The Phillies’ offensive help the team outlast a determined Cardinals’ offense as the Phils defeat the Redbirds, 10-7. The Phils take over control of first place in the National League East as they head to New York City for their first meeting with their rivals, the Mets, in the Mets’ new home of Citi Field.

The Phillies took a quick 1-0 lead in the first, as, with one out, Shane Victorino hits a solo home run, his fourth home run of the season. In the third, the Phillies increased their lead, as, with runners on second and third, and nobody out, Victorino hits an RBI single, scoring Phils’ starter Brett Myers, who had earlier singled, and had gone to third on Jimmy Rollins’ double, and Rollins, who had earlier doubled, giving the Phils a 3-0 lead. Later, with the bases loaded, via a single to Raul Ibanez, which had sent Victorino over to third base, and a walk to Ryan Howard, which would move Ibanez up to second, and still nobody out, the Phils would make it 4-0 Phils as Jayson Werth hits into a sacrifice-double play, which would score Victorino from third base, while Ibanez was thrown out at second base, 8-4, as he midjudged the play, thinking that the ball would fall in for a base hit, instead of being caught by centerfielder Colby Rasmus, for the inning’s second out. A rare baserunning mistake by Ibanez since becoming a Phil. The Cards would get a run back in their half of the third, as, with runners on second and third, and one man out, Joe Thurston hits into an RBI ground out, 6-1, for the inning’s second out, knocking in Tyler Greene, who had earlier doubled, and had gone over to third on Skip Schumaker’s single, making it a 4-1 Phillies’ lead, while sending Schumaker, who had gone up to second base on Victorino’s throw home, as the ball goes past the cut off man, would move on to third. In the fourth, the Cardinals made it 4-2 Phils as Rudy Ludwick hits a lead-off solo home run, his seventh home run of the season. Two batters later, with one man out, Yadier Molina made it a 4-3 Phils’ lead as he hits a solo home run of his own, his third home run of the year. The Phillies then increased their lead in the fifth, as, with runners on the corners, and two men out, Werth hits a three-run home run, his fourth home run of the year, and his second home run of the series, scoring Rollins, who had earlier singled, and had gone on to third on Victorino’s single, who would later be picked off first, trying to steal second base, 1-3, for the inning’s first out, and Howard, who had earlier walked, giving the Phillies a 7-3 lead. The Cardinals got a run back in their half of the fifth, as, with a runner on second, and two men out, Ludwick hits an RBI single, knocking in Thurston, who had earlier doubled, cutting the Phillies’ lead to 7-4. In the sixth, with the bases loaded, via a single to Molina, Rasmus being hit by a pitch, and a single to Cardinals’ starter Adam Wainwright, with one man out, pinch hitter Khalil Greene would hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Molina from third, making it a 7-5 Phils’ lead, while sending Rasmus over to third base. In the seventh, the Phillies would make it 8-5 Phils, as, with two men on, and one man out, Howard would hit an RBI single, scoring Victorino, who had earlier singled, and had moved up to second after Ibanez was hit by a pitch, while sending Ibanez over to third base. Two batters later, after Werth was hit by a pitch to load the bases, sending Howard up to second base, Pedro Feliz hits an RBI single, scoring Ibanez, giving the Phils a 9-5 lead, while moving both Howard and Werth up a base, leaving the bases loaded. The Cardinals would get a run back, as, with two men on, and two outs, Rasmus hits an RBI double, scoring Chris Duncan, who had earlier walked and had gone on to second on Molina’s walk, making it 9-6 Phils, while sending Molina, who had earlier walked, over to third. In the ninth, the Phils added an insurance run, making it a 10-6 lead, as with a runner on first, and two men out, Feliz hits an RBI double, knocking in Werth, who was earlier safe at first on a fielder’s choice ground ball, as Ibanez, who had earlier hit a ground rule double and had reached third base on Howard’s ground out, 3-1, was cut down at home plate on a ball hit to the pitcher, Brad Thompson, who threw home to the catcher, Molina, who blocked home plate and then tagged out Ibanez, who had taken off on the crack of the bat. The Cardinals make it a 10-7 game in the bottom of the ninth, as Albert Pujols hits a lead-off home run, his tenth home run of the year, and his only hit in the series. But, that would be it, as Brad Lidge would end the game by getting out the next three batters.

Brett Myers would get the win as he pitched five and a third innings, giving up five runs on nine hits and two hit batters, while striking out one. His record is now 2-2 with a 5.35 ERA. Scott Eyre pitched two-thirds of an inning, as he recorded his third hold of the year, giving up no runs or hits. Clay Condrey pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up a run on one hit and two walks, while striking out a batter. Ryan Madson recorded his fourth hold of the season, as he went an inning and a third, giving up no runs. Brad Lidge pitched an inning, giving up a run on one hit, while striking out a batter. Adam Wainwright took the lost, as he pitched six innings, giving up seven runs on nine hits and two walks, while striking out five. His record is now 3-1 with an ERA of 4.08. Denny Reyes pitched a third of an inning, giving up two runs on two hits and a hit batter, while striking out a batter. Chris Perez pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and hitting a batter. Jason Motte pitched two-thirds of an inning, striking out a batter. Brad Thompson pitched an inning, giving up a run on two hits.

The Phillies collected fifteen hits in the game, with Shane Victorino leading the way with four hits, just one hit short of the cycle, as he had two singles, a double and a home run, knocking in three runs, and scoring three, as he raised his batting average to .308. Jimmy Rollins, Raul Ibanez and Pedro Feliz all followed with two hits apiece. Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth, Miguel Cairo, Carlos Ruiz and Brett Myers got the Phils’ other five hits. Besides the Victorino’s three RBIs, Werth lead the team with four RBIs, Feliz knocked in two runs and Howard knocked in one.

The Phillies (14-10, 1st) continue their four-games road trip with a short two-games series with their main rival in the NL East, the Mets (12-13, 3rd). The first game will be played at the Mets new home, Citi Field, with a start time of 7:10 pm Eastern. The Phils’ starter will be Chan Ho Park (0-1, 8.57), who is coming off an earlier beating at the hands of these same Mets on May 1, where he was only able to pitch four and two-thirds innings, giving up seven runs on eight hits and six walks, while striking out only one batter, in the Phillies’ 7-4 lost. Park is still looking for his first win as a Phil, while folks are wondering how many more chances the Phils will give him before putting him into the bullpen. The Mets will counter with their ace Johan Santana (3-1, 1.10), who is coming off of a no-decision against the Marlins on April 29, as the Mets’ bullpen once again let him down. Santana went seven strong innings, giving up only two runs on five hits and three walks, while striking out seven, in the Mets’ 4-3 lost. He will be looking for his fourth win of the year as he hopes to once again dominate the Phils. The Phillies will be looking to come out of New York with at least a split, before coming home for a three-games set with the Braves.