Cardinals 11, Phillies 3
ST. LOUIS -- St. Louis pushed its record to a season-high 24 games over .500 Wednesday night and Philadelphia moved a step closer to perhaps becoming a seller by the July 31 trading deadline.
Unleashing a 16-hit attack and taking advantage of the Phillies' wildness, the Cardinals cruised to a 11-3 win at sold-out Busch Stadium.
Matt Adams and Shane Robinson each knocked in three runs for St. Louis (61-37), which stayed 1 1/2 games ahead of Pittsburgh in the National League Central. Robinson and Yadier Molina rapped out three hits apiece.
Jake Westbrook (7-4) earned his second straight win, scattering nine hits and allowing all three Philadelphia runs over seven innings. John Lannan (2-4) lasted just four innings for the Phillies, yielding eight hits and four runs.
It was the fourth straight loss for Philadelphia (49-52), which fell eight games behind Atlanta in the NL East. Its pitchers walked six and hit one, while an aging lineup again failed to produce much offense in the kind of performance that could increase the pressure on general manager Ruben Amaro to shed payroll.
St. Louis took the lead in the bottom of the second inning when Adams chopped a two-run single over first baseman Darin Ruf, scoring Allen Craig and Molina.
In the third, Molina blooped a two-out RBI single in front of right fielder Delmon Young to make it 3-0. Westbrook helped his cause in the fourth by drawing a two-out walk, stealing just the second base of his career and then riding home on Matt Carpenter's single to left-center.
Philadelphia got on the board in the fifth when Carlos Ruiz grounded an RBI single to right, but the Cardinals responded when David Freese ripped a double off the center-field wall to score Craig. Adams followed with the inning's third double to plate Freese.
Robinson capped a five-run explosion with a three-run triple that bounced in front of and over diving center fielder John Mayberry Jr. to up the margin to 9-1.
NOTES: Philadelphia LF Domonic Brown won't start until at least Friday after suffering concussion-like symptoms Tuesday night. Brown was injured while diving for a triple by St. Louis' Carlos Beltran in the seventh inning. Brown leads the team with 24 homers and 69 RBIs ... Although the Cardinals haven't officially tipped their hand, it appears as though they'll tap Joe Kelly to make the start Saturday in Atlanta, the first time they'll need a No. 5 starter since July 12. On that day, Kelly pitched into the sixth inning of a 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs ... The Phillies designated veteran C Humberto Quintero for assignment and called up utility man Michael Martinez from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. It's Martinez's third stint with the big club this year.
