After being acquired from Oakland, Matt Holliday made it to Philly in time for Friday night’s series opener with the Phillies. Good thing. Holliday went 4 for 5, scored a run, drove in a run, and even stole a base in the Cardinals 8-1 win over the red hot Phillies.
Philadelphia came into this game have won 11 of their last 12 and they sent J.A. Happ to the mound who was a perfect 7-0 this season. Holliday provided a huge spark for the Cardinals who blew open a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning when they hung four on Happ.
In the second inning, in his first at-bat with the Cardinals, Holliday singled and stole second base and moved to third on a Ryan Ludwick grounder. After Yadier Molina struck out, Rick Ankiel singled to put St. Louis up 1-0. Ankiel is starting to heat up. He had three hits and drove in three runs, giving him four RBI in the last two games.
In the sixth, Mark DeRosa, Pujols, Holliday, Ludwick, and Molina all singled and all four eventually scored after Ankiel drove in two more with a double which put the game out of reach. The Cardinals tacked on two more in the seventh and one more in the eighth.
Joel Pineiro was efficient again. He tossed six innings, giving up just four hits and no runs. He evened his record to 9-9. The Cardinals bullpen gave up just one run to Philly who has been on a tear offensively during this stretch out of the All-Star break.
Holliday’s hits looked more like a 50 year old softball player, a flair here, a squib there, but they all look the same in the scorebook…four hits. Holliday switched from his familiar #5, which of course belongs to Pujos and he is now wearing #15.
