Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez started off Wednesday afternoon’s matinee at Bush Stadium by hitting a relatively lazy fly ball to center field. St. Louis Cardinals center fielder Dexter Fowler put the ball away without any trouble, but not before it carried all the way to the warning track. That made you think this afternoon’s getaway game could turn into an offensive shootout, but that’s not what transpired.
Instead, both Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff and Cardinals starter Jack Flaherty were very economical through the first four innings, using just 101 pitches combined. Even when the scoring got started in the top of the fifth inning, it was of the small-ball variety.