Cardinal Rule

Cliff Lee entered tonight’s game against St. Louis with an earned run average not far above one. His record was two wins, no losses and he walked only one batter prior to tonight.

He had gone at least seven innings in his first three starts, allowing a total of only two runs. He would hit a speed bump tonight at Citizens Bank Park.

After the Phillies left two men on base in the first few innings, Lee ran into trouble in the third. After only allowing one walk in 23.2 innings pitched, he would walk the bases loaded. The walks started with a lead off walk to the eight hole hitter.

With the bases loaded and two men out, Allen Craig stepped in a knocked in two runs with a single to center field.

The Cardinals followed with two hits from Yadier Molina and David Freese for a 4-0 Cardinals’ advantage. They would score again in the fifth thanks to a solo home run from Carlos Beltran. The Cardinals secured a 5-0 lead and never looked back.

Lee had trouble with his command tonight, throwing many fastballs up in the zone. His three walks in the third inning were his most all season.

That would be all the Cardinals needed, as the Phillies could manage only three hits all night. They waited out three walks against starter Lance Lynn, but would leave a total of five men on base, going 0-5 with runners in scoring position.

This coming one night after they scored eight runs on 12 hits against Jaime Garcia.

The offense has struggled to score runs all week, due in large part to not recording any walks in four consecutive games. They haven’t been patient at the plate and have made life easy for opposing pitchers. There were also 10 strikeouts recorded by Cardinals pitching tonight.

Lack of plate discipline has played a large part in the quick outs and lack of men on base.

The Phillies bullpen would keep the deficit at five, as Philippe Aumont, Jeremy Horst and recent call up Joe Savery combined to allow just two base runners in three innings of work.

With the loss, Cliff Lee’s record drops to 2-1, with his ERA now at 2.83.

The Phils look for a series split tomorrow with a special start time of 8:05.

Kyle Kendrick starts for the Fightins, with Jake Westbrook getting the call for St. Louis.

Stats courtesy of Phillies.com

Photo courtesy of sports.yahoo.com