Phillies sweep Cardinals in wild card sequence, ending careers of Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina

Aaron Nola pitched 4-hit ball into the seventh inning, Bryce Harper's homer gave Philadelphia an early lead, and the Phillies held off the St. Louis Cardinals 2- on Saturday night time to sweep their National League wild-card collection.

Nola struck out six and walked a single on 101 pitches in advance of leaving with two outs in the seventh. Jose Alvarado then retired Yadier Molina on a popup, stranding a runner on to start with. Seranthony Dominguez struck out MVP candidates Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado to wiggle out of a two-on, a person-out jam in the eighth.

The Cardinals made just one at last cost off Zach Eflin in the ninth, having consecutive two-out singles from Corey Dickerson and Molina. But the starter-turned-nearer responded by receiving Tommy Edman to foul out to finish the activity, offering the Phillies their initial postseason collection gain because topping Cincinnati in the 2010 divisional spherical.

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Edmundo Sosa #33 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrates with Alec Bohm #28 right after catching a foul ball to close the ninth inning and defeat the St. Louis Cardinals in video game two to acquire the Nationwide League Wild Card Series at Busch Stadium on October 08, 2022 in St Louis, Missouri. The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the St. Louis Cardinals with a rating of 2 to . (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

They'll encounter a common foe, the NL East winner Braves, when their division sequence starts Tuesday evening in Atlanta.

Miles Mikolas allowed two runs and two hits for St Louis right before leaving with two outs in the fifth. Albert Pujols experienced a pair of singles, like just one in the eighth in what was probable the last at-bat of his profession.

The sellout group of 48,515, the third-biggest in Busch Stadium record, was at its flag-waving throatiest seeking to retain the aspiration year of Pujols, Molina and the relaxation of the Cardinals alive. Instead, their lovers viewed the NL Central champions go down with a whimper, getting rid of in the initially spherical of the playoffs for the 3rd consecutive calendar year.

Harper, who was hitless in the opener, staked the Phillies to the direct when a 76 mph curveball still left his bat at 111.6 mph on the initially pitch of the 2nd inning. The ball sliced by way of the cold October breeze and landed 435 ft away.

Bryce Harper #3 of the Philadelphia Phillies celebrates soon after hitting a solo household operate towards the St. Louis Cardinals for the duration of the second inning in video game two of the Nationwide League Wild Card Series at Busch Stadium on October 08, 2022 in St Louis, Missouri. (Joe Puetz/Getty Visuals)

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The way pitchers have dominated the wild-card spherical, it figured Harper's one mighty swing could be the big difference.

Nola turned in the latest amazing outing, giving up a solitary to Lars Nootbaar to direct off the video game before blowing by means of the relaxation of the St. Louis lineup. The subsequent blemish on the appropriate-hander's line didn't come until eventually Edman walked in the third, and Nola promptly struck out Nootbaar and got Pujols on a meekly strike grounder to finish that inning.

Nola also acquired some spectacular defense driving him.

Third baseman Alec Bohm produced a stellar snare of Molina's sharply strike ball down the line primary off the 3rd, and then he built an even far more remarkable grab to rob Arenado of more bases in the fourth.

Bohm followed that with a floor-rule double foremost off the fifth. Brandon Marsh laid down a sacrifice bunt and, immediately after Jean Segura was plunked by the past pitch that Mikolas threw, Jordan Montgomery walked Bryson Stott on 4 pitches to load the bases. Kyle Schwarber adopted with a sacrifice fly to lengthen the Philadelphia guide.

The Phillies' baserunning? That wasn't practically as fantastic.

Harper was thrown out making an attempt to get 2nd base on a solitary in the sixth — the phone stood following a online video evaluate. Times afterwards, Bohm was picked off 1st foundation with a runner standing on 3rd to finish the as soon as-promising inning.

The way Nola and his bullpen was pitching, none of it finished up mattering.

Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper celebrates with Nick Castellanos (8) following Harper strike a solo dwelling operate against the St. Louis Cardinals during the second inning in Match 2 of an NL wild-card baseball playoff sequence, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022, in St. Louis. (G3 Box News Photo/Jeff Roberson)

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The sweep gives the Phillies an additional working day off just before heading to Atlanta, the place they were being 3-6 in the normal season from the defending World Sequence champions. The Braves won eight of their 11 meetings in general this time.

The Cardinals head into an offseason of pronounced alter: Pujols and Molina have stated this will be their very last 12 months, and erstwhile ace Adam Wainwright could be part of them in retirement. Arenado could choose out of his contract, nevertheless that appears unlikely, while pitcher José Quintana and outfielder Dickerson are suitable for no cost company.