Sloppy Second Inning Sinks Cardinals in Philly

Carlos Martinez got the start on Friday for the Cardinals against Zach Eflin for the Phillies, with everyone wearing 42 in celebration of Jackie Robinson Day. Both pitchers were sharp, with the blatant exception of Martinez’s second inning, where he and the defense came unglued to allow a six-run frame. Martinez, however, would settle back in and retire the final eleven batters he faced. On the other side, the Cards’ hitters were stumped by Eflin, only managing two runs off him before his exit in the eighth inning.

1st Inning

Tommy Edman led off for the Cardinals, hitting the first pitch of the game back up the middle for a single. Paul Goldschmidt struck out on a 2-2 fastball, and Nolan Arenado grounded into a double play to retire St. Louis.

Andrew McCutchen started off the bottom of the inning with a groundout to Paul DeJong at shortstop. Rhys Hoskins followed with a four-pitch strikeout, waving at an off-speed pitch from Martinez. Bryce Harper launched a ball 109 mph to right-center, and Edman ran it down to make the catch against the wall to end the inning. The fly ball would have been a home run in nineteen other parks, according to Statcast.

2nd Inning

Yadier Molina began the second by grounding out for out number one. Matt Carpenter worked the count full and flew out deep to left field. DeJong hit a soft grounder down the third baseline, but Alec Bohm couldn’t come up with it and DeJong was awarded a hit. Dylan Carlson flew out to center to bring the Cardinals’ half of the inning to a close.

The second inning is where things went south for the Cards. J.T. Realmuto struck out swinging through a fastball to lead things off for the Phillies. Bohm then hit a ground ball to DeJong. The ball got stuck in his glove and Bohm reached first on what was ruled a hit. Didi Gregorius hit a ground ball into the shift that glanced off of Carpenter’s glove for a hit. Bohm advanced to third on the play, giving the Phillies runners at the corners with one out. Jean Segura then flew a ball to center field. Carlson lost the ball, and it dropped in front of him, scoring Bohm for a 1-0 lead for Philadelphia. Gregorius advanced to third and Segura took second. The Cardinals then walked Mickey Moniak intentionally to bring up the pitcher Eflin with the bases loaded and one out. Martinez’s second pitch came inside and hit Eflin, scoring a run to bring the score to 2-0. McCutchen followed with a single to right, scoring two more runs and extending the Phillies lead to 4-0. Hoskins walked to load the bases again for Harper, who fell behind 0-2 before ripping a double to right-center, knocking in two more runs for a 6-0 Philadelphia lead.

Martinez hit Realmuto to load the bases for the third time in the inning for the Phillies. Bohm struck out swinging for the second out. Didi Gregorius popped out to DeJong in shallow center, bringing the long inning to an end.

3rd Inning

Justin Williams led off the inning for the Cards and flew out to left. Martinez then struck out on three pitches and Edman grounded out to send the Cardinals down in order.

Segura began the third for Philadelphia and popped out to Williams in left. Moniak followed with a groundout, bringing up Eflin, who struck out looking to end the frame.

4th Inning

Goldschmidt struck out for the second time to start the fourth. Arenado lined out to third on a 2-1 pitch and Yadi struck out swinging through a fastball for the third out.

McCutchen, leading off in the bottom of the fourth, grounded out to shortstop and Hoskins followed with a deep flyout to Edman on the right field line. Harper closed the inning, hitting another ball 108 mph to the warning track, where Carlson caught it to retire the side. .

5th Inning

Carpenter grounded out to second to lead off the fifth and DeJong followed with a shot to center that was caught at the warning track. Carlson flew out to Harper, the tenth Cardinal in a row retired by Eflin.

Realmuto grounded out to Arenado to start the bottom of the fifth. Bohm followed, and Martinez blew a 95 mph fastball by him for strike three. Gregorius popped up a 1-0 pitch for the third out, and Martinez finished the evening having retired eleven consecutive Phillies hitters.

