Phillies Opposition Roadblock: St. Louis Cardinals

The Phillies are coming off a split in Atlanta, but now have to take on a struggling, yet tough St. Louis Cardinals team.

It was the tale of two teams this week in Atlanta. There was the team that showed up for the first two games and then the offense that could not find a groove in the next two games.

The Braves lit up the Phillies on Wednesday night, and R.A. Dickey did what he had done to them for years as a part of the Mets on Thursday evening.

On an unrelated note, it was kind of the Braves to give the Phils a “Getaway Day” afternoon game yesterday, wasn’t it?…

Matt Kemp was only 3-15 in the series. He walked once and struck out five times. Two of his hits came in Atlanta’s win last evening. He had a double that plated one of their three runs. In the Phillies two wins, Kemp was 1-8 with three strikeouts. And in the 14-1 destruction on Wednesday, he was hitless, going 0-3 with a walk.

Phils Grade: B

The two most dominating pitching performances by the Braves came during the last two games from Mike Foltynewicz and R.A. Dickey. The two pitchers combined for 14 innings pitched, allowing seven hits, one earned run, two walks (both Foltynewicz), and 12 strikeouts.

Even with those stellar performances, the loss the Braves suffered from with Jaime Garcia was still a solid start.

Garcia tossed 7.2 innings in which the Phils scored three runs (all earned), while he walked none and struck out four. He did an excellent job and gave him team a chance to win.

Phils Grade: B