Philadelphia, PA

The most disappointing season in Phillies history is over.

The St. Louis Cardinals blanked the offensively challenged Phillies 1-0 to win the NLDS series and advance to the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Roy Halladay gave up the only run before recording an out in the first and pitched well for eight innings. However, his close friend Chris Carpenter, who hurled a three-hit complete game shutout, was even better. Carpenter made the lone run stand up by keeping hitters off balance throughout the game.

"That was the best I've ever seen Carpenter," Raul Ibanez said. "He was very good."

Ibanez just missed hitting a three-run homer in the fourth inning. He hit a high fly ball to right, which Lance Berkman caught a step from the wall.

"I was about a centimeter off," Ibanez said. "I was that close (to reaching the seats). But that's how it goes."

For the second straight year Ryan Howard made the final out of the season. After hitting a grounder to second, the 'Big Piece' collapsed 20 feet down the first baseline due to an injury to his left Achilles tendon. The severity is uncertain. Howard will get an MRI.

"It sucks," Howard said when describing how the season ended. "I tried to run and felt a pop and it felt like the whole thing was on fire. I tried to run but it felt like I was on a flat tire."

Howard hit .105 for the series. The Phillies hit just .226 for the series while the Cardinals batted .259. the bottom of the order was an abyss and really hurt the Phillies. Placido Polanco, who has a sports hernia, hit .105 for the series and Carlos Ruiz batted .059

Despite the poor offensive numbers, the Phillies still had a chance thanks to very good starting pitching. "We just didn't come through," Howard said. "We were in the game. We just couldn't score."

The Phillies scored just one run in last 17 innings against the Cardinals. The Phillies aces couldn't make up for the offensive deficiencies. Not even the lionized Halladay could trump the Cards.

"It's tough," Halladay said. "It's hard to have it end like that. You always want to finish happy. It's hard to finish the season losing."

That's all that Halladay knows. The concept of finishing happy is why he came to Philadelphia. With the possible loss of such key players as Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Madson and the uncertain status of Howard for 2012, will Halladay have a reasonable chance to finish happy next season?

"I believe in this club," Halladay said. "We'll be back and ready to go for the World Series next year. I believe that."

Twitter: @ihavenet

Copyright © 2011 AHN - All Rights Reserved