Philadelphia @ St. Louis preview
Busch Stadium
Last Meeting ( Jul 20, 2010 ) Philadelphia 1, St. Louis 7
Prior to Tuesday's game, Philadelphia Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. implored his struggling team to locate the switch for its offense.
The Fightin' Phils responded with yet another punchless effort.
Shane Victorino's RBI double served as the Phillies' lone jab as the Cardinals brutally used the 1-2 punch of Matt Holliday and Randy Winn to cruise to a 7-1 triumph on Tuesday night.
Holliday belted a three-run homer and Winn added a two-run shot and an RBI single as National League Central-leading St. Louis (53-41) posted its seventh straight victory and improved to a season-best 12 games over .500.
Every member of the Cardinals' starting lineup - save for rookie Allen Craig - recorded at least one hit as St. Louis finished with 15 hits.
For its part, Philadelphia (48-45) mustered all of six hits en route to suffering its fifth loss in six games following the All-Star break.
To add injury to insult - as if the Phillies haven't had enough of that this season - veteran left-hander Jamie Moyer left Tuesday's contest with a strained elbow after finishing a scoreless first inning.
The 47-year-old Moyer was replaced by Andrew Carpenter (0-1), who permitted three runs and five hits in three innings to take the loss in his season debut.
Regardless of the team's pitching problems, Amaro contends that the offense is to blame. The Phillies have scored three runs or fewer in 45 of their 93 games this season. As a result, the team has posted an 11-34 mark in those contests.
Jayson Werth hasn't homered in 86 at-bats since a blast at Cleveland on June 23. Victorino is batting .253 - 39 points below last season's average - and Jimmy Rollins is 2-for-24 with one RBI following the All-Star break.
Philadelphia will look to give some run support to Joe Blanton (3-5, 6.21 ERA) when he faces rookie Jaime Garcia (8-4, 2.27 ERA) and the Cardinals on Wednesday in the third contest of a four-game set at Busch Stadium.
Blanton, who has recorded four consecutive no-decisions, has a 3-1 mark with a 2.60 ERA in four career games against the Cardinals.
The 29-year-old right-hander allowed three runs and five hits in seven innings in his last outing against the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.
For his part, Garcia has also notched a pair of no-decisions - although the 24-year-old left-hander may have been grateful to receive them. In his last outing, for example, Garcia allowed two runs and eight hits in 3 1/3 innings, but St. Louis rallied to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday.
In his short career, Garcia has faced the Phillies three times, posting a 1-1 mark with a 2.25 ERA.