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With a 1-0 loss on Friday, the Phils dropped their series with St Louis and were bounced out of the playoffs. For the second time in two years, it’s a disappointing end to a year for a team that looked destined for great things at times during the regular season.

Again it was an offensive collapse that did the Phillies in. After scoring 11 runs in the first game of the NLDS, the Phils scored just ten runs in the last four games. Three of those came on a pinch-hit home run by Ben Francisco in game three. In the five-game series, Pence, Ibanez, Howard, Polanco and Ruiz combined to go 12-for-89 (.135).

Game five featured two brilliant pitching performances, one from Roy Halladay and the other from Chris Carpenter. Halladay gave up a triple and a double to the first two batters in the game, with Skip Schumaker’s double plating Rafael Furcal for the only run of the contest. Carpenter threw a complete-game shutout, allowing just three hits. Utley had a single on a ball deflected by a diving Pujols in the sixth. Victorino doubled in the second and singled in the fourth.

It was even worse than that for the Phils. For the second straight year, Ryan Howard got the last at-bat of the season for the Phils. He grounded to second this time, but crumpled to the ground almost immediately after with a ruptured left Achilles tendon. The timeline for his return is not known, but he may not be ready for Spring Training.

Again the Phils were eliminated from the post-season in a series in which they scored more runs than their opponent. The Phils outscored the Cards 21-19 in this year’s NLDS and outscored the Giants 20-19 in the 2010 NLCS.

The season is over for the Phils after losing to the St Louis Cardinals 1-0 in game five of the NLDS. Since the start for 2010, the Phillies have won 199 regular season games, winning the most games in either league in both ’10 and ’11. They are 7-7 in their last 14 playoff games.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went eight innings, allowing a run on six hits and a walk. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, a double and a triple allowed to the first two hitters of the game. He struck out seven.

Halladay was the only Phillie to make more than one start in the series. In two starts, he threw to an 2.25 ERA and an 0.69 ratio. He allowed four runs on nine hits and two walks over 16 innings. All four of the runs he allowed came in the first inning. Three came on a three-run homer by Berkman in game one.

He faced a St Louis lineup that went (1) Rafael Furcal (SS/S) (2) Skip Schumaker (CF/L) (3) Albert Pujols (1B/R) (4) Lance Berkman (LF/S) (5) Matt Holliday (LF/R) (6) Yadier Molina (C/R) (7) David Freese (3B/R) (8) Punto (2B/S). Schumaker starts in center, where he played 13 innings during the regular season. Theriot, 1-for-7 against Halladay for his career, on the bench with the switch-hitter Punto (4-for-14) at second.

St Louis had six hitters on the bench to start the game, righties Matt Theriot, Allen Craig and Gerald Laird, and lefties Adron Chambers, Jon Jay and Daniel Descalso.

Furcal was the first batter of the game and tripled to center on a 2-1 pitch. Schumaker was next and Halladay got ahead of him 0-2, but Schumaker hit a 2-2 pitch into the right field corner for a double that scored Furcal and put the Cards up 1-0. Pujols was next and hit a weird spinning ball towards second. Utley bare-handed it and threw to third, where Schumaker was tagged out for the first out with Pujols safe at first. Pujols took second on a wild pitch before Berkman reached on catcher’s interference when his backswing hit Ruiz’s glove, putting men on first and second. Halladay got Holliday to pop to Polanco in foul territory for the second out and Molina grounded to short to set the Cards down.

Yet another aggressive play by Utley and this one works as he guns down Schumaker at third for the first out.

Halladay set St Louis down in order in the second, striking Freese out swinging, getting Punto on a line drive to third and the pitcher Carpenter on a ground ball to short.

Furcal grounded to second to start the third. Schumaker flew to left for the second out and Pujols struck out swinging.

Eight in a row for Halladay.

Berkman flew to center to start the fourth and Berkman struck out swinging behind him. Molina singled to center and stole second before Freese struck out swinging 1-2 to end the frame.

Punto started the fifth with a single to left. Carpenter was next and bunted, but Ruiz jumped on the ball and threw to second to force Punto. Carpenter didn’t run and was easily doubled up. Furcal flew to Ibanez to set St Louis down.

In the sixth, Halladay got Jay (who took over for Schumaker in center in the third), Pujols and Berkman on three ground balls.

He got Holliday on a fly ball to center for the first out in the seventh and struck Molina out looking for the second. Freese was next and he singled to left. Descalso ran for Freese, but Halladay struck Punto out swinging 0-2 to leave him at first.

Carpenter singled into center to start the eighth. Furcal was next and hit a ball out in front of the plate. Ruiz took it and went to second, where his throw wasn’t handled by Rollins for an error. Ruiz was charged with an error and St Louis had men on first and second with nobody out. Jay bunted the runners to second and third with the first out and Halladay walked Pujols intentionally to load the bases. Halladay stayed in to pitch to Berkman and struck him out swinging 1-2 for the second out. Holliday flew to left to leave the bases loaded.

Manuel sure stayed with Halladay a long time. The pitch that got Holliday was number 126 in the game. Worked out great for the Phillies, but I think you have to bring Bastardo in to pitch to Berkman with one out and the bases loaded. Berkman is a lot better against righties than lefties. On the other hand, Halladay struck him out and kept St Louis off the board after loading the bases with one out.

Madson struck out Descalso and Punto in a 1-2-3 ninth.

Madson made four appearances in the series, allowing a run on four hits and no walks over 4 1/3 innings while striking out six.

Overall, the pen threw ten innings in five games for the Phils in the series. They allowed five earned runs on 12 hits and four walks over ten innings (4.50 ERA and a 1.60 ratio). They struggled in game one as Stutes allowed three runs in relief of Halladay. In game two they threw three scoreless innings to back Lee. In game three they allowed two runs over three innings in relief of Hamels, but held on for the win. Blanton and Lidge combined to throw two scoreless frames in game four and Madson threw a shutout inning in game five.

Nobody on the Cards had more than one hit in the game.

Schumaker and Theriot both went 6-for-10 in the series, each with two doubles.

Pujols was 7-for-20 with two walks and three doubles.

Freese 5-for-19 with nine strikeouts, but drove in a team-high five runs, including four in game four. Two doubles and a home run in the series.

Berkman was just 3-for-18, but with a big home run in game one.

Craig 1-for-10 with a triple and four walks.

Furcal 5-for-22 with two triples. He didn’t draw a walk out of the leadoff spot for St Louis in the series.

Holliday was 2-for-9 with two singles and Jay 2-for-12 with two singles. Jay drew three walks.

The Phillies lineup against righty Chris Carpenter went (1) Rollins (SS/S) (2) Utley (2B/L) (3) Pence (RF/R) (4) Howard (1B/L) (5) Victorino (CF/S) (6) Ibanez (LF/L) (7) Polanco (3B/R) (8) Ruiz (C/R).

The Phils started the game with six players on their bench, righties John Mayberry, Wilson Valdez and Ben Francisco, lefties Brian Schneider and Ross Gload and switch-hitter Michael Martinez.

Rollins, Utley and Pence went in order in the bottom of the first with the Phils down 1-0.

Howard grounded to second to start the second, but Victorino was next and ripped a double to right. Ibanez fouled out to Punto for the second out and Polanco grounded to short.

In the third, Ruiz flew to right, Halladay struck out swinging and Rollins grounded to third on a ball he thought was foul.

Carpenter hit Utley with a pitch to start the fourth. Pence was next and grounded to second with Utley forced at second for the first out. Howard lined to second for the second out. Victorino moved Pence to third with a single, bringing Ibanez to the plate with men on the corners. Ibanez hammered a 3-2 pitch to right, but Berkman took it at the wall to end the inning.

Two hits for Victorino to start the game, but Phils can’t score. Ibanez just missed.

Polanco, Ruiz and Halladay all grounded out as the Phillies went in order in the fifth.

Rollins grounded to short to start the sixth. Utley was next and hit a ball to first, deflected by a diving Pujols and into right for a single. Molina threw him out trying to steal second for the second out. Pence grounded to second to set the Phillies down.

Fantastic throw by Molina to throw Utley out at second on a breaking ball. Again Utley aggressive on the bases and again it hurts the Phils. Utley stole 14 bases during the regular season without being caught. Over the last three years he has stolen 50 bases during the regular season and been caught twice.

Howard, Victorino and Ibanez went in order in the seventh. Howard got way ahead in the count, then flew to right 3-0 for the first out.

Polanco and Ruiz both grounded out to start the eighth. With the righty Carpenter still pitching for the Cards, Gload hit for Halladay. Gload struck out swinging 1-2, but Molina’s throw to first pulled Pujols off the bag and Gload was safe. Rollins smashed a ball back up the middle, but it was deflected by Carpenter, went to Punto and Punto threw to first in time to nip Rollins.

