No matter the strength of their pitching, the nimbleness of their defense or even the liveliness of their overall play, the Cardinals fell to a baseball given in the final game of a redefining home stand.
Even a team playing its best is vulnerable to a dominant pitcher at his best.
Philadelphia's Cole Hamels set the tone early by striking out the first five batters he faced Thursday and not allowing a Cardinal to reach second base in eight shutout innings. Hamels combined with four relievers to hold the Cardinals to one hit in 11 innings, and Placido Polanco homered in the 11th to help the Phillies win 2-0 at Busch Stadium.
Philadelphia halted the Cardinals' winning streak at eight games and kept them from sweeping two four-game series against winning teams for the first time since 1963. Hamels' ability to handcuff the Cardinals' offense also meant starter Adam Wainwright did not win for the first time in 11 starts at home this season despite pushing his personal scoreless streak to 25 innings.
"One game. We lost in extra innings," Wainwright said at the end of the team's 7-1 home stand after the All-Star break. "You're probably going to lose one game to the Philadelphia Phillies every now and then. It's been an impressive start (to the second half). We've been playing great baseball. I think we played great baseball (Thursday). We just ran into a tough pitcher."
After a first half of the season that saw erratic fundamentals and a fluctuating offense, the Cardinals used the home stand to retake first place in their division, reanimate their lineup and rediscover that "great baseball."
They can even quantify it.
In the player's lounge there is a chart that tracks some of the fundamental things the Cardinals want to do on the field and recognizes players who are doing them. Taking an extra base, for example, is noted. Failing to run through first base on an out merits a red dot.
The chart is similar to one the Cardinals used in 2001 to, in part, stress intelligent base running. Coaches dusted it off at the start of this home stand. It has become a conversation piece, several players said. Albert Pujols joked that he got a red dot Wednesday for being picked off second base.
"It gets a rise out of some guys but it's a good reminder," infielder Skip Schumaker said.
Manager Tony La Russa explained when asked: "Just because it's up there, it's not a magic bullet. ... I think it just was said after the break that we needed to pick up the level of play."
Said backup catcher Jason LaRue: "The most important thing is we're playing like we did last year. We're playing the game right. We're running hard to first base. We're breaking up double plays. Where sometimes before maybe we just relied on our talent and we knew that we were good ... I just think now we're playing with a whole lot more energy and doing the small things correctly."
Despite the loss, the Cardinals' pitching and defense pushed into extra innings a game Hamels dictated.
Left fielder Matt Holliday broke up Hamels' perfect start with a single to left field in the fifth, but a shoestring catch by center fielder Shane Victorino doubled-up Holliday off first base. That allowed Hamels to get 23 outs from the first 23 batters he faced, and he finished allowing just the one base runner against seven strikeouts.
"He's throwing 95 (mph), 96 (mph) and his changeup is a lot more effective when he's throwing with that kind of velocity," Holliday said. "He mixes in his cutter and he's tough. When he's pitching at that kind of velocity, he's as good as there is."
Wainwright's innings weren't as clean as Hamels' but they were effective. Wainwright dropped his ERA to 1.94 this season with six scoreless innings. Laborious early work forced him from the game after 96 pitches. The Phillies got at least one runner into scoring position against Wainwright three times in the first four innings. But the Phillies went 0 for six against Wainwright in those situations.
At home, Wainwright has held opponents to one hit in 35 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
"It's one thing to get out of a jam every now and then, and it's another to get out of a jam with stuff and know exactly what you're doing with your stuff," Wainwright said. "Complete confidence that (catcher Yadier Molina's) going to block everything and that they're not going to hit anything. I think with that combination you're going to be all right."
Mitchell Boggs pitched two scoreless innings in relief of Wainwright, blowing a 100-mph pitch by Raul Ibanez for a strikeout with the go-ahead run at second in the eighth. Jason Motte pitched two scoreless innings before Kyle McClellan entered to start the 11th. The first batter McClellan (1-3) faced, Polanco, tagged a homer to left and Jayson Werth added an RBI double off rookie Fernando Salas to set the final score.
Against Phillies closer Brad Lidge in the bottom of the 11th, rookie Jon Jay worked a leadoff walk to bring the tying run to the plate. Lidge retired the next three batters to conclude the Cardinals' only loss of the home stand. Jay, who entered in the top of the 11th, was the first Cardinal to reach second base. He stole the base to get there.
That belongs on the chart.
"To see your name and not have a dot in red is always good," Pujols said. "It keeps you focused (but) we know how to play the game. ... It's good to see a bunch of different guys do a bunch of different things to help our ball club. It wasn't just one guy during the home stand. One day it was Matt, then Yadi, then myself, then Jay and our pitching. It was stuff like that. It was everybody. It's something we weren't doing enough in the first half.
"We're clicking, and it was about time to click."
