ST. LOUIS — The battle took nine pitches.
Bryce Harper fouled off four of them. He held off on a cutter below the zone, the ninth pitch of the at-bat, to draw the third consecutive walk from Caleb Ferguson. The Cardinals reliever had loaded the bases without recording an out in the eighth inning.
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With cleanup hitter Luis Arraez and his vaunted batting average lying in wait in the on-deck circle, the Phillies could sense blood in the water.
But Arraez, in the midst of his longest hitless streak of the season, chased a fastball inside from Ryne Stanek. He grounded it right to the awaiting Alec Burleson at first base, who combined with Cardinals catcher Pedro Pagés to turn a deflating double play. Arraez’s slump stretched to 0-for-15.
And suddenly, the momentum completely shifted. J.T. Realmuto flew out two pitches later to end the inning, and the Phillies had nothing to show for it. The missed opportunity loomed large in their 2-0 loss to the Cardinals on Tuesday night.
The infields on both sides were kept busy. The eighth-inning double play was one of four turned by the Cardinals, while the Phillies turned three. That included a key moment in the second inning, the only time the Cardinals had really threatened against starter Cristopher Sánchez.
Sánchez allowed back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners. Blaze Jordan hit a chopper to Bryson Stott at third base. Stott charged in, fielded it, and threw across his body to second base. It was in time to catch a speedy Masyn Winn sliding into second, and Arraez’s throw to first ended the inning.
It was one of several strong plays from Stott, who has taken immediately to his new position after moving over from second base.
Sánchez seemed to get sharper the deeper he got into the game, retiring the final seven Cardinals he faced. Interim manager Don Mattingly opted to lift Sánchez after six innings and 89 pitches, bringing in Alex McFarlane for the seventh to face the heart of the Cardinals’ order.
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McFarlane, who was recalled earlier on Tuesday, recorded his first major league strikeout after blowing a 100.5 mph fastball by Burleson. But the Cardinals capitalized on a walk, stolen base, and a single to finally break the stalemate against the rookie reliever, taking a 1-0 lead.
They doubled their advantage in the eighth when Everson Pereira hit a first-pitch homer off Tim Mayza.
The Phillies went down in order against Riley O’Brien in the ninth. They left eight runners on base and finished 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
In trading for Luis Arraez at the deadline, the Phillies displaced three-fourths of their infield but left Trea Turner at shortstop. To help make sense of it all, pennant-winning former shortstop and current radio broadcaster Kevin Stocker joined Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast. Watch here.
You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Previous episodes: Bobby Dickerson | Jim Bowden | John Middleton | Ryan Howard | Dan Baker | Ricky Bottalico | Preston Mattingly | Caleb Cotham | Larry Bowa | Joe Maddon
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