How the Phillies overcame bullpen fatigue to defeat Cardinals

With the bullpen overworked heading into the tenth straight game in a 13 day stretch, the Phillies had to walk a tight rope to secure a 6-5 win over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium Monday night to begin the road trip.

With an early two-run lead, Andrew Painter looked his best this season, tossing 5 ⅓ hitless and scoreless innings with six strikeouts. Because of the lack of available arms out of the bullpen, interim manager Don Mattingly tried to squeak two more outs from the rookie despite his pitch count rising with a 3-0 lead, but to no avail. 

The righty was chased in the sixth inning after giving up a one-out, two-run single to Alec Burleson to make it a 3-2 game. 

There were plenty of positives to take away from the outing from the rookie, including the usage of his new circle changeup that he has incorporated after getting rid of his splitter. 

He threw the pitch 31% of the time and it generated 50% chase and was responsible for three of his six punchouts. The new pitch, which has been part of a revamping of his arsenal has been a productive tradeoff so far for Painter who earned his first win since March 31. 

Painter owns a 2.93 ERA in his three starts since returning to the rotation. 

Alan Rangel, recently called up to help eat some innings due to the taxed staff, was able to relieve Painter and get the final two outs of the inning. 

In the seventh, Kyle Schwarber doubled home Garrett Stubbs for a key insurance run to double up the lead 4-2. The slugger seemingly has broken out of a month-long slump, picking up a hit in five straight games and hitting .444 during that stretch (8-for-18). 

Rangel kept the Cardinals at bat in their home half of the seventh. The Phillies’ offense tacked on two more runs thanks to an Edmundo Sosa two-run double, which proved to be the difference in the game. 

In the bottom of the eighth, Rangel bent but did not break, allowing three runs but was able to escape without further damage getting Jimmy Crooks to chase a high changeup out of the zone for a huge second out and then retired pinch-hitter Bryan Torres who lined out to centerfield. 

With Jhoan Duran unavailable pitching four of the last five days, Jonathan Bowlan came in and slammed the door in the ninth with ease to notch his first-career big-league save of his career to hold on to the one-run win. 

Bowlan, a Memphis native, had about 20 family members and friends in attendance. His dad was drafted by the Cardinals in  the 19th round in the 1989 draft making his first save a full circle moment for the reliever. 

With the win, the Phillies have won seven of their last 10 games.