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First impression: The Phillies lost a game and maybe a starting pitcher in Thursday night’s 12-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
Roy Oswalt was forced from the game after two innings because of lower back stiffness.
The loss was the Phillies’ worst of the season. They finished a six-game road trip at 3-3 and are 47-29 on the season.
Starting pitching report: Oswalt (4-6) threw 37 pitches before leaving after the second inning. He allowed four runs on five hits, one of which was a home run. His fastball was between 88-92 mph on the stadium radar gun. Oswalt was on the disabled list with a back problem earlier this season.
He could be headed back to the DL. He will have a MRI Monday.
St. Louis righthander Chris Carpenter (2-7) won for the first time since May 10. He held the Phils to five hits and a run over seven innings while walking one and striking out seven.
Bullpen report: Kyle Kendrick relieved Oswalt and allowed two runs over four innings. Lefty Juan Perez, who replaced injured Jose Contreras on the roster, pitched a scoreless inning. Danys Baez was rocked for six runs in the eighth.
At the plate: The Phils had just five hits, all singles, until Carlos Ruiz (home run) and Ross Gload (double) had extra-base hits in the ninth. Ryan Howard singled home a run in the sixth.
St. Louis had 14 hits. Jon Jay homered off Oswalt in the first inning. Ryan Theriot drove in two with a single in the second. Lance Berkman highlighted the Cardinals’ eighth with a three-run homer off Baez.
Up next: The Phils return home for a three-game interleague series against Oakland beginning Friday night. Here are the pitching matchups:
Friday night – RH Guillermo Moscoso (2-3, 3.30) vs. RH Vance Worley (2-1, 4.31)
Saturday night – RH Trever Cahill (7-5. 3.24) vs. LH Cole Hamels (9-3, 2.51)
Sunday afternoon – LHP Josh Outman (3-1, 2.86) vs. RH Roy Halladay (9-3, 2.51)
Outman is a former Phillies prospect who was traded to Oakland as part of the Joe Blanton deal in July 2008.
ST. LOUIS – The Four Aces might be down to three.
Roy Oswalt left Thursday night’s start – an ugly 12-2 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals – after two innings with lower back soreness.
He said he’s been bothered by the condition “for a while.”
He said, “I feel it when I sit down, stand up, walk, pitch, sleep.”
He doesn’t know when he’ll pitch again.
If ever.
“You throw as long as you can and when you can’t throw anymore you don’t,” the 33-year-old pitcher said after the game. “Hopefully it’s not to the point where I can’t throw anymore. If it’s at that point, you just have to accept it.”
Oswalt said he will have an MRI on Monday – doesn’t that seem a little far off for something this serious? – and if the examination brings the type of news that puts his career in jeopardy …
“I’ve had a pretty good one,” Oswalt said with resignation.
Oswalt has a history of back problems. He spent a little over two weeks on the disabled list with a back issue in late April and early May. He has come back to make seven starts, but the velocity on his fastball has been down a tick or two, and he’s had trouble riding his pitches by hitters.
Oswalt said he continued to pitch through the problem because, “I don’t want to be labeled a quitter.” He said he realized during Thursday night’s brief outing that he “was not helping the team. I’m kind of a liability more than anything.”
Oswalt said he has had “a lot” of cortisone injections in his back over the years, and he sounded like he wasn’t sure another one would be best. He would not say if he had had one this season. He added that he had an MRI on his back “a year or two ago” when he was with Houston. He said doctors would compare Monday’s MRI to that one.
Oswalt said the previous MRI showed two degenerative discs.
“I don’t know if it’s gotten to the point where it’s bulging,” he said. “Hopefully not.
“We’ll see where it’s at and if I have to get it fixed, I’ll get it fixed.”
Oswalt has a mutual option for next season at $16 million. The team can buy out his contract for $2 million. Or he can walk away and get $2 million. The other three aces – Roy Halladay , Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee – are all under control for next season.
All of this is down the road. For now, the Phillies need a starting pitcher Wednesday night against Boston. The likely candidate is Kyle Kendrick , who relieved Oswalt on Thursday night and allowed two runs in four innings. Joe Blanton , who opened the season as the No. 5 starter, is on the DL with an elbow injury. He is still more than a month from returning -- if everything goes well in his recovery.
Oswalt gave up a home run in the first inning and three runs in the second. From the dugout, manager Charlie Manuel and pitching coach Rich Dubee sensed he didn’t look right. Dubee spoke to Oswalt after the top of the second inning, and Kendrick got up in the bullpen.
“He’s had trouble for quite a while,” Manuel said. “This started back in Arizona [in April].
“I’m concerned because this has been going on for quite a while,” Manuel said. “I’m definitely concerned about it.
“He’s close with his fastball, but he’s had to rely a lot on command and hitting spots now. That might be because of the trouble with his back.”
Oswalt said the pain flared during his last start on Friday in Seattle.
“It bit me when I threw a changeup,” he said.
Oswalt sat dejectedly in front of his locker after that game.
He said he felt the pain again early in Thursday night’s game.
“It was a little worse,” he said. “I was more heaving the ball than throwing it. It was no good keeping me out there.”
The Phillies never recovered from the early deficit. They finished a six-game road trip at 3-3. But with one of the Four Aces now out indefinitely, the trip seemed even worse than that.
E-mail Jim Salisbury at jsalisbury@comcastsportsnet.com . Follow him on Twitter @JSalisburyCSN .
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