Sunday match report: Phillies 2, Cardinals 0
By Rob Rains
It was another day of frustration for the Cardinals’ offense on Sunday, but for at least one day the reason seemed obvious.
None of the cardinal thugs could solve Aaron Nola.
Nola allowed only two hits in the shutout, hit 10 and did not take a hit. The last pitcher to do so against the Cardinals was Jacob deGrom of the Mets on May 21, 2015.
“This guy was really, really good,” manager Mike Shildt said of Nola. “He put on a really good game – nothing in the middle, off-speed for strikes, fastball with life at the top of the zone, put it where he wanted. I don’t know if he missed a seat all day. Top of the cap.
“You don’t see many full games these days and he more than deserves his.”
The only hits for the Cardinals were a leadoff single from Yadier Molina in the second and a leadoff single from Paul DeJong in the eighth. Their only other base runner was Tommy Edman, who encountered a mistake by Nola and dropped a throw when he scored the first hit, with two outs in the third.
None of these runners got past the first base.
None of the thugs were more frustrated than Matt Carpenter, who dropped out in all three of his bats.
“We don’t see a lot of full games this era and the guy goes out and rolls nine innings like he did. He’s obviously doing something really good,” said Carpenter. “He made it really difficult for our hits and we don’t have much going on. You have to do him credit. “
This is how the game collapsed on Sunday:
On the plate: Nola retired 13 batters in a row, while Edman made the mistake in the third and DeJong’s single in the eighth. Only one of those batters hit the ball from the infield … Edman’s best streak of career came after 12 games. It was the longest run of a Cardinals lead-off hit since Carpenter scored 14 consecutive games in 2016. Edman extended his series without a strike to 23 consecutive record appearances. Nine of Nola’s 10 strikes met the Cardinals’ fifth through ninth goals. In addition to Carpenter’s three strikers, DeJong and Justin Williams each struck twice.
On the hill: The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in a long home game for Bryce Harper ahead of John Gant. Run game until Harper’s double resulted in Alec Bohm’s victim flight in the fifth… Andrew Miller, Giovanny Gallegos and Tyler Webb covered the last three innings, with Harper’s only hit before Gallegos in the seventh allowing a single.
Key statistics: In their last 39 innings, which cover more than four games, the Cardinals have not scored a goal in 36 of those innings. They scored two innings on Saturday and one inning on Friday night and were suspended in two of their last four games.
Worthless: In his eight games against the Cardinals since signing as a free agent with the Phillies, Harper has made the 14-of-28 race with seven doubles, three homers and 14 RBIs. The last time the Cardinals were banned from Philadelphia were two or fewer when Steve Carlton admitted only one goal in a 7-0 win on April 26, 1980 … The Cardinals looked up their streak of at least one home game in Philadelphia 17 games, the longest run ever by a visiting team in Philadelphia.
Next: The Cardinals traveled by train from Philadelphia to Washington, where they will open a three-game series against the Nationals with Jack Flaherty on the hill on Monday night.
Follow Rob Rains on Twitter @RobRains
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