With one of the four aces on the hill the Phillies had a chance to put away the pesky St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4 of the NLDS but instead of heading to their fourth-straight NLCS, the Phillies head home for a deciding Game 5 Friday night.
Roy Oswalt (0-1) allowed five runs on six hits over six innings as the Cardinals beat the Phils 5-3 at Busch Stadium Wednesday night.
Oswalt's biggest nemesis was Cards 3B David Freese. St. Louis' seventh-hole hitter hit a go-ahead double in the fourth and added a two-run homer in the sixth to lead the Cards.
The series is now tied at two games apiece as the teams return to Philly for a do-or-die Game 5.
The Phils had their opportunities including the first three batters getting on base in the first but Ryan Howard struck out looking -- one of the Big Piece's three Ks on the day -- as hunter Pence was thrown out at second for a strike 'em out, throw 'em out double play.
The Phillies would manage just four hits over the last eight innings as Cardinals starter Edwin Jackson (1-0) and five relievers combined to hold the Phillies to just one more run on a wild pitch in the eighth.
The only real production for the Phightins came from the Top 2 in the order as Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley combined to go 4-for-7 with a walk and two runs scored. The Phillies three through eight batters went a combined 2-for -23 as Howard and Ibanez struck out three times.
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And despite being good at the dish, Utley also ran into a critical out while trying to go first to third on a grounder by Pence. A head's up play by St. Louis 1B Albert Pujols caught Utley at third.
And of course once again there was a squirrel running around Busch Stadium.
Game 5 is Friday at 8:30 p.m. as Roy Halladay (1-0) faces Chris Carpenter (0-1).
