ST. LOUIS _ Perhaps Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak sent a message with Friday's coaching changes. Perhaps second-baseman Kolten Wong's return from the disabled list provided a spark.
Perhaps all the Cardinals needed was the comfort of a home crowd.
Whatever the reason, the Cardinals managed to avoid the mistakes that plagued nearly every facet of the team on their 0-7 road trip in a 3-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. The Cardinals are now 27-32.
Michael Wacha turned in his best start in four weeks, allowing just two runs on five hits through six innings. It was the first quality start for a Cardinals starter since Adam Wainwright threw six shutout innings in the team's last home game on June 2.
Starting pitching had previously been the lone constant for the team this season, until the starters went a combined 0-4 with a collective ERA of over 7.00 on the trip to Chicago and Cincinnati.
Wacha got into a bit of trouble in the third inning. Facing the top of the Phillies' order, he retired the first two batters he faced before allowing a double to left fielder Howie Kendrick. First baseman Tommy Joseph drove Kendrick in with a single, and then Aaron Altherr drove in Joseph with a triple to give Philadelphia a 2-0 lead.
The Cardinals wasted no time in responding. Matt Carpenter led off the third inning with his second single in as many at bats. Dexter Fowler then advanced Carpenter to third with a double. Carpenter scored on a deep sacrifice fly from Stephen Piscotty and Fowler scored the next at-bat, when Jedd Gyorko singled.
Aledmys Diaz broke the tie in the fifth inning with a solo home run, his first homer since May 1.
After Wacha was pinch hit for in the bottom of the sixth, relievers Matt Bowman, Trevor Rosenthal and Seung-Hwan Oh successfully protected the Cardinals' lead.
Bowman struck out the side in the seventh. Rosenthal allowed a leadoff single to Odubel Herrera before striking out the next two batters he faced. Catcher Eric Fryer, starting for the injured Yadier Molina, caught Herrera stealing to end the inning.
Oh provided some suspense in the ninth.
Aaron Altherr hit a leadoff double to shallow center. Altherr advanced to third on a Maikel Franco groundout. Oh responded by striking out catcher Andrew Knapp. Tommy Pham provided an assist for the final out as he made a diving catch of a line drive off the bat of Freddy Galvis to secure the win.