Close play at first for the third out. Rollins used to be a little faster than he is now.

Utley smashed Carpenter’s first pitch of the ninth to center, but Chambers took it at the wall for the first out. Pence grounded to third for the second out. Howard grounded to second to end the season, crumpling to the ground with an injury unable to get up as the Cardinals celebrated.

Utley just missed.

Rollins was 0-for-4 in the game. He hit 450/476/650 in the series, going 9-for-20 with a walk and four doubles.

Utley 1-for-3 in the game with a caught stealing. 438/571/688 7-for-16 with three walks, two doubles and a triple.

Pence 0-for-4 in game five. 4-for-19 with two walks and four singles in the series. 211/286/211. 2-for-5 in game one and 2-for-14 after game one.

Howard 0-for-4. 2-for-19 with a walk, a home run and six RBI in the series with a 105/143/263 line. People remember him striking out to end the NLCS in 2010, but Howard was good in that series, going 7-for-22 with a 318/400/500 line.

Victorino was 2-for-3 in game five with a double, which was the only extra-base hit in the game for the Phils. 6-for-19 with a double in the series. 316/316/368.

Ibanez 0-for-3. 3-for-15 with a home run and four RBI in the series. 200/200/400. He’s 10-for-46 (.217) for the Phils in the post-season since the start of 2010.

Polanco 0-for-3 in the game and 2-for-19 in the series (105/105/105). 8-for-his-last-65 in the post-season (.123) and 8-for-48 over the last two years in the playoffs with the Phillies (.167).

Ruiz 0-for-3 in the game and 1-for-17 in the series (059/111/059).

Mayberry didn’t play in game five. He was 0-for-4 in the series.

Gload 0-for-1 in game five and 1-for-2 in the series.

Francisco didn’t play in game five. He was 1-for-2 with a three-run homer in the series.

Martinez appeared as a pinch-runner but didn’t have an at-bat in the series. Schneider didn’t appear.

The Phillies are built to win with dominant starting pitching, but for the second game in the four they’ve played this post-season they didn’t get it last night. Oswalt allowed five runs in six innings in front of an offense that has plated six runs in their last 25 times at-bat and the Phils fell 5-3 to even the series with the Cards heading into game five.

David Freese had a monster game for St Louis. Coming into his at-bat in the bottom of the fourth inning, Freese was 2-for-13 in the series with seven strikeouts. He knocked in four runs in his last two at-bats, going 2-for-2 with a two-run double and a two-run homer.

Rollins doubled to start the game and scored when Utley followed and ripped a triple down the first base line. Pence knocked Utley in with a single to put the Phils on top 2-0, but was caught stealing on a strike-’em-out-throw-’em-out-double-play with Howard at the plate that seemed to kill the early momentum for the Phils. Lance Berkman ripped a double to the gap in right-center in the bottom of the first, plating Skip Schumaker to cut the lead to 2-1. Oswalt walked Berkman to start the fourth and hit Matt Holliday behind him, putting two men on base for Freese. Freese doubled into the left field corner, clearing the bases and put the Cards on top 3-2. In his next at-bat, which came in the sixth, Freese pounded an Oswalt pitch way out to center for a long home run that extended the St Louis lead to 5-2. Singles by Gload and Utley and a wild pitch by Fernando Salas helped the Phils get a run in the top of the eighth to cut the lead to 5-3. Marc Rzepczynski struck Howard out with a man on second to end the eighth and Jason Motte set the Phils down in order in the ninth.

With the strikeout, Howard is 2-for-15 in the series. That’s part of a big problem for the Phils that has seen Rollins and Utley pound the ball at the top of the order while most of the rest of the lineup goes quiet. Rollins and Utley are 15-for-29 with seven extra-base hits and four walks in the series so far. Pence, Howard, Victorino, Ibanez, Mayberry, Polanco and Ruiz have combined to go 16-for-92 (.174) in the series with 14 singles.

If I never see Jason Motte on the mound for Cards again it would be okay with me. The Phils have one hit against him in 3 1/3 scoreless innings in the set. Octavio Dotel got two more outs for the St Louis pen as well, he has now thrown 2 2/3 scoreless innings in the series over three appearances without allowing a hit or a walk.

The NLDS between the Phillies and the St Louis Cardinals is tied at two games all after the Cards topped the Phils 5-3 last night.

Oswalt got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing five runs on six hits and a walk. Three of the hits went for extra-bases, two doubles and a walk. He struck out five.

He faced a St Louis lineup that went (1) Rafael Furcal (SS/S) (2) Skip Schumaker (2B/L) (3) Albert Pujols (1B/R) (4) Lance Berkman (LF/S) (5) Matt Holliday (LF/R) (6) Yadier Molina (C/R) (7) David Freese (3B/R) (8) Jon Jay (CF/L). Holliday makes his first start of the series in left, moving Craig to the bench. Schumaker at second against the righty and moves up to second in the order with the hot righty Theriot on the bench. Freese dropped to seventh in the order with Holliday in the lineup.

St Louis had six hitters on the bench to start the game, righties Matt Theriot, Allen Craig and Gerald Laird, lefties Adron Chambers and Daniel Descalso and switch-hitter Nick Punto.

Oswalt started the bottom of the first with a 2-0 lead. He struck Furcal out swinging 0-2 for the first out, but Schumaker was next and the lefty lined a single the other way into left. Pujols popped to Polanco for the second out before Berkman drove a ball off the wall in right-center. Victorino seemed to be having trouble with the sun and slipped when he got to the ball as he tried to throw. The ball dribbled away and he picked it up as Berkman went to third. Schumaker scored to cut the lead to 2-1 and Victorino was charged with an error that allowed Berkman to take third on his double. Holliday grounded to second on a 2-1 pitch to leave Berkman stranded.

Victorino wasn’t charged with an error in 1,150 2/3 innings in center during the regular season.

Oswalt struck Molina and Freese both out swinging 0-2 for the first two outs of the second. Jay grounded to second for the third out.

The pitcher Edwin Jackson struck out looking 1-2 for the first out of the third. Furcal grounded to short for the second out before Schumaker singled to right. It brought Pujols to the plate with a man on first. Oswalt struck him out swinging 2-2 to leave Schumaker at first.

Five strikeouts for Oswalt through three innings. He had thrown 39 pitches.

Oswalt walked Berkman on five pitches to start the fourth. Holliday was next and Oswalt hit him on the right arm with the first pitch of his at-bat, putting men on first and second with nobody out. Molina drove a ball to right-center, but Pence tracked it down for the first out making a nice running grab. Freese was the next hitter and he doubled into the left-field corner. Berkman scored easily and Holliday slid in just ahead of the relay from Rollins for the second run, putting the Cards on top 3-2. Jay moved Freese up to third with a ground out to second. Oswalt got Jackson on a fly ball to right to end the inning.

Furcal tried to bunt for a hit to start the bottom of the fifth, but popped it up to Polanco in foul territory for the first out. Oswalt’s 1-1 pitch to Schumaker was a ball inside as a squirrel ran right past Schumaker. Discussion ensued. It was still a ball. Schumaker flew to center for the second out and Pujols flew to right.

Oswalt had thrown 62 pitches. He came up with a pretty funny line after the game about wondering how big an animal it would have had to have been for the pitch not to have counted. It makes it kinda hard for me not to picture a herd of bison or something. So at least we’ve got that if not a baseball team to follow that can score without the help of a wild pitch or an intentional walk from planet Wackadoo.

Berkman grounded to third on a 3-2 pitch for the first out of the sixth. Holliday was next and singled up the middle before Molina flew to left for the second out. Freese followed and hit a 1-0 pitch out to straight away center for a two-run homer, extending the St Louis lead to 5-2. Jay grounded to second for the third out.

Double and a home run for Freese in his last two at-bats.

Blanton pitched the seventh, making his first appearance of the series, and set St Louis down in order. Descalso, double-switched into the game in the top of the inning, flew to right for the first out. Furcal grounded to first for the second and Theriot grounded to short for the third.

Lidge started the eighth with the St Louis lead cut to 5-3. Pujols flew to right, Berkman flew to left and Holliday struck out swinging 1-2.

Two perfect innings for the pen as Lidge and Blanton don’t allow a hit or a walk. Lidge threw ten pitches in the game and Blanton eight. Everyone should be available on Friday.

Freese is hitting .267 in the series after going 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBI. Schumaker also had two hits for the Cards, going 2-for-3. He’s 5-for-8 in the set.

Furcal 0-for-4 in the game and 4-for-18 so far.

Pujols 0-for-4 with a strikeout last night. 7-for-17 with three doubles in the series.

Berkman 1-for-3 with a walk and a double. 3-for-15 with a double, a homer and two walks in the series.

