RSS
St. Louis, MO
Cole Hamels shut down the St. Louis Cardinals for six innings and Ben Francisco belted a pinch-hit three-run homer to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 3-2 victory in Game 3 of the National League Divisional Series Tuesday.
The Phillies lead the series 2-1 and can advance to the NLCS with a victory in Game 4 Wednesday.
Hamels tossed six scoreless innings but was matched zero for zero on the scoreboard by St. Louis starter Jaime Garcia, who allowed just three hits through six frames.
The Phillies went the final seven innings of Game 2 without scoring a run and were again impotent at the plate against Garcia until the seventh.
Shane Victorino led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball. After two outs No. 8 hitter Carlos Ruiz was intentionally walked and Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel decided to pinch hit for Hamels.
It turned out to be the right choice as Francisco, who hit six homers in 250 at-bats in the regular season, unleashed a blast to left-center field to put the Phils on top 3-0.
Hamels allowed five hits and struck out eight before Manuel turned things over to the bullpen.
Rookie Vance Worley yielded an RBI single to David Freese in the seventh and Yadier Molina added an RBI single in the ninth, but Ryan Madson sealed the win with his first five-out save of 2011.
Albert Pujols had four hits - including three doubles - and Ryan Theriot went 4-for-5 for St. Louis.
Rangers Eliminate Rays, Phillies Win
Twitter: @ihavenet
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