Hernandez, Hellickson lead Phillies past Cardinals
PHILADELPHIA -- Cesar Hernandez went 3-for-4, Jeremy Hellickson gave Philadelphia strong seven innings and the Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-2 at Citizens Bank Park on Saturday night.
Hellickson (10-7), the lone veteran arm in Philadelphia's rotation, became the first Phillies starter to complete seven innings since July 26 -- a span of 21 games.
The right-hander allowed two runs and seven hits with eight strikeouts and one walk.
St. Louis scored both runs on a homer by Jeremy Hazelbaker to make it 2-2 in the third inning.
Cardinals rookie Luke Weaver (0-1) endured a rough first inning in his second career start as Hernandez led off with a home run -- his fourth of the season -- to right field. After recording two outs, Weaver yielded a double to Maikel Franco off the glove of a diving Hazelbaker and Cameron Rupp followed with a soft liner to left field for an RBI single.
Weaver, who singled ahead of Hazelbaker's home run, settled in during the next three innings before the Phillies mustered a go-ahead run in the fifth.
Hernandez led off the frame with a double. Two outs later with Hernandez at third base, Franco smashed a single to left field.
Weaver was finished after five innings and 96 pitches. The 22-year-old allowed three runs on nine hits with six strikeouts.
Aaron Altherr extended Philadelphia's lead to 4-2 with a leadoff home run in the sixth inning off Jonathan Broxton.
Hector Neris allowed a hit and struck out three in the eighth before Jeanmar Gomez worked the ninth to earn his 33rd save.
Gomez allowed a one-out single to Jhonny Peralta before getting Jedd Gyorko to ground into a game-ending double play. Gyorko hit a game-tying two-run homer off Gomez on Friday in the ninth inning of St. Louis' 4-3 victory in 11 innings.
NOTES: St. Louis on Friday became the first National League team and fifth in major league history to hit two or more home runs in nine straight games. ... Philadelphia 2B Cesar Hernandez (right foot), the team's best hitter since July 1, returned to the leadoff spot after being out of the starting lineup two consecutive games after fouling a ball off his foot. ... Cardinals 1B Brandon Moss was a late scratch Friday night with flu-like symptoms, but the versatile slugger returned to the starting lineup Saturday. ... The series concludes Sunday afternoon with St. Louis RHP Mike Leake (8-9, 4.78 ERA) facing off with RHP Vince Velasquez (8-5, 4.14) in the finale. ... Both teams are off Monday.