ST. LOUIS -- Some games are full of intricacies, laden with one plot twist after another. They are the sorts of games that no single statement, or even paragraph, could sum up. Then you have games like Sunday's 13-4 Cardinals loss to the Phillies, where everything can be encapsulated in just a few words.
Words like these: Jason Isringhausen was forced to pitch mopup relief.

Isringhausen, the Cards' closer and a man not known for rubber-armed durability, was called on with one out in the eighth inning when Bill Pulsipher came up with a sore hamstring. The Cardinals had already used all of their fully available pitchers, and only the sort-of-available guys like Randy Flores (three innings pitched on Saturday) and Cal Eldred (one inning Saturday, still building up his strength after being ill recently) were left.

So manager Tony La Russa turned to Isringhausen, who gamely faced four batters, allowing a couple of base hits, but at least getting out of the inning. John Mabry pinch-hit for Isringhausen when the Redbirds mounted a modest rally in the bottom of the inning, meaning that Eldred was eventually tabbed anyway, even though it was far from La Russa's first choice to do so.

The Cards put up three runs in the eighth to make a big deficit a little smaller. But the silver lining was hard to see for St. Louis, which allowed 23 runs over the past two games. No Cardinals opponent had scored more than 11 in a game since Sept. 12, 2003, when the Astros beat the Redbirds, 14-5, in Houston.

"It's hard to sit down, your [rear end] gets kicked so completely on both sides of the game," La Russa said. "It wasn't much of a contest."

Before it even came to Isringhausen scurrying to get ready, the stars were not aligned for the home team on Sunday. Chris Carpenter endured his roughest game as a Cardinal, allowing eight runs in 3 1/3 innings. The St. Louis offense was grounded for a second straight day, and the defense that has been a calling card in recent years was wanting.

Carpenter permitted six straight batters to reach base in a four-run third inning, then four in a row in a three-run fourth, before giving way to Al Reyes with one out. The eight runs allowed by Carpenter were his most since Aug. 8, 2001, when he pitched for the Blue Jays.

"They've got a quality offensive team over there, and they've got a few guys on a roll that are seeing the ball well," Carpenter said. "They're gonna make it tough for you. But I didn't have my best stuff and I didn't pitch well. It might be a different story a week from now."

Meanwhile, Jon Lieber had little trouble stymieing a dangerous offense, making it two games in a row in which the Cards had trouble with Philadelphia's starting pitcher. Lieber didn't surrender a baserunner until Scott Rolen's fifth-inning single, and Rolen was quickly doubled off.

The Cardinals didn't score until Albert Pujols hit his first home run of the season, a solo shot to deep straightaway center in the seventh. Homers later from Abraham Nunez and So Taguchi closed the gap a bit.

Seven-time Gold Glover Jim Edmonds endured an uncharacteristic day in the field. Edmonds came up short of an RBI double by Bobby Abreu in the first, and his misplay of Tomas' Perez single allowed an extra run to score against Julian Tavarez in the seventh.

"That's a ball that, if the wind isn't blowing in, it's a homer," Edmonds said of the Abreu double. "It short-hopped the wall. The ball is gonna get over my head. Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't. That's just part of the game, just like the ball one step to the left or to the right. Not every ball gets to get caught.

"[La Russa] told me be to careful with guys who have got some pop. But right behind him was Carp, saying 'Hey, it's my fault, I shouldn't have thrown it down the middle.' My job is to go out there and help the pitchers. If I'm on the right page with them, then I'm hopefully doing the right thing.

"We can't play defense behind a fastball right down the middle. Our job is to play defense, their job is to pitch and Tony keeps us all together."

The Cardinals fell to 2-3, the first time they have been below .500 since May 8, 2001, when they were 15-16.