Cardinals 7, Phillies 1: Burleson and a Two-Out Fifth Take Down Wheeler

August 12, 2026 - St. Louis - Zack Wheeler had two outs in the fifth and a 1-1 game. Then César Prieto was already on base, JJ Wetherholt singled, and the next four balls found grass. The St. Louis Cardinals scored four in the inning, all of them after two were out, and beat the Philadelphia Phillies 7-1 at Busch Stadium on a 94-degree Wednesday.

Alec Burleson drove in three. Kyle Leahy threw five innings of one-run ball. St. Louis took the series, moved one game over .500, and won its third straight series for the first time this season. Philadelphia left town 64-58 and headed to a cornfield in Iowa.

A Bohm error, a Church double, and a 1-1 game that did not stay 1-1

Jordan Walker reached in the second when Alec Bohm misplayed a grounder. Walker stole second. Nathan Church doubled him in. 1-0, unearned, and Wheeler was already working around a defense that had given the inning away.

Philadelphia tied it in the fourth. Bryce Harper doubled. Luis Arraez hit a ground-rule double down the right-field line. 1-1, and that was the Phillies' entire afternoon. Six hits. One run. Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber went a combined 0-for-8.

Prieto's single to open the fifth was his first hit of the season and the second of his career, snapping an 0-for-27. He was still on first with two outs when Wetherholt singled. Iván Herrera lined a 3-2 fastball to center. Prieto scored. 2-1. Burleson doubled to center, Wetherholt and Herrera both coming in. 4-1. Walker doubled to left. Burleson scored. 5-1, four straight hits, and Wheeler's night was over even if he finished the inning.

Wheeler's line: five innings, six hits, five runs, four earned, one walk, five strikeouts. He fell to 10-4. The fifth was not a blowup in the traditional sense. It was four two-out singles and doubles in a row against a pitcher who had spent most of the day looking like himself.

Leahy, then the seventh that Alvarado could not hold

Leahy went five innings, six hits, one run, zero walks, six strikeouts. He improved to 9-4. He did not need to be spectacular. He needed to be cleaner than Wheeler in the one inning that decided the series, and he was.

José Alvarado inherited a 5-1 game in the seventh and walked the yard. Wetherholt scored on Burleson's single to right. Church's sacrifice fly scored Herrera. 7-1. Alvarado: one-third of an inning, one hit, two runs, three walks. Brooks Raley and Chase Shugart cleaned up the rest. St. Louis did not use a closer. It did not need one.

Burleson finished 2-for-3 with a double, a single, three RBI, and a run. He went 5-for-10 with two doubles and five RBI in the series. Walker had the steal, the double, and the RBI. Herrera reached twice and scored twice. Church had the early double and the late sac fly. That is a middle of the order doing the work a wild-card club has to do in August.

A series win, then a cornfield

The Cardinals are 61-60. Both clubs are chasing a National League wild-card spot. St. Louis just took two of three from a Phillies team that is supposed to be the one doing the chasing from in front. Philadelphia has now dropped another series and will play the Twins on Thursday night in Dyersville, with Aaron Nola against Taj Bradley.

I am less interested in burying Wheeler after one fifth inning than in the pattern around him. The Phillies scored one run on a day their ace went five. Schwarber and Turner did not get on. The bullpen walked in the last two. That is how a 1-1 game becomes 7-1 without a home run.

St. Louis will open a set at Wrigley on Friday. The Cardinals have not spent much of 2026 looking like a club that wins three series in a row. Wednesday was the night the lineup made Wheeler pay for one long inning, and the standings finally moved the right direction.

AthX Engine angle

The Cardinals finished with 16 AthX Engine team fantasy points, fourth on Wednesday's board. Leahy had 15 pitching fantasy points. Burleson and Walker each had 7 hitting fantasy points. Philadelphia finished at -6 team fantasy points, tied with Cincinnati for the worst team mark on the slate.

Track Burleson, Leahy, and the Cardinals on the marketplace. AthX Engine grades the night. Price is what the market pays tomorrow.

*Sources: MLB.com gameday wrap, ESPN box score, AP recap via CBS Philadelphia, AthX Engine daily scoring for August 12, 2026. Information only; not financial advice.*