Instant Replay: Cardinals 5, Phillies 4

BOX SCORE

ST. LOUIS - After converting his first nine save chances as the Phillies' closer, Jeanmar Gomez coughed one up on Wednesday night.

He blew a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Phillies came away with a 5-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

The Cardinals tied the game on a bases-loaded infield hit by Stephen Piscotty with one out.

They won it on a two-out hit by Matt Holliday.

The wild ninth inning typified the game. There were a bunch of close plays and several lengthy delays to review calls.

The Phillies are 16-12.

Starting pitching report
Adam Morgan took a 4-0 lead into the fifth inning, but did not retire a batter in that frame as the Cardinals touched him for four hits, a walk and three runs.

The Cardinals' rally started with a double down the left-field line by Ruben Tejada. The ball was initially ruled foul, but the call was overturned after a five-minute, one-second review. The delay did not help Morgan, who then allowed four straight base runners and three runs.

St. Louis right-hander Mike Leake gave up four runs over five innings. All the runs came on home runs, a three-run shot by Ryan Howard and a solo blow by Odubel Herrera.

Bullpen report
Colton Murray came into a difficult spot in the fifth. There were runners on first and second with no outs and the Cards had already scored three times to cut the Phils' lead to one. Murray got a double play and a groundout to stop the rally. He was in line for his first big-league win before the Cardinals rallied in the ninth.

Elvis Araujo, Andrew Bailey and Hector Neris all pitched scoreless ball before Gomez came in.

At the plate
Howard smacked a three-run home run with one out in the fourth. It was his seventh of the season and second in as many nights against the Cardinals. He helped win Tuesday night's game with a solo homer, the game's only run.

Howard has 13 homers and 43 RBIs in 37 career games at Busch Stadium.

Herrera lined a bullet into the Cardinals' bullpen with two outs in the fifth. It was his third home run. He has reached base safely in 24 of his last 25 games.

Aledmys Diaz had a two-run single and Piscotty an RBI single during the Cardinals' three-run fifth.

Matt Adams had a huge hit, a double off the top of the center-field wall, in the Cardinals' ninth-inning rally.

In the field
The Phillies made two dazzling defensive plays in the bottom of the eighth inning. Freddy Galvis made a terrific play in the hole at shortstop to prevent a leadoff hit. Rookie leftfielder Tyler Goeddel then went to the wall and reached above it to make a catch for the third out. The play robbed Jedd Gyorko of at least extra bases and possibly a game-tying homer at that point.

Up next
The series concludes on Thursday afternoon. Jerad Eickhoff (1-3, 4.15) opposes St. Louis lefty Jaime Garcia (1-2, 3.73).