Phillies Hang On To Beat Cardinals 3-2, Take Series Lead

Of course, Pujols does seem to understand why the Cardinals played when they did, and he’s likely right about MLB and its Turner broadcast partners trying to put the league’s premier draw on in primetime. But he’s also right that there’s nothing he can do about it.

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La Russa might have La Russa’d himself into a hole in Game 3. With a runner on second and two outs, the Cardinals manager walked Carlos Ruiz intentionally to get to Ben Francisco.

Maybe La Russa wanted to face Francisco, and maybe he wanted to make sure that Cole Hamels left the game. The only thing we do know is that the decision was a bit of a dirigible accident. Francisco pinch-hit for Hamels and drove a hanging sinker over the left-center wall to break the scoreless tie and give the Phillies a 3-0 lead in Game 3.

It’s a pitchers’ duel in St. Louis, with Cole Hamels and Jamie Garcia trading scoreless frames. If there’s a difference between the two pitchers, though, it’s with efficiency. Hamels, as Rob notes, is up to 56 pitches entering the fourth. Garcia is through four having thrown only 39 pitches, 31 of which have been strikes.

A lot has been made of Ryan Howard’s platoon splits, and rightfully so. But it sure doesn’t help his cause when the left-handed pitcher can do this with a sinker:

Still, Hamels hasn’t been as sharp as he might like, and Phillies phans phears probably haven’t been completely assuaged after a September that saw Hamels post a 3.79 ERA and give up nine home runs in six starts.

No real cause for concern, perhaps, but Hamels has already thrown 56 pitches, and Charlie Manuel might already be considering his seventh-inning bullpen options.

Jamie Garcia struck out Ryan Howard in the second inning of Game 3, bringing up what could be the Phichillies’ heel: left-handed pitching. The difference isn’t super-dramatic, but there’s a difference, as you’d expect:

Ryan Howard is neutered by left-handed pitching, and while John Mayberry, Jr. helps negate that disadvantage, it’s a pretty big deal to lose four at-bats of the good Howard. Chase Utley doesn’t have any platoon splits at all, so that’s a non-factor.