Herrera's tiebreaking blast leads Phillies past Cardinals
Odubel Herrera's one-out solo homer in the bottom of the seventh inning Wednesday lifted the Philadelphia Phillies to a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
Homering in his fourth straight game, Herrera tagged reliever Sam Tuivailala (1-3) with the loss on a difficult day for St. Louis. The Cardinals lost starting pitcher Michael Wacha to an oblique injury in the bottom of the fourth, one batter after he served up a two-run homer to Cesar Hernandez that gave the Phillies a 3-1 edge.
Wacha, who entered with an 8-2 record, permitted six hits and three runs (one earned) in 3 2/3 innings. He walked two and fanned two.
Reliever Edubray Ramos (2-0) worked 1 2/3 scoreless innings to earn the win for Philadelphia. Adam Morgan got the last two outs to garner his first big league save, retiring Tommy Pham on a grounder to short with the tying run at second to end the game.
The Phillies initiated scoring in the first when Carlos Santana chased Rhys Hoskins home with a sacrifice fly. Hoskins singled with one out and reached third on Herrera's double.
Yadier Molina ambushed a first-pitch fastball from Jake Arrieta in the second, driving it deep into the left field seats for the first of his two homers on the day and tying the score at 1.
Molina got to Arrieta again in the sixth, erasing a 3-1 deficit by clocking a two-run homer to right-center field. It plated Marcell Ozuna, who singled with two outs and advanced to second on a wild pitch.
Arrieta lasted six innings, yielding four hits and three runs. He walked two and whiffed five.
Herrera had three of Philadelphia's nine hits. St. Louis had seven hits.
--Field Level Media