Phillies beat Cardinals 5-3 in 10 innings

[May 26, 2012]  ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Hunter Pence hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning off Jason Motte and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 on Friday night.

The Phillies won their third in a row after surviving a fourth inning in which Pence, the right fielder, and Shane Victorino, the center fielder, lost balls in the lights. The winning runs came too late for Cliff Lee, a 17-game winner last season still seeking his first win of 2012.

Juan Pierre singled to start the 10th against Motte, working his second inning. Pence had been hitless in nine at-bats before lining the St. Louis closer's first pitch over the right field wall for his team-leading 11th homer. He's 3 for 10 against Motte (3-2) with two homers and three RBIs.

Raul Valdes (2-0), who hadn't won a game since Sept. 15, 2010, before getting the decision in Thursday's 10-9 victory, struck out Tyler Greene and Matt Holliday with two on in the ninth inning to win for the second straight game. Jonathan Papelbon finished for his National League-leading 14th save in 14 chances.

The Cardinals missed chances at the go-ahead hit in the seventh, eighth and ninth. Holliday flied out to the left field wall with a man on to end the seventh, Yadier Molina was thrown out trying to score from first on Matt Adams' two-out double to the right-center gap in the eighth and Holliday struck out with two on to end the ninth, breaking his bat in frustration after slamming it off the plate.

Second baseman Freddy Galvis had a strong relay to the plate and Carlos Ruiz hung on after Molina crashed into him.

Lee's, who's 0-2 despite a 2.82 ERA, left after striking out seven in seven innings in a game tied at 3. Lee won 17 games last year, finishing third in the Cy Young balloting.

Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse had no walks or strikeouts for the second time in two seasons against the Phillies and against Lee, giving up three earned runs in 6 1-3 innings. He walked none in eight innings in a 4-0 loss at home to Philadelphia last June 22.

Lee, who got called third strikes on five of his strikeouts, barely survived the seventh, convincing manager Charlie Manuel to leave him in before Holliday's flyout to the wall.

Lee singled for his second hit to start the seventh, and got a good jump on Pierre's double off Mitchell Boggs with one out, scoring easily to tie it.

The Cardinals opened the fourth with four straight hits, two of them apparently lost in the lights. They scored only once, running into an out when Molina was caught trying for third after Adams' popup dropped between equally bewildered Pence and Victorino for a gift hit.

David Freese started the inning with his third career triple, a drive off the top of the center field wall that Victorino couldn't track, waving his arms while drifting back in the track. Molina's single made it 3-2, but Victorino salvaged some wounded pride when he retrieved the ball after Adams' single and threw out Molina at third.

Jimmy Rollins had an RBI single and another run scored on first baseman Adams' fielding error as the Phillies took a 2-0 lead in the second. Adams and Shane Robinson had consecutive doubles in the bottom of the second and Furcal hit his third homer leading off the third to tie it.

Furcal, whose drive appeared to bang off a sign just above the left field wall, is 3 for 7 against Lee with two homers.

Lee has allowed three or fewer runs in all five of his career starts against St. Louis, two of them shutouts.

NOTES: The Phillies and Cardinals combined for 33 hits on Thursday, with each team getting 15 or more in a nine-inning game for the first time since May 12, 1935, at League Park in Philadelphia in St. Louis' 10-8 victory. Pepper Martin and Leo Durocher each had three hits for the Cardinals, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. ... One night after a streaker eluded authorities for several minutes, Fredbird, the Cardinals' team mascot, ran across the field minus his uniform to delighted applause. ... Carlos Beltran was not in the original Cardinals lineup, written before he arrived, but talked his way in. Then he went 0 for 5 with two strikeouts.

[Associated Press; By R.B. FALLSTROM]

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.