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Phillies Inch Closer to Wild Card Spot After Victory Over Cardinals
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The Philadelphia Phillies took the first game on Friday evening of the three-game weekend series against the St. Louis Cardinals. The 5-3 victory featured timely hitting, passable defense, and solid pitching from the bullpen.
It also inched them closer to a wild card spot, as they gained a game on the Cardinals who currently sit in the final postseason spot.
Bailey Falter, who has performed exceedingly well in the minors this season, gave the Phillies 4.0 innings on Friday evening. His gave up three earned runs, walked one, and struck out five.
It wasn't an earth shattering start for the lefty, but it was just enough to give Philadelphia a chance to compete against what is a very formidable Cardinals lineup.
Following Falter's exit from the game, the bullpen did not allow a single run the remainder of the game. Nick Nelson, José Alvarado, Andrew Bellatti, Seranthony Domínguez, and Brad Hand all threw well to help close out the game.
The Phillies offense, and stop us if we have said this before, got out to a slow start. However, they were able to tie things up at three runs in the fifth inning, sparked by a Mickey Moniak double to score Garrett Stubbs. Matt Vierling, who had singled, moved to third on the double and was brought home by Kyle Schwarber's ground out. Rhys Hoskins then collected an RBI on a sac fly that brought Moniak home to make it a brand new ballgame.
The fifth inning exemplified timely and situational hitting by Philadelphia's offense, something that has largely eluded them this season.
Darick Hall and Rhys Hoskins then added insurance runs by hitting home runs in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.
The Phillies now sit 1.5 games back from a wild card spot and will have the opportunity to gain more ground on the Cardinals this weekend, who currently occupy the final postseason spot. Kyle Gibson and Zack Wheeler will take the mound for the final two games as they try to give Philadelphia a shot at completing the series victory.
Saturday's game is slated to start at 4:05 p.m. EST. St. Louis will have rookie Matthew Liberatore take the mound to start.
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