3 good moments in Cardinals series loss to the Phillies

St. Louis Cardinals fans expecting fireworks against the Philadelphia Phillies were met with a dud.

The St. Louis Cardinals took one of three in their three-game set against the Philadelphia Phillies. The Cardinals lost Friday 5-3. The Cardinals won Saturday 7-6. And on Sunday night baseball, the Cardinals lost 4-0.

The Cardinals were sluggish. It was obvious the jolt provided by the call-ups from AAA Memphis is diminishing. The Cardinals need to have their regulars in healthy versions of Jack Flaherty, Tyler O’Neill, Harrison Bader, Yadier Molina, and Paul DeJong.

It’s provided help but the Cardinals need their players back as soon as possible. If the players can not return then trades will have to be made. The current version of this team doesn’t seem built for a huge, championship run.

On Friday, Paul Goldschmidt was 2-for-4 with two runs. Nolan Arenado was 4-for-4 with one run and three RBI. The team was 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position with six runners left on base.

Miles Mikolas earned his sixth loss of the season. He threw 5.1 innings, giving up six hits, four runs, two walks, and two earned runs including a home run to Darick Hall. He did strike out one batter. Zack Thompson pitched an inning, giving up one walk. Johan Oviedo threw two-thirds of an inning, giving up a hit, a strike out, and one home run to Rhys Hoskins. He did induce four swings and misses. Packy Naughton pitched one inning, giving up a walk but striking out one.

On Saturday, the Cardinals were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position while they left nine runners on base. Ivan Herrera and Brendan Donovan were each 0-for-4. Lars Nootbaar was 0-for-2.

Matthew Liberatore threw 2.2 innings, giving up seven hits, a walk, and five earned runs. He did strike out two and induced seven swings and misses. Zack Thompson threw two-thirds of an inning, giving up a hit. Packy Naughton pitched one-third of an inning, giving up one hit, a walk, and one earned run while striking out one. Junior Fernandez got a blown save in 1.2 innings of work. He gave up a hit, a walk, and struck out one.

Jordan Hicks and Ryan Helsley’s portion of the outing will be discussed below.

On Sunday, the Cardinals were absolutely shut out by the Phillies. Adam Wainwright got his sixth loss of the season. He pitched 5.2 innings, giving up eight hits, one walk, and four earned runs, including home runs to Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto. He did strike out five batters while inducing nine swings and misses.

Packy Naughton pitched an inning. James Naile pitched 1.1 innings, giving up a hit and striking two batters, and inducing three swings and misses.

The Cardinals traveled to Atlanta after the Sunday game to take on the Braves for a four-game set. Here’s hoping for some fireworks in Atlanta.

The series against the Phillies did include some really great moments for the Cardinals. Let’s take a look at what the team did well.