Matt Holliday’s presence in the Cards line up indirectly gave them the spark they needed.
With him hitting in the five spot, David Freese got bumped down a few spots. This spread out the Cardinals fire power and he provided them with four RBIs and another day of baseball.
A two-run double in the 4th and a two-run homer in the 6th was more than enough for the Cardinals, who went on to win 5-3 and force a Game 5 back in Philadelphia.
Holiday, who was 1-for-2 with a single in two pinch-hit scenarios this series, went 1-for-3 with a run scored in his return to the line up in the post season. His troubled hand didn’t affect him enough for it to hurt the Cardinals and should be expected to be back in the line up for Game 5 on Friday.
The Phils jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead with a lead-off double by Jimmy Rollins, an RBI triple by Chase Utley and an RBI single by Hunter Pence. In a matter of four pitches, this game was quickly looking like it would be a blow out in the favor of the Phils.
Edwin Jackson bore down after that, retiring 17 of the last 20 batters he would face. Through six innings, Jackson allowed only five hits, two walks and two runs while striking out four.
With that, the Phils’ lead began to fade when Lance Berkman’s RBI double in the bottom of the 1st cut the Phils lead in half. Freese’s two-run double gave St. Louis the 3-2 lead and after his homer three innings later, the Cards never looked back.
The Phils managed to get another run off Cardinals reliever Fernando Salas in the 8th. Catcher Yadier Molina couldn’t handle Salas’ slider and it allowed Ross Gload to score from third to make it a 5-3 game. But Pence and Ryan Howard failed to finish and ended their last scoring threat.
Game 5 will be on Friday. Roy Halladay (1-0) will face Chris Carpenter (0-1) in a rematch of Game 1. Carpenter was flattened by the Phils in his outing while Halladay retired the last 21 batters he faced after giving up a three-run homer in the 1st.
2B: Rollins (4), 3B: Utley (1).
WP: Jackson (1-0). LP: Oswalt (0-1). S: Motte (2).
TTB 