The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies for the second time in a row Tuesday night, finishing off a two-game series with a mini-sweep of sorts despite a score-tying error that left Jaime Garcia without a win. A ninth-inning rally for the Cardinals left Lance Berkman in a position to win the game for Fernando Salas, and he took advantage with a one-out line drive to center field that drove in Ryan Theriot from third base. Garcia didn't allow an earned run in eight innings but got the no-decision; he outdueled Roy Oswalt, who allowed a run in five innings in his return from the disabled list.
Seven innings into what might have been his third shutout of the season Garcia was victimized by an error from Tyler Greene, who had replaced Allen Craig for defensive reasons at second base. Greene simply dropped a routine pop-up, and the unearned run was pushed across to tie the score. But Garcia held the Phillies at bay after that, and Salas pitched a scoreless, efficient ninth inning to put the top of the Cardinals' order up with a chance to win.
The Cardinals needed 13 hits to push through two runs; Albert Pujols had three, including an opposite-field double. Yadier Molina added three more, and Theriot and Jon Jay headed the lineup with two each. Garcia's ERA dropped to 1.64 after eight more innings without an earned run.