ST LOUIS (Reuters) - The St Louis Cardinals stretched their hot streak to a seventh consecutive game on Tuesday, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 7-1.
Matt Holliday's three-run homer in the fifth inning broke the game wide open for the Cards, who are on their longest winning streak since 2006.
Backed by a sharp defense, Cardinals pitcher Chris Carpenter dominated the Phillies by conceding the lone run on six hits over eight innings, while improving his win-loss record to 11-3.
"I was throwing a lot of good sinkers and they were hitting them in the ground early in the count," Carpenter told reporters. "Getting quick outs, that's what happens when you throw quality pitches early to a team that wants to hit."
The Phillies gave Carpenter plenty of assistance by going down in order in the first, second, fifth and eighth innings, with their only success coming in the seventh when Jayson Werth scored on Shane Victorino's double.
St Louis won the first of their three-game series against the Phillies 8-4 on Monday and the visitors have now lost five of their last six games.
The Phillies, World Series champions in 2008 and National League champs in 2009, lost 47-year-old starting pitcher Jamie Moyer after the first due to a left elbow strain and his return date to the mound looks uncertain.
"When that is, I have no idea," he said. "My goal is to keep a positive mental diagnosis, whatever the outlook is."
(Editing by John O'Brien)
