Oswalt, Kendrick Hammered As Phils Drop Series Finale Vs. Cardinals

Roy Oswalt started tonight’s Phils-Cardinals series finale, but had arguably his worst outing of the season, giving up five hits and four earned runs in just two innings. His immediate replacement, Kyle Kendrick, didn’t do much better on the mound, allowing another pair of runs, and the Phillies were never able to overcome St. Louis’ offensive explosion, which consisted of 12 runs and solid performances from regular contributors like Lance Berkman (3 RBI) and Matt Holliday (2-for-4, 2 RBI).

Despite their loss by a score of 12-2, in which Shane Victorino and Carlos Ruiz recorded runs, the Phillies still came away with the series victory after beating the Cardinals in the opening two games vs. St. Louis, and will take on the Athletics for a three-game matchup beginning on Friday.

The Phillies, with Kyle Kendrick on the mound, are down against the Cardinals by a score of 5-0 in the series finale. On the hill for St. Louis is Chris Carpenter, who is typically a perennial Cy Young candidate but began this season with an astoundingly poor record of 1-7.

Cards RF Jon Jay has homered thus far, while Ryan Theriot and Skip Schumaker have also knocked in runs. As of the fourth inning, for the Phillies, only Chase Utley and Ben Francisco have had hits.

Cliff Lee threw his second straight complete game shutout as the Phillies took the second game of their series with Cardinals 4-0. Lee has now given up just one run in his last four starts (33 innings), giving him an ERA of 0.27 in June. The last Phillie toss back to back shutouts was Cory Lidle in 2004.

Amazingly enough, the last three pitchers to throw consecutive shutouts all happen to currently be in the Phillies rotation. Cliff Lee tonight, Roy Halladay in 2009 and Roy Oswalt in 2008.

The Phillies run tonight came mostly from the longball. Jimmy Rollins led off the fourth with a solo shot and Ryan Howard added a two homer to left later in the inning. Shane Victorino scored on a Chase Utley sac fly in the 9th for some insurance.

Former Phillie Kyle Lohse did a solid job for the Cards tonight giving up those three runs in the fourth, but holding the Phillies scoreless over the seven other innings he pitched.

The Phils will go for the sweep tomorrow night with Roy Oswalt facing Chris Carpenter.

After an explosive win over St. Louis on Tuesday, a victory that included a remarkable nine-run inning, the Phillies will try to win their second game in a row with Cliff Lee looking for success on the road vs. the Cardinals. Lee (7-5, 3.12 ERA) has been little short of spectacular at Citizens Bank Park, but has been quite mediocre when it comes to matchups away from home.

In road starts this season, Lee has gone just 1-4 with an ERA of nearly 5.90, so he’ll certainly need to make improvements of those numbers if he wants to boost the Phils to a win this evening. If he doesn’t pitch up to expectations, there’s no telling how close Philadelphia could be in the first place; after last night’s offensive showing, few people still doubt their potential.

For the Cardinals, who haven’t faced a southpaw on the mound since their all-star first baseman Albert Pujols went down with an injury, right-hander Kyle Lohse (7-3, 2.88 ERA) will take the hill. Lohse, a former Phillies pitcher, has been somewhat inconsistent over the years, but seems to be on a roll in 2011 as one of St. Louis’ top arms.