Sep 18, 2007, 3:59 GMT
St. Louis, MO - Aaron Rowand and Ryan Howard each hit a pair of home runs as the Philadelphia Phillies held off a furious rally from the St. Louis Cardinals to take the opener of a three-game set at Busch Stadium, 13-11.
Rowand finished 3-for-5 with three RBI, including a key solo home run in the top of the ninth to provide insurance after the Cardinals rallied from an 11-0 deficit with three in the sixth, six in the seventh, and two in the eighth. Howard was 2-for-4 with five RBI, including a grand slam, and also scored three runs for the Phillies, who have won five straight.
The Phillies moved within 2 1/2 games of the New York Mets in the NL East after the Mets' 12-4 loss to Washington. Philadelphia remains 1 1/2 games behind San Diego in the wild card race after the Padres beat Pittsburgh, 3-0.
Kyle Kendrick (9-4) received the win despite the bullpen implosion. The right-hander went six innings, allowing three earned runs on seven hits. Six Philadelphia relievers combined to surrender eight runs on eight hits and - barely - preserve the win for Kendrick.
Brad Thompson (6-6) started for St. Louis and allowed four runs - three earned - on four hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Skip Schumaker went 3-for-5 with a pair of runs scored, and Albert Pujols drove in three for St. Louis, which has dropped 10 of its last 11.
Howard put the Phillies on top in the top of the second by leading off with an opposite-field home run.
Howard got things started again in the fourth with a walk, and Rowand gave the Phils a 3-0 edge with a blast to left-center. After Thompson struck out Greg Dobbs, he issued a one-out walk to Jayson Werth and was lifted for Andy Cavasos.
Cavasos induced a groundball to short from Carlos Ruiz, but Brendan Ryan booted it, allowing Werth to move to third, and Kendrick followed with a sacrifice bunt to move Ruiz into scoring position. Rollins then made the error hurt with a three-run homer to right-center, his 28th, for a 6-0 advantage. The inning ended with Jim Edmonds making a spectacular catch against the fence on a ball hit deep to left-center by Chase Utley.
Werth added another run in the seventh with a two-out RBI single scoring Pat Burrell, who had worked a leadoff walk.
In the sixth, Kendrick walked, Rollins singled, and after a flyout by Utley, Burrell worked a one-out walk. Howard then smoked a line-drive grand slam to left - his 40th home run of the year - to extend the lead to 11-0.
The Cardinals got on the board in the bottom half of the inning when Pujols followed a Schumaker double with an RBI single. Ryan Ludwick then slammed two- run homer to left to make it an 11-3 game.
Shane Victorino's pinch-hit sac fly in the seventh brought home Werth for a 12-3 count.
Clay Condrey came on for Kendrick in the bottom of the seventh and allowed the first five hitters to reach base. Kelly Stinnett singled, Brian Barden reached on an error by Rollins, pinch-hitter Russell Branyan singled, and Aaron Miles then plated two with a single through the middle. Schumaker hit a ground ball single to load the bases with no one out, and Condrey's night was done.
Jose Mesa came on and promptly surrendered a missile off the bat of Pujols, a double that brought home a pair of runs to make it 12-7. Ludwick grounded out to second to score Schumaker, and Rick Ankiel lofted a sac fly to score Pujols, trimming the lead to three runs. Scott Spiezio grounded to first to finally end the six-run frame.
Antonio Alfonseca began the eighth by inducing a flyout from Stinnett, but then allowed a single to Barden and walk to Branyan. Kane Davis came on in relief, getting Miles to fly to center, moving Barden to third. With Schumaker hitting, Barden came home on a passed ball by Ruiz, and Schumaker then scored Branyan with a looping single to left-center. After Pujols walked, Ludwick flew out to deep center as Rowand tumbled backward while hauling it in to end the inning.
Rowand led off the ninth by smashing his second home run of the night - his 26th of the season - to give the Phils some breathing room at 13-11.
Fabio Castro struck out the only batter he faced in the ninth, and Francisco Rosario then recorded the final two outs despite allowing a ground ball single and a walk.
Game Notes
Fourteen different pitchers were used between the two teams, yet both starters received decisions...Eight different players had multi-hit games...Philadelphia scored 13 of the 17 runners that reached base; St. Louis 11 of 18...Prior to the game, the Cardinals announced outfielder Chris Duncan will have surgery to repair a sports hernia on Thursday, effectively ending his season.
© 2007 The Sports Network
Game Notes.
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