| | MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL Game played July 15, 2007 At Citizens Bank Park, the St. Louis Cardinals salvaged the final game of a three-game set in Philadelphia, slugging six home runs en route to giving the Philadelphia Phillies the dubious distinction of being the first major American sports franchise to register their 10,000th loss, 10-2. Starter Adam Wainwright (8-7) threw seven shutout innings, allowing only six hits, all singles, and two walks, while getting five strikeouts. St. Louis gave Wainwright all the offense he would need in the second and third innings. Scott Rolen drilled a leadoff double to center, and Juan Encarnacion sacrificed him to third. Adam Kennedy then doubled to center, getting Rolen in and the Cardinals on the board, 1-0. A Yadier Molina groundout moved Kennedy to third, and Wainwright singled to center, scoring Kennedy and taking a 2-0 lead. In the third, Skip Schumaker led off with a double to right and eventually scored on a Rolen groundout, making the lead 3-0. The Cardinals simply supplemented the lead throughout the rest of the game, as the Phillies’ offense, which had produced 23 runs in the first two games of the series, was dominated nearly all game by Wainwright, leaving the bases loaded in the third and getting nothing after loading them again with one out in the sixth. In the top of the fifth, Schumaker stretched a bloop to left into another leadoff double, and Albert Pujols homered to left for the third straight game after a 22-game drought, making it 5-0. Chris Duncan homered on the next pitch from Phils starter Adam Eaton, taking a 6-0 lead. Then, in the Cardinals seventh, Pujols hit a leadoff shot off reliever Brian Sanches, seizing a 7-0 lead. With two out, Encarnacion and Kennedy hit back-to-back jacks, Kennedy’s first as a Cardinal, to make the score 9-0, Cardinals. Later, in the eighth, pinch hitter Ryan Ludwick hit a leadoff homer to deep center, the sixth of the game and the most St. Louis has hit in a game all season, taking a 10-0 lead. Philadelphia finally got on the board in the ninth against Cardinals reliever Andy Cavazos. Michael Bourn hit a leadoff homer to right, the first of his career. Chris Coste reached on an error on Kennedy, and eventually came around on a Chase Utley double to the wall in center, closing the scorebook at 10-2. Offensively for the Cardinals’ 15-hit attack, Pujols was three-for-five, and Schumaker, Rolen, and Kennedy each had two bingles. On the hill, Troy Percival worked an inning out of the bullpen, striking out two and yielding one hit, and Cavazos worked the final frame. For Philadelphia, only Utley recorded two hits, and on the mound, Eaton (8-6), now 1-4 lifetime against St. Louis, pitched four innings, giving up six runs on ten hits and one walk, striking out one. Clay Condrey, Jose Mesa, Sanches, and Mike Zagurski worked the final five innings for the Phillies, allowing five hits collectively, with Sanches surrendering four runs. St. Louis, now 41-47, continues its road trip to Florida for three, with Braden Looper pitching the opener Monday night. The 46-45 Phillies start a West Coast swing against the Dodgers, with Jamie Moyer working Monday night. The Cardinals are in third place in the NL Central, 8.5 games behind Milwaukee and five back of the Cubs, while Philadelphia mans third in the East, five games behind the Mets and 3.5 back of Atlanta. Video credit- ESPN |
