Lather, Rinse, Repeat: Cardinals 4, Phillies 1

The 2012 Phillies pitching staff is having one of the weirdest seasons ever. Which, in the present case, is not a good thing.

Stop me if you've heard this before: Cliff Lee pitches okay but makes one or two big mistakes that find their way into the seats. The offense does absolutely nothing to bail him out. This is 2012. This is your life.

The Phillies scored their first and only run in the first inning on an RBI groundout from Ryan Howard, very nearly a double play but for a Chase Utley takeout slide at second base.

Lee cruised through the first five innings with little trouble, retiring 12 in a row before a John Jay single to lead off the sixth inning. Then Allen Craig stroked an opposite field double to right field, and Matt Holliday came to the plate to put the game away with a home run to right, just a few feet higher than Craig's double, giving the Cardinals a 3-1 lead.

Lee gave up another run in the eighth on an RBI single to Carlos Beltran. And that was that for the scoring.

Cardinals starter Jake Westbrook did what he does, induced a ton of ground balls, 18 in total, allowing just four hits and striking out three. Lee went seven innings, striking out six and allowing 10 hits, walking none.

There were a few nice plays by third baseman Kevin Frandsen, which almost makes me feel better about Placido Polanco being kaput. Oh wait, I don't feel anything like that at all.

Tune in tomorrow as Vance Worley and Lance Lynn play for all the marbles.

Gamegraph of Fate after the jump...

Source: FanGraphs