Holliday was 1-for-3 and scored two of the St Louis runs. 2-for-5 in the set.

Molina 0-for-3 with a strikeout. He’s 3-for-15 in the series with three singles.

Jay was 0-for-2. 2-for-11 with three walks in the series.

The Phillies lineup against righty Edwin Jackson went (1) Rollins (SS/S) (2) Utley (2B/L) (3) Pence (RF/R) (4) Howard (1B/L) (5) Victorino (CF/S) (6) Ibanez (LF/L) (7) Polanco (3B/R) (8) Ruiz (C/R). Mayberry back on the bench against the righty with Ibanez in left.

The Phils started the game with six players on their bench, righties John Mayberry, Wilson Valdez and Ben Francisco, lefties Brian Schneider and Ross Gload and switch-hitter Michael Martinez.

Rollins was the first batter of the game and hit a ball hard to center and over Jay’s head that bounced over the wall. Jay looked like he had some trouble finding the ball in the sun, but he might not have caught it even if he hadn’t. Utley was next and he ripped a ball passed Pujols and down the first base line. The ball kicked off the stands and Utley had a triple. Rollins scored to put the Phils up 1-0. Pence singled into center on the first pitch of his at-bat with Utley scoring from third to put the Phillies up 2-0. Howard was next and took a 3-2 pitch for called strike three as Pence took off for second and was thrown out on a close play to complete the double-play. Victorino flew to left for the third out.

I know it’s 3-2 and all, but I still think you want to avoid a caught stealing ahead of your five-hitter when every player you’ve sent to the plate in the game has gotten a hit. In his defense, Pence was probably safe.

Jackson struck out Ibanez and Ruiz in the second, both swinging. Polanco popped to Pujols in foul territory in-between.

Oswalt grounded to short for the first out in the third. Rollins was next and hit a ball back up the middle that Schumaker got to, but not in time to throw Rollins out at first. Utley was next and grounded out with Rollins forced at second for the second out. Pence grounded to third to leave Utley at first.

Howard struck out swinging 0-2 to start the fourth. Victorino was next and grounded to short for the second out. Ibanez flew to left for the third.

Jackson had thrown 44 pitches through four innings. He had been perfect since the first except for the infield single by Rollins.

The Phillies were trailing 3-2 when they hit in the fifth. Polanco led off and singled to left on a 2-2 pitch. Ruiz swung at the first pitch and flew to left for the first out. Oswalt bunted Polanco to second with the second. Rollins got ahead but grounded to first on a 2-1 pitch to set the Phillies down.

Utley led off the sixth with Theriot at second after Schumaker had grabbed at his leg during his at-bat in the fifth. He drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch that was outside. Utley was running 3-2 when Pence hit a ground ball to short. Furcal fielded and threw to first. Pujols saw Utley round second, came off of first and threw to third where Utley was tagged out for the first out of the inning. It brought Howard to the plate with one down and Pence on first. Howard got ahead 3-0, but flew to center on a 3-2 pitch for the second out. Victorino grounded to second to set the Phillies down.

That’s not so much a good play by Utley. We might want to cut him a little slack what with being the only guy who ever gets a hit and whatnot, though.

Lefty Arthur Rhodes took over for Jackson to start the seventh and struck Ibanez out swinging for the first out. Righty Octavio Dotel got Polanco on a ground ball to third for the second out. Ruiz flew to center to end the frame.

Righty Fernando Salas started the eighth for St Louis. Gload hit for Blanton and singled to right. Salas balked Gload to second and Martinez ran for Gload at second. Rollins smashed a 2-1 pitch, but Theriot took it on a short hop and threw to first for the first out with Martinez moving up to third. Utley chopped a 1-1 pitch up the first base line that hit first base and popped up in the air too high for Pujols to get it in time to get Utley. Utley had a single and Martinez moved up to third. Salas’s 1-2 pitch to Pence was outside and in the dirt. Molina couldn’t block it and Martinez scored from third to make it 5-3 with Utley moving up to second. Pence grounded to short for the second out with Utley holding second. Lefty Marc Rzepczynski took over for Salas and struck Howard out swinging 0-2 to leave Utley stranded.

Righty Jason Motte started the ninth for St Louis. He got behind Victorino 3-2, but threw two strikes in a row before Victorino grounded to Pujols for the first out. Ibanez didn’t come close to hitting Motte’s 0-2 pitch, a high fastball he waved at for the second out. Polanco got behind 0-2 and blooped a ball into right-center, but Jay made a nice sliding catch to end the game.

The Phils finally do something against Salas, who is charged with a run in two-thirds of an inning. The other four guys who pitched in relief for the Cards in the game combined to not allow a hit or a walk in 2 1/3 innings.

Rollins was 2-for-4 with a double. He’s 9-for-16 with a walk and four doubles in the series.

Utley 2-for-3 with a triple and a walk. 6-for-13 with two doubles, a triple and three walks.

If you had told me that Rollins and Utley were going to go 15-for-29 with seven extra-base hits and four walks in the set I wouldn’t have guessed the Phillies were going to win half the games.

Pence 1-for-4 with an RBI. 4-for-15 with two walks and four RBI in the series.

Howard 0-for-4 and struck out three times. 2-for-15 in the series with a walk, a home run and six RBI.

Victorino 0-for-4. 4-for-16 with four singles and two RBI.

Ibanez 0-for-4 and struck out three times. 3-for-12 with a home run and four RBI in the series. 1-for-8 since going 2-for-4 in game one.

Polanco 1-for-4. 2-for-16 with no walks in the series.

Ruiz 0-for-3 in the game and 1-for-14 in the series.

Roy Halladay will face righty Chris Carpenter tomorrow night in game five. Not really what we were hoping for, but it will at least give people a rare opportunity to use the phrase “must win” without hyperbole. Almost worth it.

But not quite.

It would be all about the Benjamins if Francisco’s first name was actually Benjamin. Mostly at least. It would also be some about Cole Hamels, too. And a little about a great job by Ryan Madson to get out of a huge jam in the bottom of the eighth.

The Phils got an outstanding pitching performance from Cole Hamels last night and one big swing of the bat from Ben Francisco as they topped the Cards 3-2 in game three of the NLDS.

Hamels and St Louis lefty Jaime Garcia locked up in a pitcher’s duel that saw the Phillies come to bat in the seventh with the game scoreless. With two outs, Victorino on first and Ruiz set to hit in front of Hamels, who was clearly going to be removed for a pinch-hitter having thrown 117 pitches in the game, the lefty Garcia walked Ruiz intentionally. Francisco hit for Hamels and blasted a three-run homer to left, putting the Phils on top 3-0. The bullpen struggled for the Phillies after Hamels left. Worley allowed a run on two singles and a walk in the bottom of the seventh, cutting the lead to 3-1. In the eighth, another single off of Worley and two off of Lidge loaded the bases for St Louis with one out. Madson came in to try to lock down a long save and got out of the eighth on a double-play ball smashed to second by Allen Craig. Madson was charged with a run in the bottom of the ninth when Albert Pujols led off with a double and scored on a two-out single by Yadier Molina, cutting the lead to 3-2. Ryan Theriot came to the plate 4-for-4 on the day as the winning run with two outs and a man on first, but Madson got him to ground to Utley at second to end the game.

The decision to walk Ruiz, 1-for-11 in the series, ahead of the pitcher’s spot with two outs in the seventh was baffling. It put another runner on base for the righty Francisco to hit against the lefty Garcia. After he homered, the St Louis comeback fell a run short. The foundation may have been Francisco’s 1-for-9 against Garcia for his career, but that was a bad idea and it hurt St Louis.

For Francisco it was a shining moment in a down season. He started for the Phillies in right field on opening day, but disappointed offensively, hitting an ugly 197/324/309 in 184 plate appearances between April 13 and June 30.

His home run last night was a much-needed lift for an offense that has seen its starters knock in zero runs in the last 16 innings.

The St Louis pen continues to befuddle the Phillies. After two scoreless innings in game three, they have thrown eight scoreless frames since being hit hard in game one.

The Phillies pen, on the other handled, struggled like they did in game one. The pen was great in game two, throwing three scoreless innings in relief of Lee. In games one and three they have allowed five runs on 11 hits and two walks over four innings. Eleven hits is more than you want to allow in four innings.

The Phils have won both of the games in which their pen has pitched badly and won the one where it didn’t.

The Phillies lead the NLDS with the St Louis Cardinals two games to one after winning game three 3-2 last night.

Hamels got the start for the Phillies and went six shutout innings, allowing five hits and three walks. Two of the hits went for extra-bases, both doubles to Albert Pujols. He struck out eight. He has allowed two earned runs over 21 innings in his last three post-season starts.

