Alec Burleson drove in four runs to fuel the visiting St. Louis Cardinals to a 14-7 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday in the second game of a split doubleheader.
Burleson, Lars Nootbaar and Masyn Winn homered for St. Louis, which had its nine-game winning streak snapped with a 2-1 loss in the first game Wednesday afternoon. The Cardinals didn’t let the disappointment linger, though, as they racked up 19 hits in the nightcap, including four by Winn and three apiece by Ivan Herrera, Brendan Donovan and Burleson.
Philadelphia starter Aaron Nola (1-7) allowed nine runs and 12 hits — both career highs — in 3 2/3 innings, as his ERA ballooned to 6.16. Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm homered for the Phillies.
St. Louis jumped in front 1-0 in the opening frame before Philadelphia answered with five runs — all with two outs — against Sonny Gray in the bottom half.
Nick Castellanos’ double plated a pair of runs before Max Kepler followed with an RBI single. Realmuto capped the inning with a two-run homer to left-center, making it 5-1.
The lead didn’t last long, however, as the Cardinals responded with five runs against Nola in the third.
Nootbaar opened the inning with a homer — his seventh of the season. Shortly thereafter, Donovan doubled and scored on a grounder by Willson Contreras, and then Burleson capped the uprising with a two-run homer, putting the visitors back in front, 6-5.
The momentum quickly swung back in the Phillies’ favor, as Schwarber opened the bottom half with his league-leading 15th homer, tying it at 6.
Yet, once again, Nola was unable to stop the bleeding. He gave up a go-ahead home run to Winn in the fourth and then allowed three more baserunners before giving way to Tanner Banks, who surrendered a two-run single to Burleson.
Bohm’s leadoff homer in the fourth drew Philadelphia within 9-7, but that was as close as the hosts would get. St. Louis added three runs in the eighth, two more in the ninth and cruised to the finish line.
Gray allowed seven runs and eight hits in 3 2/3 innings. Five St. Louis relievers, including Chris Roycroft (1-2), blanked the Phillies over the final 5 1/3 frames.
–Field Level Media
