Nick Castellanos went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs to power the visiting Philadelphia Phillies past the St. Louis Cardinals 4-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Phillies starter Christopher Sanchez (1-0) allowed one run on eight hits and two walks in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out three.
Jose Alvarado, the fourth Philadelphia pitcher, closed out the ninth to earn his third save.
Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas (0-2) allowed three runs on three hits and two walks in five innings. He struck out six.
St. Louis grounded into five double plays, including four in the first five innings.
The Phillies took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Bryce Harper hit a single, Kyle Schwarber drew a walk and Castellanos hit a two-run double.
The Cardinals failed to convert a third-inning opportunity. Pedro Pages hit a leadoff single, then Thomas Saggese and Lars Nootbaar hit one-out singles to load the bases. Luken Baker followed by grounding into his second double play of the game.
The Phillies increased their lead to 3-0 in the fifth inning when Brandon Marsh walked and scored on Bryson Stott’s double.
In the bottom of the inning, Jordan Walker hit a leadoff single and Victor Scott II reached on a one-out error. But Saggese hit into a double play.
Philadelphia threatened in the sixth inning. Schwarber walked with one out and Castellanos hit a single, but Steven Matz retired the next two hitters.
The Cardinals cut their deficit to 3-1 in the bottom of the inning when Baker hit a double and scored on Willson Contreras’ single.
The Phillies made it 4-1 in the seventh inning. Alec Bohm reached on a leadoff single, snapping a 0-for-19 slump, and he eventually scored on Trea Turner’s single.
Schwarber hit a leadoff single in the eighth inning and moved to third on Castellanos’ double. But the next three Phillies struck out to strand them.
–Field Level Media
