The Philadelphia Phillies (88-75) are on the road to face the St. Louis Cardinals (93-70) at Busch Stadium on Saturday in Game 2 with the visitors in position for a sweep of their National League Wild Card series. The Phillies took Friday’s series opener 6-3, their fifth head-to-head victory in eight games this season. David Robertson got the win with one scoreless inning of relief. Alec Bohm was 1 for 3 with a double and one RBI in the win. Juan Yepez went 1 for 1 with a home run and two RBIs for the Cardinals. Nolan Gorman added one RBI on one hit.
ON THE MOUND
Aaron Nola (11-13, 3.25 ERA) is slated to start for Philadelphia. The righty ranks third in the NL in strikeouts (235). Nola threw 6.2 scoreless innings in his last start, a 3-0 road win over the Astros on Monday. He earned the win, scattering two hits while striking out nine. Nola has made one previous start against the Cardinals this season, a 6-1 road loss on July 11. He surrendered five runs on seven hits over seven innings, striking out seven. For St. Louis, righty Miles Mikolas (12-13, 3.29 ERA) will toe the rubber. He has made two appearances against the Phillies this season, both as the starter, giving up five runs (3 ER) over 12.2 innings (1-1, 2.13) with six strikeouts and two walks. In his last appearance on Monday, Mikolas came on in relief on the road against the Pirates. He threw three innings and gave up one run on three hits in the 3-2 loss.
AT THE PLATE
Over the last five games, Philadelphia has averaged 3.8 runs a game, a small drop compared to their season average of 4.6. Against right-handed pitchers like Mikolas this season, the Phils have a .727 OPS. Kyle Schwarber is the team’s best performer against right-handers with a .900 OPS in 380 at-bats. St. Louis is averaging only 4.2 runs per game in the last five, down slightly from 4.8 for the season. The Cards have a .728 OPS against right-handers in 2022. With a .893 OPS over 449 at-bats, Paul Goldschmidt has been their best hitter against right-handers.
HOME AND AWAY
Philadelphia is 41-41 in road games in 2022, scoring 4.4 runs per game while allowing 4.3 runs. St. Louis has gone 53-29 at Busch Stadium this season, averaging 4.8 runs per game while surrendering 3.5. Philadelphia is 6-4 in the last 10 games between the teams at Busch Stadium with an average scoreline of 3.0-2.6.
STANDINGS UPDATE
The Cardinals won the NL Central. The Phillies finished third in the NL East.
SportsTips’ MLB Pick:
Philadelphia Phillies (-120)
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*Odds correct at time of publication, courtesy of BetMGM.
