The Inning From Hell

The first seven innings of tonight's Phillies/Cardinals game at Busch Stadium was just what I expected. The best pitcher in baseball, Roy Halliday, was on the mound for Philadelphia and the Cardinals countered with Kyle McClellan.
Going into the 8th inning, the Cardinals led 2 - 1.
McClellan had thrown 70 pitches through 6 innings and with 20 pitches thrown in the 7th inning he left the game with a 90 pitch total.
Halliday was equally impressive and the first 7 innings were a blast to cut.
Well played, well paced, and well pitched.
Just the scenario every TV director loves.
Well played, well paced, and well pitched always means a great flow to the show!
Then came the inning from hell.
The Cardinals bullpen imploded and the Phillies scored 9 runs.
As I stated, McClellan threw 90 pitches in 7 innings.
The Cardinals bullpen threw 64 pitches in the 8th inning alone.
Combined with the Phillies total number of pitches in the bottom of the 8th inning, the total number of pitches in the 8th inning was 79 - 1 pitch less than McClellan hurled in 7 full innings.
Two different games in one.
The best of baseball games to televise switched to the worst of baseball games to televise.
It all changed in the 8th inning.
The inning from hell.