He faced a St Louis lineup that went (1) Rafael Furcal (SS/S) (2) Allen Craig (RF/R) (3) Albert Pujols (1B/R) (4) Lance Berkman (LF/S) (5) David Freese (3B/R) (6) Yadier Molina (C/R) (7) Ryan Theriot (2B/R) (8) Jon Jay (CF/L).

St Louis had six hitters on the bench to start the game, righties Matt Holliday and Gerald Laird, lefties Adron Chambers, Skip Schumaker and Daniel Descalso and switch-hitter Nick Punto.

Hamels got Furcal on a ground ball to second for the first out of the bottom of the first. Craig popped to Rollins on a 1-2 pitch for the second out. Pujols was next and doubled to center on a 2-2 pitch before Hamels hit Berkman 1-0 to put men on first and second. Berkman and Pujols pulled off a double-steal, but Hamels struck Freese out swinging 0-2 to leave them at second and third.

Molina hit a 2-2 pitch way out but foul before flying to Pence for the first out of the second. Theriot singled to right, but Hamels struck Jay out looking 3-2 for the second out and pitcher Jaime Garcia out swinging to leave Theriot at first.

Furcal went down swinging 1-2 to start the third before Craig walked on a 3-2 pitch up and away. Pujols flew to center on a 2-1 pitch for the second out and Berkman grounded to Utley to end the frame.

Don’t want to walk guys ahead of Pujols and Berkman, but it worked out okay for Hamels there.

Hamels struck Freese out trying to check his swing for the first out in the fourth. Molina grounded to short for the second. Theriot was next and he dribbled an 0-2 pitch down the third base line that stayed fair for a single. Theriot stole second as the count went 2-0 on Jay, so Hamels put Jay on intentionally to pitch to Garcia with men on first and second. Garcia grounded to short to leave both runners stranded.

Furcal popped to Utley to start the fifth and Craig flew to center behind him. Pujols ripped an 0-1 pitch into the gap in right center where the ball rolled all the way to the wall for a double. Berkman grounded to Howard to end the inning.

Hamels got Freese looking 2-2 to start the sixth. Molina got ahead of Hamels 3-0, but Hamels came back and struck him out swinging for the second out. Theriot was next and he singled to left, bringing Jay to the plate with two outs and a man on first. Hamels walked Jay on a 3-2 pitch that was low and his 111th of the game. Hamels struck Garcia out swinging 1-2 with his 117th pitch of the game to leave both runners stranded.

Theriot was 3-for-3 in the game at that point and Freese 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.

Worley started the seventh with the Phils on top 3-0. Furcal grounded to first for the first out, but Worley walked Craig on a 3-2 pitch behind him. Pujols was next and he blooped a ball into right that fell between Utley and Pence, putting men on first and second for Berkman. Berkman swung at the first pitch and hit a ground ball to second, with Utley going to Rollins at second to force Pujols for the second out with Craig moving up to third. Freese was also swinging at the first pitch and singled into center, scoring Craig to make it 3-1 and moving Berkman to second. Molina flew to right on a 1-0 pitch to end the inning.

I’m pretty sure it’s enough with walking Craig ahead of the great hitters.

Worley was back to start the eighth and got ahead of Theriot 0-2 before Worley looped a single that dropped right in front of Pence. Fourth hit of the game for Theriot. Bastardo took over to pitch to the lefty Jay and Punto hit for Jay. Punto flew to center on a 2-1 pitch for the first out. Righty Matt Holliday hit for the pitcher Fernando Salas and Lidge came in to pitch to him. Lidge threw strike one to Holliday before Holliday singled into left, moving Theriot up to second. Adron Chambers ran for Holliday at first. Furcal was next and singled to left on a 1-2 pitch, loading the bases for the Cards. Manuel called on Madson to pitch to Craig and Craig hit an 0-1 pitch hard but right at Utley. Utley ran to second then made a strong throw to first to complete the double-play and end the inning.

Just a huge pitch for Madson to get the double-play and get the Phillies out of the inning. Madson also gets out of the frame with just two pitches — important since he was coming back for the ninth. Getting a double-play also meant the guy behind Craig, Pujols, didn’t get to hit with a bunch of men on bases.

Fantastic decision by Manuel to bring in his best relief option with one out in the eighth inning.

It was good Pujols didn’t get to hit with the bases loaded cause he doubled to left to start the ninth. Madson got Berkman to fly to center on a 1-2 pitch for the first out. Madson got ahead of Freese and threw an 0-2 pitch that Freese took that looked real good to me. Might have been a little high. Freese took if for ball one then grounded to second 2-2 for the second out with Pujols moving up to third. Molina was next and he lined a single into center, scoring Pujols and cutting the lead to 3-2. Pitcher Kyle Lohse ran for Molina at first and Theriot came to the plate with a 4-for-4 for the game and hitting .750 in the series. Madson got Theriot to hit a one-hopper to Utley on a 2-2 pitch with Utley going to Howard in plenty of time to end the game.

Either team could have won the game on every pitch of Theriot’s at-bat, but Madson gets the job done for his second career post-season save. The other came in game five of the 2009 World Series. Madson has pitched in every game in the series, including the one that the Phillies won by five runs. Anyone remember Juan Uribe last year or Madson pitching with five-run leads? Just saying. That just saying aside, I thought it was great Manuel brought Madson in with one out in the eighth yesterday. Less fantastic he brought him into the ninth inning of game one, which the Phils won by five runs (the Phils were actually up seven runs, 11-4, with one out and the bases loaded in the ninth when Madson entered game one).

Three ugly innings for the bullpen in which they allow two runs on seven hits and a walk. Madson threw 20 pitches in the game and Worley 18. Bastardo and Lidge were both under ten.

Pujols and Theriot both went 4-for-5 in game three. Theriot had four singles and Pujols three doubles and a single. Pujols is 7-for-13 in the series and Theriot 6-for-9.

Furcal 1-for-5 in the game and 4-for-14 in the series.

Craig 0-for-3 with two walks. He’s 1-for-10 in the series but has walked four times. The Phillies should really try to stop walking him ahead of Pujols and Berkman.

Freese 1-for-5 with three strikeouts. 2-for-12 with six strikeouts in the series.

Molina 1-for-5 in the game and 3-for-12 in the series.

Jay 0-for-1 and walked twice. 2-for-8 with three walks in the series.

The Phillies lineup against lefty Jaime Garcia went (1) Rollins (SS/S) (2) Utley (2B/L) (3) Pence (RF/R) (4) Howard (1B/L) (5) Victorino (CF/S) (6) Mayberry (LF/R) (7) Polanco (3B/R) (8) Ruiz (C/R). Mayberry starts in left against the lefty with Ibanez on the bench. That seems like the right decision, although Ibanez went 3-for-8 with a home run and four RBI in the first two games of the series.

The Phils started the game with six players on their bench, righties Wilson Valdez and Ben Francisco, lefties Brian Schneider, Raul Ibanez and Ross Gload and switch-hitter Michael Martinez.

Rollins was the first batter of the game and fouled out to Pujols. Utley grounded to first for the second out. Pence lined to Furcal at short for the third out.

Howard struck out swinging 1-2 to start the second. Victorino flew to center for the second out and Mayberry struck out swinging 0-2 for the third.

Polanco grounded to short for the first out of the third before Ruiz chopped a ball over Freese’s head and into left for a single. Hamels tried to bunt but popped the first pitch from Garcia up to Molina in foul territory for the second out. Rollins was next and he hit a ball into center that Jay may have had trouble seeing in the sun, but it would have fallen anyway. Rollins had a single and Ruiz moved up to second. Utley grounded to Pujols to leave both runners stranded.

Pence flew to Berkman on the edge of the track in right for the first out of the fourth. Howard struck out looking 2-2 for the second. Victorino grounded to third to end the frame.

Mayberry started the fifth with a ground out to short. Polanco grounded to third for the second. Ruiz smashed a 3-2 pitch to Furcal’s right, but Furcal made a nice play to pick the ball and a strong throw to first to get Ruiz and set the Phillies down.

Hamels hammered a 1-0 pitch to left to start the sixth, but Craig took it after a long run for the first out. Rollins was next and flew to left for the second out. Utley was next and singled into center. He took second when Garcia delivered a 1-1 pitch to Pence that looked like it could have been blocked by Molina but wasn’t. With Utley on second, Pence was walked intentionally to put men on first and second. Howard grounded to first 0-2 for the third out to leave both men stranded.

