Game Recap:
Joe Blanton made his return, and was solid through six, but a five run seventh inning for the Cardinals was enough to move them past the Phillies tonight.
What went right?
Chase Utley went 1-3 with a home run, his eighth of the year.
Jayson Werth went 2-4 with a home run and a double.
Brad Lidge pitched the ninth inning, giving up a hit while striking out two.
What went wrong?
Placido Polanco was 0-3.
Ryan Howard went 0-4 with three strikeouts.
Joe Blanton made his first start of the year, and got hit with the loss. He allowed four runs on ten hits in 6.2 innings. He walked a batter and struck out four.
Nelson Figueroa pitched 1.1 innings, allowing two runs on three hits. He walked a batter and didn't strike anyone out.
Game Analysis:
With Joe Blanton coming back to the Phillies for the first time this season, it was expected that he would make his typical start, but the Phils weren't able to help him with much. While Blanton pitched well for his first start of the year, he gave up ten hits and four runs in six innings. Those aren't bad numbers, but against the St. Louis Cardinals, they weren't enough tonight. Even with Albert Pujols going 1-5 from the plate, the Phillies didn't have enough on offense or on the mound tonight as they lost to the best team in the National League right now.
For the first six innings, everything seemed to be going Joe Blanton's way. Sure, he had given up a few hits, but he'd managed to get out of jams the same way he had always been able to with the Phillies. By the time the seventh inning came around, Blanton hadn't given up a run since the second inning, and the Phillies had tied the game on a sacrifice fly from Juan Castro. Then, the inning began. Nick Stavinoha started things off with a leadoff pinch hit home run, but Blanton recovered by retiring two of the next three batters. Then, he allowed a single to Albert Pujols, and his night was done. Nelson Figueroa couldn't stop the bleeding, and the Phils would eventually fall by three runs.
These are the kind of games that Joe Blanton can pitch himself into. For six innings, he got out of trouble, but he couldn't finish things in the seventh, and the inning snowballed. To be fair, not many people can finish an inning against Albert Pujols, but when it comes to that, a pitcher has to be able to shut down anyone at a certain time. That didn't happen tonight, and the Phillies took the loss. Aside from the seventh inning, Blanton looked good on the mound. He had confidence and was able to shut down the Cardinals when he needed to, which is something the rest of the pitching staff, save for Roy Halladay, is going to have to do in this series. The Cardinals are the best team in the National League right now, and the Phillies need to be able to send a message that they're not going away just yet. Their pitching is still suspect, and without Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Madson, they're missing two key links, especially with Madson needing surgery on his broken toe, but they can get through this. The team is too good to let all of this get to them.
Tomorrow night, Cole Hamels (2-2, 5.28 ERA) takes on Adam Wainwright (4-1, 2.13 ERA). Hopefully, the game ends like the two over the weekend against the Mets did.
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