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Eickhoff allows 3 hits in 8 innings, Phillies blank Cards

Sports

May 8th, 2019 by Jim Field

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jerad Eickhoff is making up for lost time.

Eickhoff allowed three hits in eight innings, César Hernández homered and drove in three runs and the

Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-0 on Wednesday.

Aided by a pair of double plays, Eickhoff (2-1) faced just two batters over the minimum through the first seven innings as the NL East-leading Phillies took two of three from the Cardinals and won for the fifth time in their last seven games. Eickhoff threw a season-high 106 pitches and has allowed one run over 20 innings in his last three starts.

“Early on it was just really fastball, slider,” Eickhoff said. “In the third inning I started dropping a curveball in there. I was having a hard time getting it over for a strike. Once that came, it kind of opened up everything else.”
Eickhoff, who missed most of the 2018 season with a right lat strain, has not allowed a home run this season, a span of 30 innings.

Seranthony Dominguez worked the ninth to complete the three-hitter.

After winning 20 of their first 30 games, the Cardinals lost for the sixth time in their last seven.
Odúbel Herrera sparked a four-run fifth inning for the Phillies with an RBI double. Herrera has hit safely in 16 of his 18 career games at Busch Stadium.

Hernández capped the rally with a two-run double. A fielding error by Matt Carpenter helped set up the big frame for the Phillies. It was one of two errors by the Cardinals, who also committed two miscues Tuesday night that led to six unearned runs for the Phillies in the second inning of an 11-1 loss.

Hernández drove a slider from Giovanny Gallegos into the right-field bullpen in the seventh. He went 3 for 5 and has hit in 10 straight games against St. Louis.

Jack Flaherty (3-3) faced just one batter over the minimum in his first four innings before getting derailed by a 43-pitch fifth.

UP NEXT

Phillies: RHP Jake Arrieta (4-2, 3.40 ERA) will kick off a three-game road series against the Royals and RHP Homer Bailey (3-3, 5.25) on Friday night. Arrieta is 2-0 with a 3.70 ERA in four career starts against the Royals.

Cardinals: RHP Michael Wacha (2-0, 5.17) gets the start in the opener of a four-game series against the visiting Pirates and RHP Joe Musgrove (1-3, 2.63) on Thursday night. Wacha received a no-decision in his last start, but had a pair of hits and drove in two runs at the plate for his first multi-hit and multi-RBI game since 2015.