The St. Louis Cardinals (93-69), one of the top offenses in baseball, are set to host the Philadelphia Phillies (87-75) at Busch Stadium on Friday to open their National League Wild Card series. The Phillies won only one out of three in their last series against the Astros, dropping the finale 3-2 on Wednesday at Minute Maid Park. Brandon Marsh was 1 for 2 with a double and one RBI. The Cardinals lost two of three against the Pirates in their last series, dropping the finale 5-3 on Wednesday at PNC Park. Tommy Edman went 3 for 4 with a double, two runs, and one RBI. Lars Nootbaar added a double and one run.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
The Phillies won four of seven in the regular season series between the teams, although they suffered a 6-1 defeat in their last meeting on July 11 at Busch Stadium. Miles Mikolas went 7.1 innings, giving up one run on six hits, to get the win.
ON THE MOUND
Zack Wheeler (12-7, 2.82 ERA) is slated to start for Philadelphia. The RHP threw five scoreless innings in his last start, an 8-1 road win over the Nationals on Sunday. He was credited with the win, yielding two hits while striking out seven. Over two previous starts against the Cardinals this season, Wheeler has yet to allow a run over 14 innings (2-0, 0.00). He has struck out 10 and walked two. For St. Louis, lefty Jose Quintana (6-7, 2.93 ERA) will toe the rubber. He has made one prior start against the Phillies this season, holding opposing hitters scoreless over 5.2 innings in a 4-2 home defeat on July 29. He gave up four hits and walked two, while striking out four in the no-decision. In his last start on Monday, Quintana took a no-decision on the road against the Pirates. He threw three scoreless innings and gave up one hit, walking one, in the 3-2 defeat.
AT THE PLATE
The Philadelphia offense is averaging 4.6 runs per game for the season, with a slash line of .253/.317/.422. Kyle Schwarber leads the team in OPS at .827. The left fielder is slashing .218/.323/.504 with 46 home runs, 94 RBIs, and 100 runs over 155 games. Against southpaws like Quintana this season, the Phils have a .769 OPS, fifth highest in MLB. Rhys Hoskins is the team’s best performer against left-handers with a .945 OPS in 147 at-bats. St. Louis is slashing .252/.325/.420 for the season and averaging 4.8 runs per game, fifth best in the league. Paul Goldschmidt leads the team with a .981 OPS. The first baseman has 35 home runs, 115 RBIs, and 106 runs scored with a slash line of .317/.404/.578. St. Louis is averaging 6.2 runs per game in the last five. The Cards have a .728 OPS against righties in 2022. With a .893 OPS over 449 at-bats, Goldschmidt also has been their best hitter against right-handers.
HOME AND AWAY
Philadelphia is 40-41 away from home in 2022, scoring 4.3 runs per game while allowing 4.3 runs. St. Louis has gone 53-28 at Busch Stadium this season, averaging 4.8 runs per game while surrendering 3.5. In the last 10 games between the teams at Busch Stadium, Philadelphia is 6-4 with an average scoreline of 3.5-2.4.
STANDINGS UPDATE
The Cardinals won the NL Central. The Phillies finished third in the NL East.
SportsTips’ MLB Pick:
Philadelphia Phillies (-110)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
