PHILADELPHIA — Jon Jay flipped Carlos Ruiz, and then Albert Pujols delivered the knockout blow.
These feisty St. Louis Cardinals aren’t backing down from the mighty Phillies.
Pujols hit a go-ahead single in the seventh inning after Cliff Lee blew a four-run lead, and the Cardinals rallied past Philadelphia 5-4 on Sunday night to even their NL playoff matchup at one game each.
Down early, Jay jolted Philadelphia’s catcher on a bruising play at the plate. Jay was out, ending the fourth inning. The Phillies, however, couldn’t block the Cardinals’ path to victory.
“I thought that was my only option,” Jay said. “I thought I got him, all right, and I was hoping that the ball would come out, but it didn’t. He did a good job of holding onto the ball.”
The wild-card Cardinals, who got into the postseason only after the Phillies beat Atlanta in Game 162, got the split they were looking for on the road against the team that had the best record in the majors.
Lee hardly looked like the guy who used to be so dominant in the postseason. He gave up five runs and 12 hits, striking out nine in six-plus innings, to lose his third straight playoff start.
“I wasn’t able to make my pitches, so I take full responsibility,” Lee said. “Anytime I got a 4-0 lead in the first or second, I feel I have the game well in hand.”
Pitching on three days’ rest for the first time in his career, Chris Carpenter struggled for the Cardinals.
But one reliever after another did the job for manager Tony La Russa.
Six Cardinals relievers combined to toss six shutout innings, allowing just one hit. Jason Motte finished for a four-out save.
“We’ve been doing this all year. We don’t give up,” Motte said. “People counted us out, (but) we kind of went out there and just kept playing hard.”
After chipping away for a few innings, the Cardinals took the lead in the seventh. Allen Craig led off with a triple off center fielder Shane Victorino’s glove. A three-time Gold Glove winner, Victorino misplayed the ball. He had to go a long way to make the catch, but he overran it and the ball bounced off his glove. Pujols then singled to give St. Louis a 5-4 lead.
Carpenter, the 2005 NL Cy Young Award winner, allowed four runs and five hits in three innings. It was the shortest outing of the season for Carpenter, who led the NL with 237 1/3 innings pitched this year.
The bullpen bailed him out.
Key moment
Cards stack deck vs. ace
With Cliff Lee on the mound holding a 4-0 lead in the fourth inning, you’d have thought things were looking great for the Phillies. But the left-hander, who was 17-8 with a 2.40 ERA in the regular season, allowed three runs in the fourth that allowed the Cardinals to get back in the game.
Star of the game
Pujols hits his stride for Cards
First baseman Albert Pujols, who struck out in his previous two at-bats, lined a single over drawn-in Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins to give the Cardinals a 5-4 lead in the seventh inning. Pujols also singled in the ninth inning.
Series tied 1-1
Best of five
Saturday: Phila. 11, St. Louis 6
Sunday: St. Louis 5, Phila. 4
Tuesday: Phil. (Hamels 14-9) at St. Louis (Garcia 13-7), 3:07 p.m.
Wednesday: Philadelphia at St. Louis, 4:07 or 6:07 p.m.
x-Friday: St. Louis at Phila., 6:07 or 6:37 p.m. x-if necessary