Victorino got ahead 3-0 to start the seventh and singled into center on a 3-2 pitch. The first pitch to Mayberry was a low fastball that Molina again couldn’t block, allowing Victorino to move up to second. Mayberry flew to right for the first out and Berkman nearly picked Victorino off of second, with Victorino scurrying back just ahead of the tag. Polanco was next and grounded to third for the second out with Victorino holding second. For reasons that completely escape me, Garcia walked Ruiz intentionally to put men on first and second. Francisco hit for Hamels and hit a 1-0 pitch out to left for a three-run homer that put the Phils on top 3-0. Rollins doubled over Jay’s head and stole third, but was left there when Utley grounded to second.

Walking Ruiz intentionally is kinda baffling.

Righty Fernando Salas started the eighth with the Phillies up 3-1 and got Pence on a fly ball to right for the first out. Howard was next and he grounded to second for the second out. Victorino grounded to second to set the Phillies down.

Righy Jason Motte was on for the Cards to start the ninth. Skip Schumaker was in center for St Louis, where he had played 13 innings in 2011. Mayberry led off and hit a ball into center that Furcal tracked down with an over-the-shoulder catch for the first out. Polanco was next and broke his 0-for-11 with a single to right. Ruiz hit a ball into center that Schumaker made a diving effort at. It was originally ruled a non-catch with Ruiz safe at first with a single, but the umpires huddled and called it a catch (it was). Polanco went back to first with two down. Madson hit for himself and Motte struck him out swinging 0-2 to leave Polanco at first.

Dotel, Motte, Rhodes and Salas have combined to throw eight scoreless innings so far in the series in which they have allowed one hit (Polanco’s game three single off of Motte) and no walks.

Rollins was 2-for-4 with a double in the game. He’s 7-for-12 with a walk and three doubles in the series.

Utley 1-for-4. 4-for-10 with two walks and two doubles.

Pence 0-for-3 with a walk and 3-for-11 with two walks in the series.

Howard 0-for-4 and struck out twice. 2-for-11 with a home run and six RBI in the series. 1-for-8 in the last two games.

Victorino 1-for-4 yesterday and 4-for-12 with four singles in the series.

Mayberry 0-for-4 with a strikeout in the game and in the set.

Polanco 1-for-4 with a single. 1-for-12 in the series. He’s now hitting 254/321/287 in 140 career post-season plate appearances. 7-for-41 (.171) with the Phillies in the playoffs since the start of the 2010 post-season.

Ruiz was 1-for-3 with a memorable intentional walk. He’s 1-for-11 in the set.

Polanco and Ruiz are a combined 2-for-23 at the bottom of the order for the Phils. Rollins and Utley are a combined 11-for-22 so far at the top.

Roy Oswalt faces righty Edwin Jackson in game four.

Cause I really don’t know what Plan B is if the starting rotation isn’t going to be good. I have this sinking feeling it might involve Michael Martinez, though.

If game one looked bad early for the Phils and got better as it went along, game two was just the opposite. After three innings, the Phils had a 4-0 lead with Cliff Lee on the mound and Chris Carpenter on the ropes. After nine innings, the Phils had lost 5-4 and the series was tied up.

The Phils jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first as five of their first six hitters for the game reached based. They extended the lead to 4-0 in the second when Rollins doubled with two outs and was knocked in by Pence. St Louis got back in the game with three runs charged to Lee on a leadoff walk and four hits in the fourth. The Cards tied things up at 4-4 in the top of the sixth when Ryan Theriot doubled off of Lee with two outs and came to score on a Jon Jay single. Allen Craig led off the seventh with a triple off the glove of Victorino and Pujols singled off of Lee right behind him to put St Louis up to stay at 5-4.

The St Louis bullpen was fantastic in the game. After allowing five runs in 2 2/3 innings in the series opener, Cardinals relievers had to pitch six innings in relief of Carpenter in game two. They allowed one single and didn’t walk a batter in six shutout frames.

The Phillies lost to the St Louis Cardinals 5-4 last night. With the loss the best-of-five NLDS is tied up a one game apiece.

Lee got the start for the Phillies and went six innings, allowing five runs on 12 hits and two walks. Five of the hits went for extra-bases, three doubles and two triples. The five runs he allowed in last night’s start were more than he allowed in his ten starts in June and August combined. In June and August, Lee threw 81 2/3 innings and allowed three runs.

Over his last three post-season starts, Lee has a 7.13 ERA and a 1.64 ratio. He has been charged with 26 hits and three walks in 17 2/3 innings.

He faced a St Louis lineup that went (1) Rafael Furcal (SS/S) (2) Allen Craig (RF/R) (3) Albert Pujols (1B/R) (4) Lance Berkman (LF/S) (5) David Freese (3B/R) (6) Yadier Molina (C/R) (7) Ryan Theriot (2B/R) (8) Jon Jay (CF/L). That’s the same lineup the Cards used in game one with Theriot replacing the lefty Skip Schumaker at second with the lefty Lee pitching for the Phils.

St Louis had six hitters on the bench to start the game, righties Matt Holliday and Gerald Laird, lefties Adron Chambers, Skip Schumaker and Daniel Descalso and switch-hitter Nick Punto.

Furcal hit the first pitch of the game off the wall in right. The ball rolled away from Pence and Furcal was safe at third with a triple. Lee struck Craig out swinging 1-2 for the first out. Pujols swung at the first pitch and popped to Utley in shallow right-center for the second out with Furcal holding. Berkman got ahead in the count and smashed a 2-0 pitch down the third-base line, but Polanco back-handed and threw to first to get him for the third out.

No run for St Louis after the leadoff triple. No contact for Craig and Pujols pops up to Utley. Berkman smashed the ball.

Lee threw nine pitches in the first.

He started the second up 3-0. Freese doubled to right on his first pitch of the inning. Molina struck out looking 1-2 for the first out and Theriot out looking 0-2 (on the seventh pitch of his at-bat) for the second. Neither Molina or Theriot liked the calls, but they looked like good pitches to me. Jay went down on a ball handled by Lee for the third out to leave Freese stranded.

Second time in two innings that St Louis can’t score after an extra-base hit to start the inning.

Lee was at 23 pitches.

The Phils were up 4-0 when Lee started the third. Carpenter led off and flew to right on a 3-2 pitch for the first out. Furcal hit a ball up the middle, but Utley made a nice play moving to his right and threw Furcal out on a close play at first for the second out. Lee walked Craig on a 3-2 pitch, but struck Pujols out waving at an 0-2 curve ball to leave Craig at first.

Odd deep count on Carpenter in the inning plus the walk of Craig, but Lee keeps St Louis off the board. You want to avoid walking guys ahead of Pujols.

Lee was at 43 pitches through three innings.

He got ahead of Berkman 0-2 to start the fourth, but couldn’t put him away as Berkman drew a walk. Lee struck Freese out looking at a 1-2 fastball for the first out. Molina hit a 3-2 pitch back up the middle, just missed by Lee and off the glove of a diving Rollins, putting men on first and second for Theriot. Theriot hit the first pitch from Lee the opposite way, past Howard and down the right field line for a double. Berkman scored to cut the lead to 4-1 with men on second and third. Jay hit a 1-0 pitch into right, scoring Molina (4-2). Pence came home with the throw, but Theriot held third. Jay took second as the throw came home, sliding in safely to second just ahead of the return throw from Ruiz. With one down and men on second and third, switch-hitter Nick Punto hit for Carpenter. Lee struck Punto out swinging 1-2 for the second out. Furcal singled into left on a 1-0 pitch. Theriot scored to make it 4-3. Jay tried to score from second, arriving at the plate at the same time as Ibanez’s lollipop throw from left. Jay buried Ruiz, but Ruiz held on to the ball for the third out.

Great play by Ruiz to hold onto the ball. Ibanez’s throw was accurate at least if not strong. Punto can’t put the ball in play with one out and men on second and third. Walking the leadoff guy often doesn’t work that well.

Lee’s pitch count was up to 70 after a 27-pitch inning.

Lee set the Cards down in order in the fifth, getting Craig and Pujols both looking 0-2 before Berkman popped to Rollins for the third out.

Twelve pitches in the inning put him at 82.

He got the first two hitters in the sixth, getting Freese swinging for the first out and Molina on a fly ball to left for the second. Theriot was next and doubled to left on a 1-0 pitch. Jay followed and singled into left on an 0-1 pitch. Theriot scored to tie the game at 4-4 with Jay taking second on the throw. Lefty Skip Schumaker hit for the pitcher Fernando Salas and reached on an infield single, moving Jay up to third. Furcal hit a 1-0 pitch to third with Polanco going to second to leave both runners stranded.

Nineteen more pitches in the game for Lee. He was at 101.

