Offense continues to sputter versus Cardinals

The Phillies' anemic offense continued at Busch Stadium as the Cardinals swept the short two-game set.

The Phils scored a total of two runs, dropping the opener 3-1 and last night's game 2-1. Truth is, they should have been shutout.

John Mayberry scored the lone run in the opener, after stealing second and scoring on a Ben Francisco RBI single. The only problem was: Mayberry was out. The tag beat him but the Phils caught a break as he was called safe. It put them ahead 1-0 at the time, but Cliff Lee wasn't able to hold the Cards off the board, taking another tough luck loss.

Roy Oswalt was outstanding in his return last night, dueling against Jaime Garcia who is having a tremendous season for St. Louis. The Phils managed to tie the game in the eighth when Tyler Greene, who'd been inserted into the game as a defensive replacement, dropped an easy pop-up off the bat of Jimmy Rollins. A Michael Martinez single and Placido Polanco sac fly later, the Phils had scored their first run of the game.

Danys Baez had a terrible bottom of the ninth though, loading the bases with no one out. After forcing Matt Holliday into a fielders choice out at the plate, J.C. Romero entered and threw one pitch to Lance Berkman, which he blasted to center for a walk-off RBI single.

These offensive struggles are becoming a real concern. Hopefully reinforcements are coming soon. They hope to have Shane Victorino back off the shelf soon, while Chase Utley and Domonic Brown could be nearing a call-up.