PHILADELPHIA • If any team was ready, in sports parlance, for a “laugher,” it was the Cardinals. Ten of their previous 12 games had been decided by two runs or fewer, and six of those were one-run games.
And then they played the Philadelphia Phillies, who lately have been a balm for anything that possibly could ail anyone. The Phillies, the majors’ worst team, had lost nine of their last 10 games and 19 of 23 before the Cardinals came to town, including a 19-3 setback at Baltimore.
This one wasn’t quite as severe a beating, but the Cardinals took a switch to the Phillies, nonetheless, paddling them 12-4 Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.