In the game against Cardinals Phillies left-hander Matt Strahm missed his intended target. Catcher J.T. Realmuto had set up for a fastball high and inside, but the pitch ended up right over the plate. Strahm let out a curse as Masyn Winn connected and launched it over the left field wall.
Winn’s homer turned out to be the game-winner in a 3-2 loss for the Phillies against the St. Louis Cardinals. It marked just the second time this season that the Phillies (24-17) dropped the opening game of a home series. Their typically potent offense was held in check by Cardinals lefty starter Matthew Liberatore and right-handed reliever Kyle Leahy, who logged a season-high seven outs.
Liberatore exited in the sixth inning with runners on and one out after already surrendering a run. With right-hander Edmundo Sosa due up, Phillies manager Rob Thomson made wholesale changes, swapping in left-handed bats for the bottom of the lineup: Bryson Stott replaced Sosa, Max Kepler came in for Weston Wilson, and Brandon Marsh later pinch hit for Johan Rojas. However, the trio went a combined 0-for-6. Stott flied out against ex-Phillie JoJo Romero in the eighth, while Kepler and Marsh struck out facing Cardinals closer Ryan Helsley.
“I knew Helsley would be on in the ninth,” Thomson said. “We didn’t love the Stott-Romero matchup, but Stott generally hits lefties well, and I trusted his at-bat. I thought the sixth inning was our best chance to capitalize, but it didn’t work out.”
The Phillies offense managed only one extra-base hit or fewer for the ninth time this season.
Starter Cristopher Sánchez ran into control issues in the fourth and fifth innings but still delivered his fourth quality start of the year. He gave up two earned runs and walked three batters for the third straight outing—a mark he exceeded just six times throughout all of last season.