thursday afternoon that lineup reached a new season low as Saint Louis Cardinals lefty Jamie Garcia shut them out in a 4-0 victory that gave the hosts wins in three of the series’ four games. He didn’t allow a hit until Cameron Rupp‘s leadoff single in the 5th inning.
Garcia allowed just two hits, striking out five and walking none in a masterful performance that saw him throw 61 strikes over his 82 pitches. He was followed to the mound by veteran righties Jonathan Broxton and Trevor Rosenthal, who each tossed a shutout frame.
“You look at the batting averages, and they’re not the greatest,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said per MLB.com contributor Joe Harris. “I think these guys, they don’t look like they’re settled in. I’d like them to be after a month, but they’re just not hitting the way they’re capable of hitting.”
I would argue that point with Mackanin, and win. All you need to do is take an honest look at the career performances of the majority of this Phillies lineup to see that they are performing pretty much exactly as you should expect. But let’s not beat up the skipper, who has to know that he is doing the best he can with a largely placeholder lineup.
Phillies starting pitcher Jerad Eickhoff struggled for much of the day, but trailed by just a 1-0 score for most of the game. Brandon Moss crushed a 1st inning homer off the facing of the upper deck in right field to give the Cardinals that early lead.
That 1-0 score held into the bottom of the 7th, when the Cards busted through for three runs. It began as many rallies do, with a free pass. Eickhoff walked Yadier Molina to lead off the frame, then balked him over to 2nd base. When Jeremy Hazelbaker followed with a single, Molina moved over to 3rd base, and that was it for Eickhoff.
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Over six official innings pitched, Eickhoff allowed six hits while striking out and walking two. He would ultimately be charged with three earned runs. On in relief came lefty Elvis Araujo, who promptly walked pinch-hitter Jedd Gyorko to load the bases.
A sacrifice fly from Ruben Tejada made it a 2-0 game, and Araujo then intentionally walked Wednesday night’s walkoff hero, Matt Holliday, to again load the bases. When Matt Carpenter popped out, Araujo had a chance to get the Phillies out of trouble with minimal damage.
Unfortunately for the Phillies, Stephen Piscotty was coming to the plate. The Cardinals right fielder is one of the top hitters in the NL with runners in scoring position, and he came through again for Saint Louis, drilling a two-run ground rule double down the left field line to break the game open at 4-0.
With the win, the Cardinals pushed back above the .500 mark on the season at 15-14, while the loss dropped the Phillies to 16-13. At the same point a year ago the club was buried already at 10-19, so they have improved. But if they want to stay at or above that break-even mark, the Phillies are going to have to find much more consistent offense.