The Cardinals do not have a true backup shortstop on their roster, although Saggese played well there on Friday night.
ST. LOUIS — When Masyn Winn had to come out of the game in the first inning on Friday night because of back spasms, it necessitated a series of changes to the lineup – which turned out to help the Cardinals win the series opener against the Phillies at Busch Stadium.
Because Brendan Donovan was serving as the DH, the Cardinals had to move Thomas Saggese from second base to shortstop – and Pedro Pages had to move from catching to play second base.
Yohel Pozo took over behind the plate – and he delivered the key hit of the game, an RBI double in the fifth inning that broke the scoreless tie.
Pozo scored the second run on a bases-loaded walk and added two more singles to finish off his three-hit night.
That was all the offense Andre Pallante needed as he shut down the Phillies on just two hits over seven innings.
Pages handled both of his fielding chances without a problem before he left the game after the sixth when the Cardinals moved Donovan to second, giving up their DH.
The Cardinals do not have a true backup shortstop on their roster, although Saggese played well there on Friday night. Winn’s injury could keep him out of the lineup for the next few days.
Here is how Friday night’s game broke down:
At the plate: Saggese led off the fifth with an infield single and scored on Pozo’s double into the left-field corner. Lars Nootbaar followed with a single before Aaron Nola issued back-to-back walks to Nolan Arenado and Alec Burleson to force in the second run … The Cardinals failed to take advantage of other scoring chances as they were just 1-of-13 with runners in scoring position and left 11 runners on base.
On the mound: Pallante got out of a two-on, two-out jam in the first and then allowed only two more baserunners as he became the first Cardinals pitcher to complete seven innings this season. He allowed a two-out single in the fourth and a one-out walk in the fifth, retiring 19 of 21 batters … Phil Maton worked a 1-2-3 eighth and Ryan Helsley pitched around a leadoff single in the ninth to earn his second save … Cardinals pitchers have not allowed an earned run in their last 22 innings.
Key stat: Pages became the first Cardinals to catch and play second base in the same game since Tony Cruz on April 17, 2011 at Cincinnati.
Worth noting: Roddery Munoz was promoted from Memphis to give the bullpen a fresh arm. Munoz takes the place of Chris Roycroft, who was optioned to Memphis on Thursday … Nolan Gorman (hamstring) is eligible to come off the injured list on Saturday … Willson Contreras, who has started the year with only five hits in 49 at-bats, had the night off on Friday … Top prospect JJ Wetherholt played his first professional game at second base on Friday night for Double A Springfield. He only had played shortstop since last year’s draft … Tekoah Roby worked four more scoreless innings for Springfield and has not allowed a run in his first two starts covering eight innings … Top pitching prospect Quinn Mathews had another rough start for Memphis, walking six in 2 2/3 innings at Nashville. He has walked 15 batters in his first 10 2/3 innings this season.
Up next: Miles Mikolas, who failed to get out of the third inning in his last start in Boston, will get the start in the middle game of the series on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for 1:15 p.m.
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