Early on it looked like St. Louis might steal one. The Cardinals jumped out 2-0 in the 1st before Philadelphia clawed back with runs in the 2nd and 3rd, and the two sides traded blows the rest of the way — both teams put up a 2-spot in the 6th, and neither bullpen could find a stretch of outs to put the game away.
St. Louis actually took the lead in the top of the 10th before Philadelphia answered right back in the bottom half to walk it off, 7-6. Both pens got stretched further than either manager wanted, with St. Louis fresh off a 10-9 slugfest of its own against Cincinnati just a day earlier.
The win pushed Philadelphia's streak to 6 straight, extending a stretch that's included finishing off both Minnesota and Miami without much resistance. St. Louis, meanwhile, is still scrapping for a wild card spot in a crowded field that includes the Cubs, Padres and Diamondbacks — the kind of race where a game like this one, lost in extras on the road, stings a little more than the box score lets on.
Both clubs will need their bullpens to recover fast — Philadelphia's especially, given how thin it already was walking into this one. For St. Louis, the margin for error keeps shrinking with every week that passes in the standings.