Phillies vs. Cardinals: Defense Saves, Almost Kills Cards

With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Carlos Ruiz hit a hard grounder up the middle. A runner on first in a 1-0 game would have been just delightful as far as the Phillies were concerned, but Rafael Furcal made a superlative, sprawling dive to get the ball, and quickly sprang up to throw out Ruiz, who runs like Carlos Ruiz.

Then Chris Carpenter struck out Ross Gload to end the inning, except Yadier Molina couldn't find the dropped third strike, and when he picked the all up, he threw wide to first base. Carpenter got the strike out; Molina got the error.

And before things could settle down, Jimmy Rollins lined a pitch off Carpenter that went right to Nick Punto. If it had caromed a few degrees in either direction, the Phillies might still be batting. As is, it's still a 1-0 game entering the ninth, and Roy Halladay has been replaced by Ryan Madson.