Edmundo Sosa drove in three runs, including a two-run double in the eighth inning, and Kyle Schwarber reached base four times as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-5 on Monday night in St. Louis.
The win gave the Phillies their second straight victory and seventh in their last 10 games. It also came after the Cardinals briefly threatened to flip the game late, but Philadelphia held on after building a four-run cushion.
A game that swung after the sixth inning
The Phillies jumped ahead 2-0 in the second inning when Brandon Marsh scored on a Hunter Dobbins throwing error and Sosa added an RBI single. Schwarber later singled and scored in the fifth inning, then doubled home Garrett Stubbs in the seventh to keep the pressure on St. Louis.
Andrew Painter had carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning before Iván Herrera broke it up with a one-out double. Alec Burleson followed with a two-run single, and the Cardinals were back in the game. Even so, the Phillies added insurance in the eighth when Sosa lined a two-run double to make it 6-2.
The Cardinals answered, but not enough
St. Louis used a three-run rally in the eighth inning to cut into the lead, but the comeback stopped one run short. The Cardinals lost for the second time in three games.
Painter finished with two runs allowed on two hits in 5 1/3 innings, while Andre Pallante was the scheduled starter for the Cardinals. Cristopher Sánchez is set to face Pallante on Tuesday.
For Philadelphia, the night was a reminder of how quickly a lineup can build separation when several hitters contribute. Sosa delivered the biggest swings, Schwarber kept reaching, and the Phillies did enough late to protect a win that looked secure before the Cardinals’ final push.
