Game 41 Recap: Cards drop series opener 6-2 to Phillies

With all due apologies for the brevity, he’s an abbreviated recap of tonight’s game:

It was a pitcher’s duel for a long time. Luke Weaver was the Cardinals’ duelist, with Vince Velasquez on the other side. Both pitchers were excellent: Weaver’s final line was 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K; Velasquez finished with 6.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 K. The difference was that a Philadelphia batter got a homer against Weaver (Carlos Santana, a solo shot) and no Cardinal did that against Velasquez.

Then it became... less of a pitcher’s duel. Jordan Hicks came into a 1-0 game in the 8th, underwent a sudden jolt of BABIP normalization, and left having failed to retire any of the four batters he faced (three hits and a fielder’s choice that didn’t result in an out). Sam Tuivailala relieved him, and allowed a RBI double to Odubel Herrera, and when the dust cleared it was 4-0.

The Cardinals actually had a decent shot at a rally, though — they loaded the bases in the bottom of the 8th with nobody out. But Marcell Ozuna and Dexter Fowler took turns not getting the ball out of the infield, resulting in just one run scored with two out. Jedd Gyorko singled in a run to make it 4-2; a lefty came in to pitch to Matt Carpenter (who was the go-ahead run); Mike Matheny countered with Harrison Bader; Bader flew out to end the rally.

Pedro Florimon, of all people, hit a two-run insurance homer off John Brebbia in the 9th. The insurance was unnecessary. The Phillies won, 6-2.

The Cardinals will try to get ‘em tomorrow, tomorrow. Game time is... evening. Jake Arrieta, who still hasn’t realized just how bad his beard is and almost definitely chews with his mouth open, will match up against the quietly-more-than-adequate Michael Wacha. I happen to know that a contingent of VEB and VEB-adjacent people will be in attendance; if you yell loudly enough at your television you should be able to get their attention. Pretty sure the new models of TVs work like that.