Cardinals 5, Phillies 0
PHILADELPHIA -- Carlos Beltran homered for the third straight game and Lance Lynn allowed one hit in seven shutout innings to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night.
Lynn (3-0) struck out eight and walked three while surrendering only John Mayberry Jr.'s double to lead off the fifth. The Cardinals helped Lynn with four runs in the third inning off Phillies starter Cliff Lee (2-1), along with Beltran's leadoff homer in the fifth.
Lee was unusually wild in his shortest outing in 21 starts, lasting five innings and giving up five runs on seven hits with three walks and five strikeouts. The outing snapped a streak of 20 straight starts where Lee went at least six innings and surrendered one or zero walks.
As is often the case with Lee on the mound, the Phillies' offense did little to help. Entering Saturday, Lee ranked third from the bottom among all starters in the majors with a 3.34 run support average since the start of the 2012 season.
Philadelphia finished with three total hits and 10 strikeouts off Lynn and relievers Trevor Rosenthal and Mitchell Boggs. Erik Kratz's bloop infield single just over the pitcher's mound in the eighth and Michael Young's single to left in the ninth were the only other hits for Philadelphia. The struggling Phillies offense has scored three runs or fewer in eight of the last nine games, going 3-6 in those contests.
St. Louis had no problem producing off Lee.
Yadier Molina went 3-for-4 with an RBI for St. Louis.
The Cardinals battered Lee in the third inning when they took a 4-0 lead on two-out RBI hits by Allen Craig, Molina and David Freese. St. Louis also took advantage of Lee's rare wildness, drawing three walks in the frame.
Pete Kozma and Shane Robinson sandwiched walks around a Lynn strikeout. Lee looked primed to get out of the inning after getting Beltran to line out sharply to center, but he followed by walking Matt Holliday to load the bases.
Craig rapped a single to center to score Kozma and Robinson, and Molina and Freese followed with sharp singles to right that each scored a run.
Beltran led off the fifth with his fourth homer of the season and third in as many nights in Philadelphia, lifting St. Louis to a 5-0 lead.
Phillies manager Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Lee in the fifth, marking the shortest outing for the Phillies lefty since last June 29 when he went 4 2/3 innings in a 6-2 loss at Miami.
Freddy Galvis, making his third straight start in left field, opened the game with an excellent, leaping catch at the wall to rob Robinson of extra bases. Galvis played his first-ever game in the outfield on Thursday night, in place of injured Domonic Brown (back). Brown returned to the starting lineup on Saturday but shifted over to right field.
NOTES: Young extended his hitting streak to 11 games. ... Phillies 1B Ryan Howard (groin) didn't start for the second straight game. Howard was available to pinch-hit. Mayberry started in his place at first base. ... The last time Lee allowed three walks in a game was last June 24 in a 7-3 loss to Tampa Bay. ... The teams conclude the four-game series at 8:05 Sunday night, with Cardinals RHP Jake Westbrook (1-1, 0.00) scheduled to face Phillies RHP Kyle Kendrick (1-1, 3.38).
