Nolan Arenado hit two homers and drove in three runs to lift the visiting St. Louis Cardinals past the Philadelphia Phillies 7-6 Saturday.
The Phillies rallied from 5-0 and 6-5 deficits, but Arenado broke a 6-6 tie with a ninth-inning homer. That made a winner of reliever Ryan Helsley (4-1), who closed out the game with two scoreless innings.
Seranthony Dominguez (4-2) allowed Arenado’s decisive homer and took the loss.
Both starting pitchers struggled. Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore allowed five runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings while Kyle Gibson allowed six runs on seven hits, two walks, two strikeouts and two hit batters in four-plus innings for the Phillies.
The Cardinals surged to a 5-0 lead with four homers in the first inning. After Paul Goldschmidt hit a single, Arenado lined a two-run homer.
Then came homers by Nolan Gorman, Juan Yepez and Dylan Carlson. It marked the first time ever that the Cardinals hit four consecutive homers and the 11th time it happened in major league history.
But the Phillies cut the lead to 5-2 in the second inning on Alec Bohm’s triple, Matt Vierling’s sacrifice fly, Odubel Herrera’s single, Yairo Munoz’s double and Bryson Stott’s RBI single.
The Phillies tied the game 5-5 in the third inning. J.T. Realmuto and Bohm hit singles, Vierling hit another sacrifice fly and Herrera hit a single to chase Liberatore.
Reliever Zack Thompson entered and allowed Munoz’s two-run double.
The Cardinals edged ahead 6-5 in the fifth inning. After Goldschmidt doubled, Gibson hit Arenado with a pitch and walked Gorman. Reliever Corey Knebel retired the next two batters, but he walked Lars Nootbaar to force in a run.
The Phillies tied the game in the sixth inning. Reliever Packy Naughton walked Stott, threw a wild pitch and allowed Rhys Hoskins’ infield single. Nick Castellanos greeted reliever Junior Fernandez with an RBI single.
The Cardinals regained the lead with Arenado’s ninth-inning homer.
–Field Level Media