Craig led off the seventh and drove a ball to center the Victorino misplayed before it went off his glove for a leadoff triple. Pujols was next and he lined the first pitch he saw from Lee into left-center for a single. Craig scored and St Louis led 5-4. Berkman was next and he moved Pujols to third with a single. That was it for Lee. Lidge came on to pitch to Freese. Freese hit a ball that Lidge fielded. He threw home where Pujols was out for the first out with Freese taking second on the play and Berkman moving up to third. Lidge walked Molina intentionally to load the bases then got out of the jam by getting Theriot to ground into a double-play to set St Louis down.

Long run for Victorino, but the ball Craig hit would have been a nice one to have. Lidge does a great job, coming in with men on first and third and nobody out and keeping St Louis off the board.

Bastardo started the eighth and walked Jay on six pitches. Descalso, double-switched into the game in the bottom of the seventh, was next and bunted Jay to second with the first out. Bastardo struck Furcal out swinging 2-2 for the second out. Worley came in to pitch to the righty Craig and got him to fly to right 1-1 to leave Jay at second.

Glad to see Bastardo get the big strikeout on Furcal, but walking Jay on six pitches wasn’t a good way to start the inning.

Madson started the ninth. Pujols led off with a single to left. Berkman struck out swinging 3-2 as Pujols was hung up by Ruiz and eventually tagged out for the second. Madson struck out Chambers, double-switched into the game in the eighth, on a 2-2 pitch for the third out.

Three shutout innings for the pen in relief of Lee in which they allowed a hit and two walks. Madson threw 15 pitches, Bastardo 12, Lidge six and Worley three.

Furcal is 3-for-8 with a triple so far in the series. Pujols 3-for-8 with three singles. Berkman 2-for-8 with a big homer in game one.

Jay and Molina are both 2-for-7 with two singles.

Freese and Craig have gone 2-for-14 with seven strikeouts.

Schumaker 3-for-5 with a double and Theriot 2-for-4 with two doubles.

The Phillies lineup against righty Chris Carpenter went (1) Rollins (SS/S) (2) Utley (2B/L) (3) Pence (RF/R) (4) Howard (1B/L) (5) Victorino (CF/S) (6) Ibanez (LF/L) (7) Polanco (3B/R) (8) Ruiz (C/R). That’s the same lineup they used against righty Kyle Lohse in game one.

The Phils started the game with six players on their bench, righties John Mayberry, Wilson Valdez and Ben Francisco, lefties Brian Schneider and Ross Gload and switch-hitter Michael Martinez.

Rollins led off the bottom of the first and hit a 2-0 pitch off the top of the wall in right for a double. Utley and Pence both walked behind, loading the bases for Howard. Howard singled up the middle, scoring Rollins and Utley and moving Pence to third with the Phils up 2-0. Victorino swung at the first pitch from Carpenter and flew to center with Jay moving in. Pence held third. Ibanez was next and he lined a 1-1 pitch to left for a single, scoring Pence (3-0) and moving Howard up to second. Polanco got ahead in the count but grounded into a double-play on a 2-1 pitch to end the inning.

Again Howard and Ibanez deliver big hits to get the Phils on the board. Again Rollins starts the rally. Victorino can’t bring Pence in from third with the first out.

Carpenter threw 30 pitches in the inning.

Ruiz led off the bottom of the second and grounded to short on a 1-2 pitch for the first out. Lee was next and struck out trying to check his swing 2-2. Rollins was next and he smashed a 3-1 pitch even higher off the wall in right (more right-center this time) for another double. Rollins was running as Carpenter delivered a 3-2 pitch to Utley way out of the zone. Utley had another walk and the Phils had men on first and third. Pence got behind in the count but singled hard to right 0-2. Rollins scored from third to make it 4-0 with Utley moving up to second. Howard hit a 2-0 pitch well to left, but Berkman took it on the track to leave both runners stranded.

Two long doubles for Rollins in two innings. The one in the second was hit the bigger part of the field and very nearly a home run. Not sure that Rollins would have scored from second on the single by Pence. No chance without two outs, but he might have tried with two.

Another long inning for Carpenter, who had thrown 56 through two innings.

Victorino grounded to first to start the third. Ibanez grounded hard to second on a 2-0 pitch for the second out. Polanco struck out swinging 0-2 for the third out.

Polanco 0-for-2 with a strikeout and a grounded into a double-play in the first three innings of the game after going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in game one. He went 6-for-33 in the post-season in 2010. In his most recent playoff action prior to 2010, Polanco had gone 0-for-17 for Detroit in the 2006 World Series against St Louis.

Carpenter was at 64 pitches for the game.

Righty Fernando Salas started the fourth for St Louis with the lead cut to 4-3. He set the Phils down in order on three ground balls, getting Ruiz, Lee and Rollins.

He was back for the fifth and threw another 1-2-3 frame, striking out Utley and Pence and getting Howard on a fly ball to center.

Utley struck out looking at a 3-2 pitch they looked like it was outside by a non-trivial amount.

Two huge shutdown innings for Salas after Carpenter leads in which the Cards get back into the game.

Righty Octavio Dotel started the sixth for St Louis with the score tied at 4-4. He was pitching for the second time in the series after two-thirds of an inning and seven pitches in game one. Victorino lined to center for the first out. Ibanez struck out swinging 1-2 for the second. Polanco flew to center for the third.

The Phils were down 5-4 when Dotel started the seventh and struck Ruiz out swinging 1-2 for the first out. Gload hit for Lidge. Lefty Marc Rzepczynski came in to pitch to Gload. Francisco hit for Gload against the lefty and flew to center for the second out. Rollins was next and he singled to left on a 1-0 pitch, but Rzepczynski picked him off of first with Pujols throwing down to second where Rollins was tagged out to end the inning.

Dotel has struck out four in two scoreless innings in the first two games of the series.

Rzepczynski was back to start the eighth and hit Utley with a 1-1 pitch. Boggs came in to face Pence, having thrown 36 pitches in game one, and Pence grounded to short with Utley forced at second for the first out. Lefty Arthur Rhodes came in and struck Howard out swinging 0-2 for the second out. Righty Jason Motte made his first appearance of the series, getting Victorino to fly to center 0-2 to leave Pence at first.

Motte was back for the ninth. He struck Ibanez out swinging 0-2 for the first out. Polanco flew to right for the second. Ruiz swung at the first pitch of his at-bat and grounded to second to end the game.

Six shutout innings from the St Louis bullpen in the game in which they allowed one hit, the single by Rollins against Rzepczynski, and struck out six. Motte, Dotel and Salas all had great days for St Louis.

Rollins was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a stolen base and a caught stealing. He’s 5-for-8 so far in the series.

Utley was 0-for-1 with two walks and was hit by a pitch. 3-for-6 with two walks and two doubles so far.

Pence 1-for-3 with a walk. 3-for-8 in the first two games.

Howard 1-for-4 with two RBI. 2-for-7 with a home run and six RBI in the series.

Victorino 0-for-4 and left three men on base. 3-for-8 with two RBI.

Ibanez 1-for-4 with an RBI and two strikeouts. 3-for-8 with a home run and four RBI in the series.

Polanco 0-for-4 with a strikeout. 0-for-8 with three strikeouts in the series. He hit 243/304/287 in his last 409 plate appearances in the regular season.

Ruiz 0-for-4 with a strikeout. 0-for-8 with two strikeouts so far.

Game three is tomorrow in St Louis.

The Phils jumped out to a one game to none lead in their series with the Cardinals tonight, getting a strong outing from Halladay after a worrisome start and mounting an offensive explosion late that saw them plate ten runs in their last three times at bat.

Halladay gave up a three-run homer to Lance Berkman in the top of the first, putting the Phils in an early 3-0 hole. The Phils look stumped by St Louis starter Kyle Lohse until the fourth when a David Freese error on a foul ball extended Victorino’s at-bat long enough for Victorino to knock in Utley and cut the lead to 3-1. The Phils knocked Lohse out of the game in a five-run sixth that featured a three-run shot by Howard and a two-run homer by Ibanez and put the Phils up 6-3. The Phillies thumped the St Louis pen in the seventh and the eighth, scoring five more runs charged to Marc Rzepczynski and Mitchell Boggs as they extended the lead to 11-3. Stutes didn’t have much luck when he took over for Halladay in the ninth, getting just one out before Madson came on to bail him out and hold the Cards to three runs in the inning.

The Phils lead their best-of-five NLDS with the Cardinals one game to none after winning 11-6 tonight.

Halladay got the start for the Phillies and went eight innings, allowing three runs on three hits and a walk. One of the hits went for extra-bases, a three-run homer by Lance Berkman. He struck out eight. After allowing a leadoff single to start the second, Halladay retired 20 hitters in a row.

He faced a St Louis lineup that went (1) Rafael Furcal (SS/S) (2) Allen Craig (RF/R) (3) Albert Pujols (1B/R) (4) Lance Berkman (LF/S) (5) David Freese (3B/R) (6) Yadier Molina (C/R) (7) Skip Schumaker (2B/L) (8) Jon Jay (CF/L). Furcal starts at short with questions coming into the game about his hamstring. Holliday on the bench with his finger and Allen Craig in the lineup in right.

