Final: Cardinals 10, Phillies 1
WP: John Lackey (6-4, 3.41 ERA) LP: Aaron Harang (4-9, 3.41 ERA)
Philadelphia, PA - In what was a pitcher's duel until the top of the sixth inning, quickly turned into a game that was well in the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals (45-23).
Right hander Aaron Harang suffered his sixth consecutive losing decision, and his fourth in the month of June, as the Philadelphia Phillies (23-47) were routed at Citizens Bank Park.
Phillies' starters are now 0-16 over the past 25 games, dating back to May 23, with a 5.97 ERA.
Scoring got underway in tonight's game in the bottom of the second inning. After first baseman Ryan Howard struck out and right fielder Domonic Brown grounded out, left fielder Cody Asche went yard for the third time of the season and 18th time of his career to give the Phillies an early 1-0 lead. This turned out to be their only scored run of the night.
The Cardinals would not answer back until the top of the fourth inning. Shortstop Jhonny Peralta led-off the frame with a line-drive single to left field. Two batters later, six-time All-Star catcher Yadier Molina hit his 12th double of the season to bring home the tying run.
With the game evened at one heading into the top of the sixth, that soon would change. Right fielder Jason Heyward and Molina singled back-to-back against Harang. Then, left fielder Randal Grichuk worked a 2-1 count before hitting a three-run blast to center field to give St. Louis a 4-1 advantage.
Harang was pulled after six innings of work. He surrendered four earned runs over seven hits and a walk to raise his season ERA from 3.24 before tonight, to 3.41 after.
As Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer notes, Harang has struggled significantly as of late:
Aaron Harang's trade value diminishing before our eyes. 1st 11 starts: 2.02 ERA, .215 BA, 4 HR Last 4 starts: 10.65 ERA, .272 BA, 6 HR
— Matt Breen (@matt_breen) June 21, 2015
An insurance run was added by Mike Matheny's Cardinals in the top of the seventh off of left handed Phillies' reliever Elvis Araujo. With two outs and Kolten Wong on second base, Heyward singled to center field to bring home his team's fifth run of the game.
Right hander Seth Rosin made his Phillies debut in the bottom of the eighth inning. His contract was selected by the Phillies earlier today, after yesterday's starter, Phillippe Aumont, was designated for assignment.
The first inning of the 26-year-old rookie's debut in red pinstripes was surely one to forget. He surrendered four runs, all earned, on five hits and a walk. First baseman Xavier Scruggs and Peralta hit RBI singles, Wong hit a sacrifice fly RBI, and Heyward hit a RBI double all against the Fargo, North Dakota-native that inning.
In the ninth inning, Rosin's struggles continued. The first batter he faced, Grichuk, took him deep for his second homer of the night, third of the series, and sixth overall for the season. This put St. Louis up by nine runs, which was much more than what was needed to hand Philadelphia their 19th home loss of the season.
Having lost the first two of a three-game set with the Cardinals, the Phillies now have a 4-16-3 record in 23 total series this season. They will look to avoid being swept for the seventh time out of 23 series tomorrow afternoon, in the series finale.
Starting Pitchers
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| John Lackey | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3.41 |
| Aaron Harang | 6 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3.41 |
- Lackey: W; 100 pitches, 72 strikes; 8 groundouts, 2 flyouts; 27 faced batters
- Harang: L; 100 pitches, 64 strikes; 7 groundouts, 3 flyouts; 27 faced batters
Out of the 'Pen
Cardinals
- Randy Choate (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 2.70 ERA
- Trevor Rosenthal (9th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 0.57 ERA
Phillies
- Elvis Araujo (7th): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 3.07 ERA
- Seth Rosin (8th): 2.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 1 HR, 22.50 ERA
At the Plate:
Cardinals
- Jhonny Peralta: 3-5, R, RBI, .312 AVG
- Jason Heyward: 3-5, R, 2B, 2 RBI, .271 AVG
- Randal Grichuk: 3-5, 3 R, 2B, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .294 AVG
Phillies
- Maikel Franco: 2-3, BB, .282 AVG
- Cody Asche: 1-4, R, HR, RBI, .227 AVG
- Freddy Galvis: 2-4, .262 AVG
What's Next
- Sunday, June 21, 2015: vs. St. Louis Cardinals, 1:35 pm
- RHP Michael Wacha (9-2, 2.48 ERA) vs. LHP Adam Morgan (MLB Debut)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, WTTM 1680 (Sp.)
Matt Rappa (@mattrappa) is managing editor of Philliedelphia.com.
