JakeWestbrook
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W11 | 96 |
| L8 | 92 |
| G22 | 288 |
| IP139.0 | 1595.0 |
| BB36 | 505 |
| SO89 | 904 |
CliffLee
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W2 | 121 |
| L6 | 75 |
| G19 | 273 |
| IP133.1 | 1775.0 |
| BB24 | 416 |
| SO124 | 1447 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W11 | 96 |
| L8 | 92 |
| G22 | 288 |
| IP139.0 | 1595.0 |
| BB36 | 505 |
| SO89 | 904 |
| SEASON | CAREER |
| W2 | 121 |
| L6 | 75 |
| G19 | 273 |
| IP133.1 | 1775.0 |
| BB24 | 416 |
| SO124 | 1447 |
Jake Westbrook has gotten plenty of offensive support from his St. Louis Cardinals teammates during one of the longest winning streaks of his career.
The right-hander, though, may need to rely on himself more in a bid to win a career-high fifth consecutive start Saturday night against the Philadelphia Phillies .
Westbrook (11-8, 3.76 ERA) has benefited from a combined 30 runs from the Cardinals (61-52) in winning his previous four outings. After giving up five runs in a win at Colorado on Aug. 1, the right-hander performed better in his return home Monday against San Francisco, yielding two solo homers and walking none in an 8-2 victory.
"I was locating a lot better than I did in Colorado," he told the team's website after throwing just 79 pitches. "The key for me is getting ahead and controlling counts, which I did a good job of today. It's good to get back on track in that sense."
Westbrook got five runs from his teammates over his six innings in that game, but the Cardinals have hit .180 and scored six runs in losing three of four. Before that, St. Louis hit .306 and outscored opponents 105-53 while winning 13 of 17.
The Cardinals got their only run in a 3-1 loss Friday from Carlos Beltran 's fourth homer in seven games. Chase Utley 's tiebreaking two-run shot in the eighth inning was his third in seven contests, and he helped Philadelphia (51-61) improve to 4-1 against St. Louis.
"You're not trying to do too much, you're trying to get that guy in any way you can," Utley said. "That one felt pretty good. I squared that one up decently."
Cliff Lee (2-6, 3.78) will try to lead the Phillies to another win over the Cardinals while earning his second victory in three starts. After tossing seven scoreless innings in Washington on July 31, the left-hander had difficulty keeping the ball in the park Sunday against Arizona.
Lee gave up four runs on three homers over eight innings and did not get a decision in a 5-4 victory. He's 0-4 with a 4.53 ERA in eight outings at Citizens Bank Park, where has given up seven home runs over his past two games there.
"I have to do a better job of keeping the ball down and in the ballpark, especially when it's hot here because the ball travels really good," he said.
The left-hander has given up one homer in five regular-season starts against the Cardinals, going 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA. Lee didn't give up any during Game 2 of last year's division series, but he allowed five runs and 12 hits over six innings of a 5-4 loss.
Westbrook also struggled May 24 against Philadelphia, his lone matchup this season, giving up a season-high six runs over a season-low 3 2-3 innings. He did not get a decision in that 10-9 loss.
Westbrook has won five consecutive decisions only once, over a six-start span from July 20-Aug. 14, 2004, while with Cleveland.
Beltran is batting .133 (2 for 15) in his career against Lee, his worst average versus any active pitcher he's had 15 or more at-bats against.