St Louis had six hitters on the bench to start the game, righties Holliday, Gerald Laird and Ryan Theriot, lefties Adron Chambers and Daniel Descalso and switch-hitter Nick Punto. Punto hit about the same against lefties and righties in 2011. He’s been a little better against righties in his career.

Furcal was the first hitter of the game. He took strike one before singling into right. As the count went 1-1 on Craig, Furcal stole second. Ruiz’s throw bounced into second, Utley didn’t handle it cleanly and Furcal would have been safe if he had. Halladay struck Craig out swinging 2-2 for the first out. Pujols was next and Halladay walked him on four pitches, putting men on first and second. Berkman hammered the first pitch he saw out to right, putting St Louis up 3-0. Halladay got Freese looking 2-2 for the second out. Molina grounded to third on a 1-0 pitch to set the Cards down.

Berkman doesn’t watch a pitch after Pujols takes four straight balls. Guess Furcal’s hamstring is okay.

The last time anyone besides Lance Berkman has homered off of Roy Halladay is July 18 (Aramis Ramirez). At least in a game that counted. Maybe someone did in batting practice or whiffle ball or something. Over his last 94 1/3 innings he has given up two home runs and both have been hit by Berkman.

Schumaker led off the second and singled to right on an 0-1 pitch. Jay was next and he hit a ball hard to first, but Howard made a nice diving play and tossed to Halladay covering for the first out with Schumaker taking second. Halladay struck Lohse out swinging 0-2 for the second out and got Furcal to ground to second to leave Schumaker stranded.

Lohse doesn’t bunt Schumaker to third with the second out, which would have been a bad idea.

Halladay had thrown 29 pitches through two innings.

He set St Louis down in order in the third. Craig grounded to short for the first out. Pujols hit a pair of balls hard but foul down the third base line before grounding to Polanco for the second out. Berkman again swung at the first pitch and this time popped to Polanco in foul territory to end the frame.

Berkman swinging first pitch for the second time in two at-bats. Nine pitch inning for Halladay, who was at 38 for the game.

Freese led off the fourth and grounded to second 1-2. Halladay struck Molina out swinging 1-2 for the second out. Schumaker popped to third 0-2 to set St Louis down.

Nine in a row for Halladay. He was at 49 pitches for the game.

It was 3-1 when Halladay set St Louis down in order in the fifth. Jay struck out swinging 1-2 for the first out. Lohse grounded to short for the second. Furcal bunted back to the mound and was thrown out by Halladay for the third.

Twelve in a row for Halladay. Sixty pitches in the game.

The Cards went in order in the sixth, too. Craig struck out swinging 1-2 for the first out. Pujols hit a ground ball back up the middle that Rollins handled for the second. Berkman struck out swinging 1-2 for the third.

Fifteen in a row and 74 pitches.

The Phils led 6-3 when Halladay started the seventh. Freese grounded to third on a 1-1 pitch for the first out. Molina was next with a 10-pitch at-bat that ended with a ball hit hard to Rollins. Rollins got in front of it, though, and threw Molina out for the second out. Schumaker hit the ball pretty well, too, but Howard took it at first and beat Schumaker to the bag for the third out.

Halladay was at 89 pitches and had retired 18 in a row.

The Phils were up 9-3 when Halladay started the eighth. Jay led off and chopped a ball to first. Howard handled it and tossed to Halladay covering. Daniel Descalso, who had entered with Marc Rzepczynski in the bottom of the seventh, was next and Halladay struck him out swinging for the second out. Furcal lined to left on a 2-2 pitch for the third out.

Twenty-one in a row. Halladay was at 105 pitches.

Stutes started the ninth for the Phils with an 11-3 lead. He got ahead of Craig 0-2, but walked him. Pujols was next and singled into center, moving Craig to second. With the count 1-0 on Berkman, Laird ran for Pujols at first. Berkman hit a 2-2 pitch to second that might have been a double-play, but Utley’s toss to Rollins at second wasn’t great and the Phils only got one. It left St Louis with men on first and third with one down and the lefty Chambers hit for pitcher Arthur Rhodes. Chambers ripped a 1-1 pitch into right for a single. Craig scored (11-4) and Berkman moved up to second. Molina followed with a single to left that loaded the bases. That was it for Stutes and Madson came on to pitch to Schumaker. Schumaker hit the first pitch from Madson to left and off the glove of a diving Mayberry for a double that scored Berkman and Chambers. 11-6 with one down and men on second and third. Jay was next and Madson struck him out swinging 0-2 for the second out. Holliday hit for Descalso and Madson struck him out swinging 0-2 to end the game.

Stutes faced five batters in the game, allowing three singles and a walk. He got one out and was charged with three runs. He threw 20 pitches in the game. Madson threw eight.

The Phillies lineup against righty Kyle Lohse went (1) Rollins (SS/S) (2) Utley (2B/L) (3) Pence (RF/R) (4) Howard (1B/L) (5) Victorino (CF/S) (6) Ibanez (LF/L) (7) Polanco (3B/R) (8) Ruiz (C/R). Utley hits second instead of third with Polanco hitting third instead of fifth. Victorino out of the two-hole and hitting fifth.

The Phils started the game with six players on their bench, righties John Mayberry, Wilson Valdez and Ben Francisco, lefties Brian Schneider and Ross Gload and switch-hitter Michael Martinez. Martinez was an atrocious hitter against both righties and lefties, but more atrocious against lefties. 179/189/196 for the year against lefties.

The Phils were down 3-0 when they hit in the first. Rollins broke his bat grounding to first on a 1-0 pitch for the first out. Utley hit an 0-1 pitch back to the mound. Lohse knocked it down, picked it up and threw Utley out at first for the second out. Pence grounded to second on a 1-0 pitch for the third out.

First career post-season at-bat for Pence. Lohse threw six pitches in the inning.

Howard lined Lohse’s first pitch of the bottom of the second to left for the first out. Victorino popped to Pujols near the mound for the second out. Ibanez squirted a ball towards third. Freese charged, fielded and made an off-balance throw to first that Pujols handled to end the inning.

Howard hit the ball well, just right at Berkman. Twelve pitches for Lohse through two.

Polanco led off the third and fouled out to Pujols on a running basket catch for the first out. Ruiz hit the ball pretty well, but flew to Jay in center on an 0-1 pitch for the second out. Halladay lined a 1-2 pitch to right, but Craig handled it for the third out.

Lohse was at 19.

Rollins led off the bottom of the fourth and struck out swinging 1-2 for the first out. Utley was next and hit a 1-0 pitch high off the wall in right for a double. Pence struck out swinging at a 1-2 pitch that was way outside for the second out before Howard walked on four pitches, putting men on first and second for Victorino. Victorino lofted a 1-2 pitch high down the third base line. Freese tried to make an over-the-shoulder basket catch and dropped the ball for an error. Victorino singled into left with Utley scoring to cut the lead to 3-1 with two down and men on first and second. Ibanez swung at the first pitch and flew to Craig in shallow right center to leave the runners stranded.

Pence looked bad striking out at a bad 1-2 pitch. Big hit for Victorino hitting behind Howard early in the series. Lohse didn’t seem real concerned about walking Howard on four pitches with Victorino behind him. Error by Freese gives Victorino another chance — it looked like Freese had time to get into better position to try to catch the ball.

Lohse was at 45 pitches.

Polanco struck out looking 1-2 for the first out in the fifth. Ruiz again hit the ball hard, but this time off the right foot of Lohse. Lohse threw him out for the second out. Halladay grounded to third for the third out.

Second time in two chances that Ruiz hit the ball hard without a hit. Lohse was at 54 pitches.

Things got a lot better for the Phils in the sixth. Rollins led off and singled to center. Utley was next and struck out for the first out, fooled on a 1-2 changeup out of the zone. Pence singled into center on the first pitch of his at-bat, moving Rollins to second. It brought Howard to the plate with men on first and second. He fouled off two 3-2 pitches and then crushed a ball way out to right for a three-run homer that put the Phils up 4-3. Victorino ripped a 1-0 pitch down the first base line, out but just foul, before he singled into center on a 2-2 pitch. It brought Ibanez to the plate and he hit a 2-0 pitch out to right for another homer and the Phils led 6-3. That was it for Lohse. Righty Octavio Dotel came in and struck Polanco and Ruiz both out swinging to end the inning.

Rollins starts the rally for the Phils with a single. Howard watched his home run in a way that might not appeal to those who aren’t fans of the Phillies. Howard, Victorino and Ibanez came close to going back-to-back-to-back with Victorino’s ball going foul just by a few feet.

