ST. LOUIS - The Phillies fell victim to a dominant pitching performance in the finale of a four-game series Sunday.
St. Louis Cardinals rookie Jack Flaherty struck out 13 over 7 2/3 innings to pick up his first big-league win and lead his team to a 5-1 victory.
The teams split the four-game series.
Odubel Herrera's streak of reaching base safely was snapped at 45 games. He took first on a dropped third strike in his final at-bat of the game, but that did not extend the streak.
Meanwhile, Cesar Hernandez drew a ninth-inning walk to improve his on-base streak to 24 straight games.
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Flaherty, a 22-year-old right-hander, was selected 34th overall in the 2014 draft. The Phillies selected Aaron Nola seventh overall in that draft. On this day, Flaherty out-pitched Nola.
Flaherty gave up just two hits and walked one on the day. One of the hits was a solo homer by Rhys Hoskins. The other was a single by Aaron Altherr in the eighth inning.
The 13 strikeouts by Flaherty were the most by a Cardinals starter this season.
Nola saw his five-game winning streak end as he fell to 6-2. He didn't pitch his best game, but he didn't pitch poorly, either. The defense, which has been shoddy recently, made an error behind him and that contributed to a run. The poor run support, dictated by Flaherty, also did not help.
Nola, who entered the game with the majors' seventh-best ERA (1.99), pitched six innings and gave up four runs, the most he's given up in 10 starts this season.
The Cardinals scored two against the right-hander in the fourth inning and two more in the sixth. Nola gave up two singles and a walk in the fourth. A throwing error by first baseman Carlos Santana did not help. In the sixth, Nola was tagged for a leadoff homer by Tyler O'Neill. The Cards pushed across a second run in the inning on a sacrifice fly.
The Phillies open a six-game homestand Monday night against the team they have been chasing in the standings for a couple of weeks, the Atlanta Braves.
The Phils are 26-18. The Braves are 28-17.
