PHILDELPHIA: It wasn’t a pleasant start for the Phillies or Roy Halladay.
A leadoff single by Rafael Furcal followed 2 batters later by a four-pitch walk to Albert Pujols put a pair of runners on for Lance Berkman. Berkman saw just a single pitch that at-bat; a mistake by Halladay that he deposited into the right field seats staking the Cardinals and starter Kyle Lohse to an early 3-0 lead.
That seemed to be all Lohse would need. He cruised through the first 3 innings retiring all 9 hitters he faced rather easily. Everything changed starting in the 4th. Chase Utley lined a double to right field with 1 out for the Phillies first hit of the evening. Following a Hunter Pence strikeout and a Howard walk, Lohse looked like he was going to wriggle his way out of trouble when Shane Victorino popped a ball down the third baseline that was misplayed by David Freese giving the Phillies’ centerfielder new life.
Giving a playoff team an extra out is never a smart option. Victorino promptly lined a single to left field scoring Utley cutting the Cardinals lead down to two at 3-1.
After a perfect 5th, many wondered if the Phillies would get anymore off of Lohse. That was until the 6th when everything started to unravel.
Howard’s monster home run reached the upper deck off of Citizens Bank Park. It was his first playoff homer and RBIs since 2009. His 2010 0-fer for the postseason had been washed away with one swing. The Phillies led 4-3 and looked to pile it on.
And pile it on they did. Victorino followed with a single, the Phillies’ fourth hit of the inning. The home crowd was going ballistic and the Cardinals’ starter had lost his composure. All that was needed was a capper and Raul Ibanez was happy to oblige.
Ibanez launched the 2-0 offering from Lohse into the right field bleachers. Successfully, launching complete pandemonium and forcing Tony LaRussa to go to his bullpen.
Once the Cardinals’ bullpen took over, the Phillies’ bats kept with the onslaught. They tallied 3 more runs in the 7th thanks to RBIs from Ryan Howard, Victorino, and Ibanez. In the 8th, Hunter Pence joined chipped in with his first two career postseason RBIs pulling the lead to 11-3.
While Lohse and the Cardinals’ bullpen were collapsing, Halladay was just starting to impress. After allowing a leadoff single to Skip Schumaker in the 2nd, the Philadelphia ace was unhittable in the most literal sense. Halladay retired the last last 21 batters he faced not allowing a batter to reach from the 3rd inning on. He finished the day tallying 8 innings allowing just 3 runs on 3 hits.
The Cardinals finally got to the Phillies’ bullpen in the 9th when Halladay was pulled for rookie Michael Stutes. Stutes struggled allowing 4 of the 5 hitters he faced to reach and had to be pulled after just getting 1 out. Phillies’ closer Ryan Madson entered and allowed a two-run double that glanced off of the glove of defensive replacement John Mayberry Jr. in left field and the Cardinals pulled to within 11-6.
However, that is as close as they would get. Madson struck out Jon Jay and pinch hitter Matt Holliday sealing the opening game victory for the Phillies.
With the win, Halladay improve his career NLDS record to 2-0 with a sparkling 1.53 era. Lohse’s record drops to 0-3 in his postseason career.
Notes: 7 of the Phillies 9 starters had a hit…The meat of the Phillies order, Howard-Pence-Victorino-Ibanez, combined to go 8-for16 with 5 runs scored. They knocked in all 11 runs for the Phillies…Utley clubbed a pair of doubles off the warning track in right field; he finished with 3 runs scored and hits on the evening…Rolllins scored 3 runs while chipping in 2 hits of his own.
See the full box score here.
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