St. Louis – The Phillies wasted no time in bringing their raucous celebration from the field to the visitors club, where they released champagne. It was the Cardinals who slowed down to leave.
They are left regurgitating their sorrows and the end of an era.
Aaron Nola’s four-stroke in the seventh inning, Bryce Harper Humid, beat Philadelphia 2-0 on Saturday to sweep them into the wild cards series, marking the end of two great careers for Albert Pujols and Yadir Molina.
Nola described six hits and made 101 shots away. He left with two outs in the seventh inning. Jose Alvarado later retired Molina with a header, leaving the runner stranded at first.
“Everyone at this club, in this team and in this organization is very excited,” Nola said. “We are just a bunch of selfless players who do whatever it takes to win matches, no matter what. It excites us a lot.”
Seranthony Dominguez beat Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, two MVP nominees, out of congestion with two on board and a pair of naysayers in the eighth inning.
The Cardinal took one last shot at Zach Evelyn in the ninth. Cory Dickerson and Molina hit back-to-back singles with two holdouts.
However, the close-turned player responded by forcing Tommy Edman to the foul to end the match. That gave the Phillies their first win in the playoff series since their 2010 victory over Cincinnati in the Divisional Round.
The next step is a duel against a known opponent. The Atlanta Braves, the Eastern Conference champion and last world championship, host their first meeting on Tuesday.
Pujols hit a pair of singles, including one for eighth, in what almost certainly was the last hit of his career. Both he and Molina said they will retire once the current campaign is over.
Bosch Stadium was attended by 48,515 people, the third largest in the history of Busch Stadium. They waved flags and shouted constantly for survival in a campaign in which it seemed that the Cardinals were already destined to achieve something important to bid farewell to their superstars in Latin America.
Instead, they watched the NL Central champions get eliminated in a heartbeat.
St. Louis surrendered in the opening round of the playoffs for the third year in a row.
“This is very difficult, especially when you know it’s been the last year for Lady and Albert,” said Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol. “There’s extra motivation for them. We wanted to do something special and let their story end with a hero.”
“Obviously this is a disappointment. But it is what it is.”
For Velez, Dominican Jean Segura 1-0.
For the Cardinals, the Dominican Pujols 4-2. Venezuela’s Juan Ypez 4-1. Puerto Rico Molina 4-1.
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