Lance Berkman followed up a four-pitch walk to Albert Pujols with a three-run home run to put the St. Louis Cardinals ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies by a score of 3-0 in Game 1 of their 2011 MLB Postseason series. The Cardinals avoided their NL Central counterparts’ fate against Roy Halladay from last-season after Rafael Furcal led off the game with a single, and Berkman wasted no time depositing a Halladay pitch into the right field stands at Citizen’s Bank Park.
Kyle Lohse, the Cardinals’ surprise starter for the NLDS opener, used just six pitches to get through the Phillies’ first three hitters in the bottom of the inning. The Phillies’ vaunted top three of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels are an ominous sign for any team in a best-of-five series, and the Cardinals will have to deal with Halladay twice if this series goes past three games.
Berkman hit .301/.412/.547 with 31 home runs in 145 regular-season games in his first season as the Cardinals’ starting right fielder. He’s moved to left with Matt Holliday unable to go in Game 1 of the series.