ST. LOUIS -- Mark Ellis knew that he might not see a whole lot of playing time when he signed a free-agent contract with the St. Louis Cardinals in December. "I figured theyd want me to come off the bench and Im fine doing that," he said. "I just want to be on a winning team." Ellis has gotten the best of both worlds. The 37-year-old infielder drove in two runs, including the go-ahead score with a bunt, and the Cardinals got a scoreless effort from their bullpen to beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 Sunday. The Cardinals have won two in a row and seven of 10. Philadelphia has lost two straight after a season-high five-game winning streak. Ellis, who has received increased playing time due to injuries, broke a 3-all tie with a safely squeeze bunt in the fourth. He added an RBI single in the sixth. He is hitting .193 with 12 RBIs in 41 games. "We talked about it and the opportunity came up," he said of the bunt. "The ball up is an easier pitch to get that ball down. We were able to execute it." St. Louis manager Mike Matheny appreciates Ellis professional approach at the plate. "Two big at-bats," Matheny said. "Mark did a real nice job of getting that bunt down. He was thinking and really preparing ahead of time. Hes done a lot of good things in this game for a long time." Starter Carlos Martinez (1-3) allowed three runs over five innings. Martinez, who has 31 relief appearances, was making his second start of the season, replacing Michael Wacha in the rotation. "I just focused on throwing strikes, not throwing the ball so hard," Martinez said. "As a starter, Im learning to use all of my pitches." Nick Greenwood, Sam Freeman, Pat Neshek and Trevor Rosenthal combined for four innings of two-hit scoreless relief. Rosenthal got his 22nd save in 25 chances. Freeman struck out three in 1 2-3 innings. "I thought the pen was terrific, too," Matheny said. "Those guys are doing a good job getting through the game when our starters may not be able to go too deep." Cody Asche drove in all three Philadelphia runs with a bases-loaded double in the second. Asche, who grew up in nearby OFallon, was playing his first series in front of family and friends. "Its fun to step in and contribute," Asche said. "I wish we could have taken the last two games and completed the perfect road trip. But weve got some confidence." The Phillies won the first five games of the seven-game swing. Jimmy Rollins had a 15-game hitting streak snapped. Kyle Kendrick (3-7) allowed five runs and eight hits in six innings. He gave up just one hit over the first three innings before St. Louis scored four times in the fourth. "That one big inning hurt," Kendrick said. "They got some hits and I wasnt able to minimize the damage." Jon Jay got the inning going with an RBI single with the bases loaded. Jhonny Peralta followed with a tying, two-run single and Ellis bunted home the go-ahead run. "I like the way they went about putting together some tough at-bats," Matheny said. "Just nice consistent approaches at the plate, not trying to do too much." NOTES: The Phillies announced after the game that RHP Ethan Martin (0-0, 4.50) has been sent to Triple-A Lehigh Valley of the International League. RHP B.J. Rosenberg will be recalled. Rosenberg is 2-1 with a 2.63 ERA. Manager Ryne Sandberg said Martin just "needs to get some innings in."... Matheny had the No. 57 written on his left arm to honour former St. Louis pitcher Darryl Kile, who died 12 years ago Sunday. ... The Phillies begin an eight-game homestand Monday with the first of four games against Miami. Roberto Hernandez (3-5, 4.52) will face Nathan Eovaldi (4-3, 3.76) in the opener. ... St. Louis starts a 10-game road trip Monday with the first of three games in Colorado. Lance Lynn (7-5, 3.15) will take on Jhoulys Chacin (2-2, 4.65). ... The previous three St. Louis games prior to Sunday lasted exactly 2 hours and 48 minutes. This one took 2:54. ... St. Louis OF Matt Holliday hit in the No. 2 spot in the batting order for the first time this season. The Cardinals have used 11 different players in that slot this season. Cheap Jordan From China . Seriously. Seven years of losing has brought many different faces, players and management, to the annual pre-season get-to-know-the-team round up. Air Jordan Outlet . TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie tweeted Monday morning that Callahan - who is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, is now open to a six-year contract at less than $7 million per season. https://www.wholesalejordanshoeschina.com/ . Moments after his Brooklyn Nets teammates ran out onto the court to congratulate him following their 100-98 overtime win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night, Johnson could only shake his head at scoring only 13 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Fake Jordan . The top-ranked Spaniard won his fourth Madrid Open on Sunday after Kei Nishikori was forced to withdraw with a hip injury when trailing 2-6, 6-4, 3-0 in the final. And Nadal, who is coming off to uncharacteristic quarterfinal losses on clay, said his mental strength is still lacking just two weeks ahead of the French Open. Cheap Jordan . The 17-time Grand Slam champion, who lose three straight finals in Monte Carlo to Rafael Nadal from 2006-08, has not played in the tournament since 2011, when he lost to Jurgen Melzer in the quarterfinals.BELFAST -- Marcel Kittel sprinted to victory in a wet second stage of the Giro dItalia on Saturday as Michael Matthews took the overall leaders pink jersey from Orica-GreenEdge teammate Svein Tuft of Langley, B.C. Kittel timed his move to perfection, with 200 metres remaining, to edge out Nacer Bouhanni and Giacomo Nizzolo in a bunch sprint at the end of the 218-kilometre (135-mile) leg, which started and ended in Belfast. The German cyclist clocked more than five hours to claim his first Giro stage win on the day before his 26th birthday. "Honestly, it was not so easy today to stay in front with the team, I lost them a few times," Kittel said. "It was a very hard day with all the rain, and the boys did an amazing job. "The weather was very Irish I guess, and youre cold if you ride five hours in the rain. "I was really overwhelmed by all the people on the roads, it was really a big party despite the weather. Im super happy and proud about this win, its really something to have a win in each of the three Grand Tours." Matthews finished three seconds ahead of his Orica teammates and was hoping to still be wearing the maglia rosa when the Giro moves into Italy. "I didnt expect it, its truly an honour to be wearing this jersey," Matthews said. "We had a great team time trial yesterday and we decided to give it to Svein for his birthday. To take it today is truly something amazing. "Ill trry to keep it as long as I can, hopefully until at least stage six or seven.dddddddddddd Theres a few guys who are close to me. Its truly a massive thing for the team and for me as well." Despite the heavy rain, thousands of people lined the route which took in picturesque rock formation, the Giants Causeway, as it wound down the coast. Two Garmin-Sharp cyclists withdrew from the race following a crash in Fridays opening team time trial. Dan Martin will have surgery later Saturday on a broken collarbone. Teammate Koldo Fernandez finished the stage, but tests afterward revealed he had also broken his clavicle. There was an early breakaway of four riders. Jeffry Romero, Maarten Tjallingii, Sander Armee and Andrea Fedi swiftly built a lead of more than six minutes on the peloton, which was led by time trial winner Orica. Tjallingii had a superb stage. Not only did the Dutch cyclist lead for most of the day, but he also powered up both category four climbs to claim the blue King of the Mountains jersey. With the peloton quickly catching the four escapees, Tjallingii made a solo break with eight kilometres to go and briefly looked like holding on until he was caught with little more than three kilometres remaining. Sundays third stage is a 187-kilometre cross-border leg from Armagh to Dublin. Monday is a rest day before the race resumes in southern Italy with a stage ending in Bari. The Giro ends in Trieste on June 1. ' ' '