6th Inning

Williams grounded the first pitch he saw to short for the first out of the sixth. Scott Hurst, making his MLB debut, pinch hit for Martinez and flew out to center. Edman then dropped a bloop single to shallow center for his second hit of the game. Goldschmidt fell behind 0-2 but knocked a base hit into left, bringing up Arenado with two on and two outs. Arenado struck out swinging, stranding two and sending the game to the bottom of the sixth.

Kodi Whitley replaced Martinez to pitch the sixth and faced Segura, who worked a nine-pitch at bat before lining a ball to the right-center gap for a leadoff double. Moniak struck out, fouling a ball into Molina’s glove for the first out. Eflin grounded out to Carpenter, and Segura advanced to third, bringing in McCutchen with a runner on third with two down. McCutchen flew a fastball out to Carlson for the final out of the inning, leaving Segura on the basepaths.

7th Inning

Yadi kicked off the seventh with a groundout on a 1-2 fastball from Eflin. Carpenter then flew out to center for out number two. DeJong then tipped a breaking ball into Realmuto’s mitt, retiring the Cardinals’ side in order.

Whitley returned for another inning of work in the seventh and got Hoskins to fly out to right on a 3-2 offspeed pitch. Harper followed and walked on four pitches. Realmuto ripped a fastball up in the zone down the third baseline for a two-run shot, extending the Phillies’ lead to 8-0.

Bohm struck out for the third time on the night on the ninth pitch of his at bat. At this point, the Cardinals made a double-switch, bringing in Andrew Miller to pitch and Edmundo Sosa to play second, while moving the pitcher spot to fifth in the order. Gregorius then flew out DeJong in shallow center to end the inning.

8th Inning

Carlson started off the eighth for St. Louis, working a full count before ripping a grounder just inside the first baseline for a double. Williams followed with his first home run, a two-run shot to left-center on a 2-2 changeup, to close the deficit to 8-2.

Philadelphia then brought in Connor Brogdon to pitch for Eflin. Sosa struck out swinging at a changeup and Edman grounded out back to Brogdon for the second out. Goldschmidt hit a hard grounder to third on the first pitch for out number three.

Miller returned to pitch the eighth for the Cardinals. Segura started the bottom of the inning with a dribbler to Miller’s right. Miller tried to make the off-balance throw and Goldschmidt had to come off the bag to keep the ball in the infield. Moniak followed with a deep flyout to right field. Roman Quinn pinch hit for Brogdon and drew a five-pitch walk, putting runners on first and second with one out. McCutchen hit a ground ball off third base, scoring Segura to extend the lead to 9-2 and advancing Quinn to third. Hoskins grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning.

9th Inning

Brandon Kintzler was called on to close out the game for the Phillies. Roman Quinn stayed in to play center and Moniak moved to left field. Arenado popped out to third, Yadi grounded out to third, and John Nogowski, pinch hitting for Miller, grounded out to short to end the game.

The Cardinals dropped to 6-7 after the loss and the Phillies improved to 7-6. The series continues tomorrow at 3:05 CT. The Cardinals’ Kwang Hyun Kim is slated to get the start against the Phillies’ Matt Moore.

Quick Notes

The Cardinals optioned Lane Thomas to the minor league training facility on Thursday and called up Scott Hurst to take his place on the MLB roster. To make room for Hurst on the 40-man roster, Dakota Hudson was moved to the 60-day DL, since he’s still recovering from Tommy John surgery and is unlikely to return until the end of this season at the earliest.

Final Pitching Lines

Cardinals

Martinez (L, 0-3): 5 IP / 5 H / 6 R / 6 ER / 2 BB / 5 K / 0 HR

Whitley: 1.2 IP / 2 H / 2 R / 2 ER / 1 BB / 2 K / 1 HR

Miller: 1.1 IP / 2 H / 1 R / 1 ER / 1 BB / 0 K / 0 HR

Phillies

Eflin (W, 1-0): 7 IP / 6 H / 2 R / 2 ER / 0 BB / 6 K / 1 HR

Brogdon: 1 IP / 0 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 0 BB / 1 K / 0 HR

Kintzler: 1 IP / 0 H / 0 R / 0 ER / 0 BB / 0 K / 0 HR