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Carlos Beltran | 12 | .167 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .286 | .619 | .333 |
| Lance Berkman | 13 | .385 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | .467 | 1.082 | .615 |
| Allen Craig | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Tony Cruz | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Daniel Descalso | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Rafael Furcal | 3 | .667 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .667 | 2.334 | 1.667 |
| Tyler Greene | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Matt Holliday | 6 | .167 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 0 | .500 | .667 | .167 |
| Jon Jay | 7 | .143 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .143 | .286 | .143 |
| Kyle Lohse | 2 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 1.500 | 1.000 |
| Yadier Molina | 13 | .231 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .231 | .539 | .308 |
| Skip Schumaker | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Jake Westbrook | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| HITTERS | AB | AVG | H | HR | RBI | BB | SO | OBP | OPS | SLG |
| Kyle Kendrick | 2 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Cliff Lee | 2 | .500 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .500 | 1.000 | .500 |
| John Mayberry | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Laynce Nix | 8 | .500 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | .556 | 1.556 | 1.000 |
| Pete Orr | 3 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Hunter Pence | 12 | .583 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .643 | 1.310 | .667 |
| Juan Pierre | 16 | .063 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .063 | .188 | .125 |
| Placido Polanco | 28 | .321 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .345 | .666 | .321 |
| Jimmy Rollins | 9 | .556 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .556 | 1.223 | .667 |
| Carlos Ruiz | 5 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
| Brian Schneider | 1 | .000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .500 | .500 | .000 |
| Jim Thome | 26 | .385 | 10 | 3 | 10 | 6 | 6 | .515 | 1.284 | .769 |
| Shane Victorino | 3 | .333 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 | .833 | .333 |
| Ty Wigginton | 15 | .333 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | .333 | .733 | .400 |
St. Louis Cardinals |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| August 08, 2012 | Allen Craig | Day-to-Day | Sore ribs |
| August 03, 2012 | Lance Berkman | 15-Day DL | Right knee inflammation |
| July 28, 2012 | Rafael Furcal | Day-to-Day | Stiff back |
| July 26, 2012 | David Freese | Day-to-Day | Left game - right calf cramp |
| July 24, 2012 | Lance Berkman | Day-to-Day | Left game - HBP right knee |
| July 17, 2012 | Matt Holliday | Day-to-Day | Left game - Left thigh |
Philadelphia Phillies |
|||
| Date | Player | Status | Injury |
| August 03, 2012 | Carlos Ruiz | 15-Day DL | Plantar fasciitis, left foot |
| July 23, 2012 | Placido Polanco | 15-Day DL | Lower back inflammation |
| July 09, 2012 | Raul Valdes | 15-Day DL | Strained right hip |
| July 09, 2012 | Raul Valdes | 15-Day DL | Strained right hip |
| June 25, 2012 | Brian Schneider | 15-Day DL | Sprained right ankle - out 3-5 weeks |
| June 25, 2012 | Brian Schneider | 15-Day DL | Sprained right ankle - out 3-5 weeks |
PHILADELPHIA (AP) -- Jake Westbrook is having a season to savor.
He wants to keep it going deep into October.
Matt Holliday hit a three-run homer and Westbrook won his fifth straight start to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday night.
The World Series champion Cardinals are in the thick of the wild-card hunt and Westbrook gave them a needed 7 2-3 strong innings. Westbrook (12-8) allowed four hits, walked two and struck out three and has won five straight starts for the first time in his career.
The Cardinals are trying to make a run at defending at their championship and Westbrook has helped keep their playoff dreams afloat. He's showed his durability with 12 straight starts of at least six innings, and matched his win total from 2011 (12-9) in 10 fewer starts (33 in 2011; 23 in 2012).
"He was as good as we've seen him," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "His sinker was falling off the table."
Jason Motte struck out two in a scoreless ninth for his 26th save.
Cliff Lee (2-7) retired 12 straight batters before the Cardinals tagged him for consecutive hits to open the sixth inning. Holliday followed with a shot to right for his 22nd homer of the season.
"The way Jake pitched, he deserved to win," Holliday said.
Lee has allowed eight homers over his last three home starts and 19 overall on the season. Lee gave up 18 homers in 232 2-3 innings last season.
He remained winless at home this season.
Staked to a 1-0 lead, Lee was cruising and had his first home victory since September 5, 2011, in sight until Holliday took him deep. Carlos Beltran added an RBI single in the eighth to make it 4-1 and chase the lefty. Lee allowed 10 hits, walked none and struck out four in 7-plus innings.
He left two runners stranded in the first inning and stranded another runner at third in the second.
Lee, a 17-game winner last season, was expected to form a trio of aces with Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels that would keep the Phillies in contention for a sixth straight playoff spot.
It hasn't worked out that way and the Phillies have disappointed.
"I had the game in hand," Lee said.
Westbrook left after allowing a two-out single in the eighth. Marc Rzepczynski retired Chase Utley on a pop up to end the inning.
"I got a lot of ground balls and the defense was working for me," Westbrook said.
Westbrook allowed his only run in the first inning on Ryan Howard 's fielder's choice. Utley's hard slide into second rattled shortstop Rafael Furcal on his throw to get Howard, allowing Dom Brown to score from third.
The Phillies never had a runner reach third after the first inning.
"Our offense was really weak tonight," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said.
Holliday gave Westbrook all the run support he needed with a homer that barely cleared the right field wall and gave him 79 RBIs. Beltran leads the National League with 82 RBIs.
"Those two guys have been carrying the load," Matheny said.
NOTES: The Phillies honored stars of their past, including Bob Boone , Larry Bowa and Mike Schmidt . Tim McCarver threw the first pitch to Steve Carlton . Brent Musburger was the guest umpire. Musburger was a minor league umpire for McCarver's first professional game for Waterloo in 1959. ... 3B Placido Polanco , on the disabled list since July with lower back inflammation, will travel with the team on next week's road trip and will likely need a rehab assignment before he returns to the Phillies. ... Cardinals 2B Ryan Jackson made his major league debut. ... Philadelphia sends Vance Worley (6-7) to the mound against Lance Lynn (13-5) in Sunday's finale.