It looked like Cole Hamels was on his way to another tough luck loss when Ben Revere dropped a two-out, two-run double down the left-field line in the seventh. The lone run allowed by Hamels was no longer a deficit.
The Phillies added two more runs, one in the seventh and another in the ninth, to back another strong start by Hamels for his first win of the season in a 4-1 win over the Cardinals on Monday night at Busch Stadium.
Hamels got off to a strong start, striking out four in the first two innings. He was on his way to a clean third when he ran into trouble.
Three straight hits helped plate a run as Matt Holliday capped the two-out rally with an RBI single.
Hamels was excellent from there, allowing one hit and one walk in his final four innings pitched. He finished after seven innings allowing one run on four hits with four walks and nine strikeouts.
The Phillies managed to rally back in the top of the seventh. The inning opened with back-to-back hits by Cody Asche and Carlos Ruiz, putting runners on the corners with no outs for Freddy Galvis. Galvis grounded into a fielder's choice as Asche was caught between third and home.
After Hamels bunted the runners into scoring position, Revere blooped a ball just barely inside the left-field line that hopped into the stands for a ground-rule double to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead. Revere would scored on an RBI single by Odubel Herrera to extend the lead to two.
Ken Giles worked a scoreless eighth inning, picking up two strikeouts, to preserve the Phillies lead.
In the ninth, the Phillies added an insurance run. Ruiz led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Galvis and scored on an RBI groundout by Darin Ruf.
Jonathan Papelbon came on for the ninth and recorded the save despite allowed a pair of two-out baserunners and bringing the tying run to the plate. The save moved Papelbon to within one of tying the Phillies all-time record.
Ruiz broke out of a hitting slump, going 4-for-4. Herrera was 3-for-4 on the night as well.
The Phillies improved to 8-12 on the season with the win. They continue the four-game series with the Cardinals on Tuesday night. First pitch is set for 8:15 p.m.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PHI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 0 |
| STL | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
Kevin Durso is a contributing writer and editorial assistant for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
