Phillies Win, Split Series With Cardinals

    The Phillies bounced back from an ugly loss yesterday as they defeated the Cardinals 7-3 tonight with the help of some late inning heroics at the plate.  The win salvaged a split in the series and puts the Phillies record at 8-11 so far in 2013.

    Kyle Kendrick received the start for the Phillies and looked solid, although he lacked command, quickly running up his pitch count.  Kendrick threw six innings allowing two runs on 8 hits while also recording 6 strikeouts, an unusually high number for the right-hander.
    After Kendrick exited the game Antonio Bastardo entered the game in the seventh and allowed one unearned run in one-third inning pitched.  A Chase Utley throwing error allowed the lead off man in the inning to reach second, and Bastardo was replaced by Chad Durbin with a man on third and one out.  Durbin kept his streak of allowing inherited base runners to score alive as he quickly allowed the unearned run that was charged to Bastardo's line in two-thirds of an inning pitched.
    The Phillies tied the game again in the bottom of the seventh before Mike Adams came on to keep the game all knotted at 3, pitching one scoreless inning.  After some timely hitting from the Phillies in the bottom of the eighth, Jonathan Papelbon came on to record the save.
    The Phillies hitting was pretty solid on the night, and the offense had quite a few timely hits.  After trailing 1-0  entering the bottom of the first, Chase Utley singled home a run to tie the game, and Ryan Howard hit a sacrifice fly to take the lead 2-1 for the Phillies.  Utley was 2 for 5 at the plate on the night, but did make two mistakes on the base paths, as well as an error in the field.  Howard went 1 for 3 on the evening and collected his sixth RBI of 2013.
    After the Cardinals regained the lead in the top of the seventh, Laynce Nix doubled home the tying run in the bottom half of the frame.  Mike Adams kept the game tied, and the Phillies saw an outburst of offense in the eighth.  Ben Revere singled home a run to take the lead for the Phillies, and Erik Kratz hit a three-run home run to give the Phillies a comfortable 7-3 lead.  It was evident that Kratz had a hearty serving of turkey bacon before stepping to the plate in the eighth as he crushed his second homer of the season.
    After salvaging a series split against the Cardinals, the Phillies will be back in action tomorrow against in-state rivals the Pittsburgh Pirates.