Phillies 5, Cardinals 3 (10 innings)
WP – Raul Valdes (2-0, 0.00)
LP – Jason Motte (3-2, 2.70)
SV – Jonathan Papelbon (14)
ST. LOUIS — Chasing that first win for Cliff Lee will have to wait another day.
But more importantly, the Phillies as a team got the win and that is what matters most. Hunter Pence’s two-run homer in the 10th inning gave the Phillies their third straight win, a 5-3 extra-innings victory that put them back over .500.
Juan Pierre singled to lead off the top of the 10th inning. Pence followed it up with a home run to the opposite field, just barely getting over the right field fence.
It was an all-around great effort by the Phillies left-hander. Lee fielded his position well, got two hits at the plate and scattered three runs on eight hits and three walks over seven innings of work, striking out seven.
The Phillies gave Lee an early 2-0 lead with a Jimmy Rollins’ RBI single and a run on a fielding error by rookie Matt Adams off the bat of Pierre.
The Cardinals erased the lead with a run in each of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th innings, taking a 3-2 lead on Yadier Molina’s RBI single following David Freese’s lead-off triple in the 4th.
The Phillies tied the game back up for Lee in the 7th on Pierre’s RBI double that scored Lee.
The play of the game came in the bottom of the 8th inning, preserving the 3-3 tie.
With Molina standing on first and two outs, Adams stepped into the box to face Jake Diekman in a rookie-vs-rookie battle. Adams blasted a pitch into the gap and Shane Victorino tracked it down. Molina rounded third heading for home and Freddy Galvis, who took the cutoff, gunned out Molina, who collided with Carlos Ruiz at the plate.
Raul Valdes earned his second win of the season by holding down the fort in a nerve-wracking 9th inning. With two men on and facing Matt Holliday, Valdes struck out the Cardinals slugger, causing Holliday to snap his bat like a twig in the dirt.
2B: Ruiz (10), Pierre (3). HR: Pence (11).
TTB 