Halladay hit for himself to start the seventh against lefty Marc Rzepczynski. Halladay had thrown 89 pitches in the game. He hit a ball back up the middle that went off of the pitcher’s glove for an infield single. Rollins was next and he singled to right, moving Halladay up to second. Utley showed bunt against the lefty, taking ball one and then strike one. He didn’t try to bunt at the 1-1 pitch, which was a ball, then fouled off the next offering to make it 2-2. Utley hit the 2-2 pitch into center for a single that loaded the bases. Righty Mitchell Boggs came in to pitch to Pence. Pence swung at the first pitch from Boggs and dribbled a ball out near the mound. Boggs picked it up and threw home to force Halladay for the first out. The righty Boggs stayed in the game to pitch to Howard and got ahead of him 0-2. Howard hit a 1-2 pitch hard to right. Craig took it for the second out with Rollins tagging and scoring from third to put the Phils up 7-3 with men on first and second. Victorino lined an 0-2 pitch from Boggs to right and Utley raced around third to slide in safe just ahead of the throw from Craig. 8-3 with men on first and second for Ibanez. Ibanez singled into right as well, with Pence scoring well ahead of the throw from Craig this time. 9-3 with men on first and third. Mayberry ran for Ibanez at first. Boggs got Polanco on a fly ball to right to end the inning.

Not a fan of trying to bunt with Utley if that’s what he really wanted to do. Howard gets to hit against the righty Boggs with a chance to blow the game open and has to settle for a sac fly. The other lefty in the pen for St Louis (Arthur Rhodes) stays in the pen. Victorino and Ibanez come through with back-to-back singles after Howard.

Boggs was back to start the eighth and got Ruiz on a ground ball to short to start the eighth. Halladay hit for himself again, this time with a six-run lead and having thrown 105 pitches in the game, and struck out swinging 3-2 for the second out. Rollins walked on a 3-2 pitch that was inside. Boggs again stayed in to face a lefty and Utley smoked a ball off the wall in right for a double, sending Rollins to third. Pence took strike one from Boggs, then roped a single into center that scored both Rollins and Utley and put the Phils up 11-3. Rhodes finally came into the game to face Howard with two down and Pence on first. Howard went down on a ground ball to Schumaker to end the inning.

St Louis sure stuck with Boggs for a while. He allowed four hits and a walk in 1 2/3 innings and threw 36 pitches in the game.

Rollins was 2-for-4 with a walk and two singles in the game.

Utley was 3-for-5 with two doubles off the wall in right.

Pence 2-for-5 and drove in two runs.

Howard 1-for-3 with a walk, a three-run homer and four RBI.

Victorino 3-for-4 with two RBI.

Ibanez 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and three RBI.

Polanco 0-for-4 and struck out twice.

Ruiz hit the ball hard twice, but was 0-for-4 with a strikeout in the game.

Cliff Lee will face righty Chris Carpenter in game two.

Lee went 17-8 with a 2.40 ERA and a 1.03 ratio during the regular season. He was third in the league in ERA and third in ratio. Second in strikeouts and fourth in fewest walks per nine innings.

Lee didn’t allow more than two earned runs in a start after July. In his last ten starts on the year he threw to an 0.93 ERA with an 0.84 ratio and struck out 79 in 77 2/3 innings.

He had a 1.94 ERA and an 0.98 ratio in his 18 starts at home in 2011.

Lefties hit .196 against him. He walked four of the 212 left-handed batters he faced in ’11.

Carpenter went 11-9 with a 3.45 ERA and a 1.26 ratio for St Louis in 34 starts this season. Carpenter led the NL in innings pitched and was in the top ten (seventh) in fewest home runs per nine innings. He allowed 16 in 237 1/3 innings for the year.

Carpenter allowed more than one run in just one of his last five starts to end the regular season. He threw to a 1.13 ERA over 40 innings in those appearances.

The Phils made franchise history last night, winning their 102nd game of the regular season for the first time ever as they beat Atlanta 4-3 in 13 innings to knock the Braves out of the post-season.

The Phillies end the year at 102-60 and winners of four straight games. They swept Atlanta in the three-game set and the Braves fell short in their Wild Card bid with the combination of last night’s loss and an 8-0 win for the Cardinals against Houston.

Blanton started the game for the Phils and allowed a run on three hits over two innings, dropping his ERA on the year to 5.01.

The Phils went up 1-0 in the top of the first when Pence’s two-out walk was followed by a Howard double. Michael Bourn led off the bottom of the first for Atlanta with a single, stole second, went to third on a ground out and scored on a sac fly to tie the game at 1-1. Dan Uggla hit a two-run homer off of Cole Hamels in the third, putting Atlanta up 3-1.

The Phils still trailed by two runs when they hit in the seventh. With one out and men on first and third, Ruiz smashed a ball to short that would have been a double-play ball if Jack Wilson could have handled it cleanly. He couldn’t. Ruiz reached on an error and Ibanez scored from third to cut the lead to 3-2.

Craig Kimbrel came on in the ninth to try to save the game for Atlanta, but couldn’t get it done. The Phils loaded the bases on a single by Polanco and walks to Francisco and Rollins before Utley delivered a sac fly that tied the game at 3-3. With two outs in the top of the 13th and men on first and third, Pence broke his bat delivering a single into shallow right field with Schneider scoring from third to put the Phillies up a run. Herndon kept the Braves off the board in the bottom of the ninth, walking Uggla with one out but getting Freddie Freeman to hit into a double-play behind him to end the game, to earn his first career save.

Hamels didn’t look strong pitching in relief, allowing two runs on four hits over three innings, and again was hurt by the home run on the two-run shot by Uggla. In 38 innings in September, Hamels allowed nine home runs (2.13 per nine innings). Only one pitcher in either league, Bronson Arroyo, allowed more than nine home runs in September. Three others besides Hamels also allowed nine (Anthony Vazquez managed to allow nine in 20 innings pitching for Seattle). Coming into September, Hamels had allowed ten home runs in 178 innings (.51 per nine innings).

It was a fantastic night for the Phillie bullpen. Blanton and Hamels combined to allow three runs over five innings. After Hamels left, Worley, Lidge, Madson, Stutes, Schwimer, De Fratus and Herndon combined to throw eight shutout innings in which they allowed three hits and four walks.

Madson, Lidge and Stutes combined to go three innings in the game in which they struck out four without allowing a hit or a walk.

Michael Schwimer threw two scoreless innings in the game, allowing just one single. He ends the season having thrown four scoreless innings over his last three appearances.

Rollins was 0-for-6 with a walk in the game. He goes 11-for-25 to end the season.

Utley 2-for-4 with two walks. He goes 4-for-8 in his last two games of the regular season.

Pence 2-for-4 with three walks. He’s 7-for-his-last-16 to end the season. 324/394/560 in 236 plate appearances with the Phils this year.

Howard 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. 6-for-14 over his last four games. Ends the year at 224/286/347 against left-handed pitching.

Mayberry 1-for-5 with a walk and started the game in center with Victorino resting with a (hopefully slightly) sore back. Mayberry is 3-for-his-last-15 with four walks. He slugged .576 in the second-half of the season, which led the Phils and was seventh in the NL among the 117 players with at least 150 plate appearances. . He hit ten home runs in 144 second-half at-bats. He has hit 302/356/611 over his last 177 plate appearances.

Victorino is 6-for-his-last-21 after going 0-for-1 last night, but hit 179/257/321 over his last 149 plate appearances to end the season. After going 2-for-5 with a triple and a home run against the Mets on August 23, Victorino was hitting 314/389/551 for the year. He ends the season at 279/355/491.

Ibanez 1-for-6 with two strikeouts and six men left on base. 5-for-17 to end the year. He walked in just 33 of his 575 plate appearances this year (5.7%), which is his lowest rate since 1998. He ends the year at 211/232/353 against lefties.

Polanco 2-for-4. 4-for-24 with no walks to end the year. 243/304/287 in 409 plate appearances since the end of April. He had ten extra-base hits in those 409 plate appearances.

Ruiz 0-for-5 with two strikeouts and an RBI. He has on-based .376 over 1,284 plate appearances the last three years. His power was down this year — he registered extra-base hits in just 6.1% of his plate appearances. Over the last two seasons he had delivered an extra-base hit in about 9.0% of his plate appearances. He slugged just .337 against lefties for the season despite posting a .265 average against them. He’s 1-for-his-last-13.

Martinez went 0-for-3 in the game and left seven men on base. He ends the year 1-for-his-last-21 with a 196/258/282 line for the season.

Games one and two with St Louis are Saturday and Sunday in Philadelphia. Three and four in St Louis Tuesday and Wednesday. Game five would be here on Friday.