Phillies at Cardinals
THE STORY: The St. Louis Cardinals didn't give up when
they were 10 1/2 games out of a postseason berth in late August - so
they certainly weren't going to wave the white towel after falling into a
four-run deficit on Sunday. Tony La Russa's club came through with key
hits and used a brilliant performance by its bullpen to gain a split of
their National League Division Series with the Philadelphia Phillies.
The series now shifts to the Gateway City with the wild-card Cardinals
brimming with confidence and the NL East champion Phillies on their
heels. St. Louis lefthander Jaime Garcia will take the mound against
southpaw Cole Hamels in Game 3 on Tuesday.
TV: 5:07 p.m. ET, TBS
PITCHING MATCHUP: Phillies LH Cole Hamels (14-9, 2.79 ERA) vs. Cardinals LH Jaime Garcia (13-7, 3.56 ERA)
Hamels will vie for his first win in nearly a month when he takes the
mound on Tuesday. The 2008 World Series MVP has fared well on the road,
posting a 7-3 mark away from Citizens Bank Park this season. Hamels is
just 2-3 in his career versus the Cardinals, dropping his lone outing on
Sept. 18. He permitted four runs on seven hits in seven innings in a
5-0 loss.
Garcia won three in a row to finish the season with a flourish. The
25-year-old Mexican has posted a 2-1 career mark against the Phillies,
but settled for a pair of no-decisions this season. He yielded just one
run in both respective outings on May 17 and Sept. 16 - with both
contests eventually won by the Cardinals.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS: La Russa used an in-game
television interview to fire up his club. With Philadelphia leading 4-0,
the Cardinals skipper publicly complained about the strike zone - a
move which will likely result in a slap on the wrist by the league but
also slapped some sense into the Cardinals. Albert Pujols, who is
nursing a sore right heel, delivered the final blow with a run-scoring
single in the seventh to give his team a 5-4 victory. Pujols has
struggled versus Hamels - going 4-for-23 in his career - but launched a
mammoth first-inning homer in their last outing on Sept. 18. Ryan
Theriot, who had two hits on Sunday, is 7-for-21 in his career versus
Hamels.
ABOUT THE PHILLIES: Ryan Howard is having a
significantly better postseason in 2011 than he had in 2010. The slugger
ripped a two-run single in Game 2 to increase his total to six RBIs in
the NLDS. Last year, Howard did not have an RBI in nine postseason
games. Jimmy Rollins went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two runs
scored on Sunday. He is now 5-for-8 with five runs scored in the series.
Both Howard and Rollins have struggled against Garcia, going 2-for-11
and 1-for-11, respectively.
FINAL PITCH: While stepping up defensively, Placido
Polanco and Carlos Ruiz have stepped back at the plate. The pair is a
combined 0-for-16 in the series with five strikeouts. Both players are
0-for-8, with Polanco fanning three times.