The Phils win a wild one with the Cards as they win in extra-innings, 8-7.

The Cards took the lead in the first as, with a man on first, and with nobody out, Matt Carpenter hits an RBI double, knocking in Jon Jay, who had started the ballgame off with a walk, giving the Cards a 1-0 lead. The Phils took the lead in their half of the first as, with two men on, and with nobody out, Chase Utley hits a two-run RBI triple, just beating Cards’ third baseman Carpenter’s tag, as he knocked in Juan Pierre, who had started the Phils’ half inning off being hit by the pitch, then moved up to second base on Kevin Frandsen’s bunt single, and Frandsen, who had just reached base on a bunt single, giving the Phils a 2-1 lead. The Phils then took a 3-1 lead as Ryan Howard hits an RBI single, that got past Cards’ second baseman Daniel Descalso. The Cards cut the Phils’ lead down to 3-2 in the third as, with a runner on first, and with two men out, Carlos Beltran hits an RBI double, knocking in Matt Holliday, who had earlier reached base as he hit into a 5-4 force out, as Carpenter, who had earlier singled, is wiped out at second base for the inning’s second out. The Cards then tied the game up at three-all in the fourth as, with a man on second, and with one man out, Rafael Furcal, who had started the inning off with a single, then stopped at second base on Lance Lynn’s sacrifice bunt, 1-4, would stop at third base on Jay’s single to left, as Pierre’s throw towards the plate goes past the cut off man, allowing Jay to try to reach second base, drawing the throw from Phils’ catcher Erik Kratz, who commits a throwing error, as the ball goes past Utley, allowing Jay to reach second base, while Furcal scores, before Jay would head on to third base. The Cards then took a 4-3 lead as Carpenter hits an RBI single, scoring Jay. The Phils tied the game up at four-all in their half of the fourth as Howard hits a lead-off home run, his seventh home run of the season. The Cards retook the lead in the eighth as, with two men on, and with one man out, Jay hits a two-run double, knocking in Tony Cruz, who had earlier singled, then moved up to second base on Frucal’s sacrifice bunt, 5-4, and pinch hitter David Freese, who had just walked, giving the Cards a 6-4 lead, before moving up to third base on the late throw to the plate. The Cards then made it a 7-4 lead as Carpenter hits an RBI single, scoring Jay. The Phils then retied the game at seven-all in their half of the seventh as, with two men on, and with two men out, Kratz’s hits a three-run home run, his fifth home run of the season, knocking in Utley, who had started the inning off with a walk, then moved up to second base on Howard’s walk, and pinch runner Nate Schierholtz, who was pinch running for Howard, who had earlier walked. The Phils then won the game in the bottom of the eleventh inning as, with a runner on third, and with two men out, Pierre would hit a grounder to Cards’ shortstop Furcal, who would slip while making the throw to first base, allowing Pierre to beat the throw for an infield single, as Jimmy Rollins, who had been safe at first on a fielder’s choice force out, as Kratz, who had started the inning off with a double, committed a base running blunder by trying to go to third on the grounder, 6-5, then moved up to second base on pinch hitter Brian Schneider’s ground out, 3-unassisted, then stole third base, crossed the plate with the winning run, giving the Phils an 8-7 extra-innings, walk-off win.

Vance Worley received a no-decision as he pitched five and one-third innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and two walks, while striking out four. Raul Valdes pitched two-thirds of an inning, getting out both men that he would face, striking out one. Josh Lindblom pitched a scoreless inning, walking a batter, while striking out one. Michael Schwimer pitched an inning, giving up three runs on three hits and a walk. Jonathan Papelbon pitched a 1-2-3 inning. Jeremy Horst (1-0, 1.13) got the win, his first major league win, as he pitched two scoreless innings, giving up two hits, as he struck out three. Lance Lynn also received a no-decision as he pitched five innings, giving up four runs on four hits, two walks and a hit batter, while striking out two. Fernando Salas and Edward Mujica combined for two scoreless innings, giving up a walk (Salas) between them, while striking out two batters (one batter each). Marc Rzepczynski pitched to two batters, walking both of them. Mitchell Boggs committed his third blown save of the season as he pitched two innings, giving up three runs on a hit, while striking out a batter. Barret Browning (0-2, 4.24) took the lost, his second in three days, as he pitched an inning and two-thirds, giving up a run on two hits and a walk.

The Phils had seven hits in the game, with Ryan Howard (Single, Home Run, 2 RBIs) and Erik Kratz (Double, Home Run, 3 RBIs) both leading the team with two hits apiece. Juan Pierre (Single, RBI), Kevin Frandsen (Single) and Chase Utley (Triple, RBI) had the other three Phils’ hits. The Phils also had six walks, a hit batter (Pierre) and a stolen base (Jimmy Rollins (18)) in the game.

The Phils (52-62, 4th) will start a three-game series with the Marlins (52-63, 5th), starting with a game tonight. The game will be played at Marlins Park, and is to start at 7:10 pm EDT. The Phils will send to the mound Cole Hamels (12-6, 3.08), who is coming off a complete game shutout of the Braves on August 7, as he gave up only five hits, while striking out six, in the Phils’ 3-0 win. He will be trying to help the Phils put some distance between them and the Marlins. The Marlins will counter with Nathan Eovaldi (3-7, 4.33), who is coming off a win against the Mets on August 8, as he went five innings, giving up four hits and six walks, while striking out two, in the Marlins’ 13-0 rout. He will be trying to put the Marlins back into fourth place. The Phils will be trying to put some distance in the standings between them and the fish.