Phillies implode in 11th inning, lose for 38th time in 49 games
The Cardinals lit up relievers Edubray Ramos and Casey Fien for six runs in the 11th inning.
For 10 innings, the Phillies and Cardinals were equals. Edubray Ramos, once released as a teenager by St. Louis, appeared from the bullpen in the 11th inning. They were no longer equals Tuesday night.
The Phillies have won once in two weeks, and the defeats are more agonizing with each passing day. They lost, 8-1, because Ramos faced two batters and walked them both. Casey Fien, acquired in a cash transaction with Seattle earlier this season, surrendered a two-run double to Stephen Piscotty. Yadier Molina crushed a two-run homer. Tommy Pham provided an exclamation point with another two-run homer.
And that's how the 47th loss materialized. The Phillies are 25 games under .500 before the official start of summer.
Ramos is tops in the Phillies' bullpen with a 26 percent strikeout rate. But has walked 14 percent of the batters he has faced, and that is an untenable figure. He now owns a 4.55 ERA.
The Phillies mustered five hits — all singles — in the game's first 10 innings. They walked twice to start the fourth. One of those walks, Howie Kendrick, scored on a Maikel Franco two-out single. That was it.
Jeremy Hellickson danced through seven innings. He benefited from some luck on balls in play and failures by the Cardinals with runners in scoring position. St. Louis could not score with runners on the corners and one out in the second inning. The Cardinals had runners on second and third with no one out in the third and came away with nothing. A leadoff double in the fifth was erased with a fly ball double play.
It marked the first time Hellickson pitched seven innings since April 21. His ERA in the 10 starts between? A gruesome 6.28.