Battle at the Arch: Phillies Look to Carry Their Momentum Into Series Against the Cardinals
With championship aspirations this season, the Phillies have started out on fire through the first 11 games. The team has an 8-3 record up to this point and looks for their fourth-straight series win against the Braves, with the final game of the series at 7:15 p.m. EDT Thursday. So far, the Phillies have relied on its strong rotation, headlined by Zack Wheeler and Jesús Luzardo, to lead them. While offensively, it has been the combination of Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and unsung hero Edmundo Sosa that has helped the Phillies climb back in multiple games this season. The Phillies will continue their road trip to St. Louis for a three-game series against the Cardinals.
The Cardinals come into this matchup with a 5-7 record on the year, with some low and high points. To start the year, they swept the Twins in a three-game series, but since then, it has been downhill. They have gone on to lose seven of their last nine games, which includes four extra-inning losses. Still, there are a lot of games still left in the season; however, this series could provide a spark. With a team led by veteran Nolan Arenado and Brendan Donovan, the Cardinals could look to steal the series over the Phillies.
4/11 – 8:15 p.m. EDT
In the opening matchup of the series, it will be the Phillies’ Aaron Nola against the Cardinals’ Andre Pallante. For Nola this season, it has been a rough start, as he has lost both games he appeared in. In those two games, Nola gave up a combined eight runs in 11.1 innings of work to raise his ERA to 6.35. However, he has struck out 10 combined batters in both contests. On the other hand, for the Cardinals, Pallante has been solid in his two appearances this season with a 3.86 ERA. In his action, he has a 1-0 record with nine combined strikeouts while only giving up four combined runs in 9.1 innings of work. For the Cardinals up to this point, it is their bullpen that he struggled the most. Out of the team’s seven losses this season, five out of the seven have counted towards the bullpen. Still, the Phillies will look for Nola to bounce back to his normal self for the Phillies to get the opening series win.
4/12 – 2:15 p.m. EDT
In the second game of the series, it will be Cristopher Sanchez pitching for the Phillies against Miles Mikolas for the Cardinals. Sanchez has played a huge role so far this season for the Phillies in his two appearances. He has gone over five innings in each, where he struck out a combined 16 batters and only allowed five runs in the two contests. As for Mikolas, his seventh year with the Cardinals hasn’t started off on a good note. In his two appearances this season, it has been decent and then very bad. In the first matchup against the Angels, Mikolas went for 5.1 innings while only giving up two runs. However, in the second matchup, he struggled against the Red Sox, only pitching for 2.2 innings, where he gave up eight runs and only struck out one batter. The Phillies offense this season has struggled to jump out early starting pitchers. However, they have been dominant against relief pitchers. The series against the Cardinals could be the perfect opportunity to change the early-season trend.
4/13 – 2:15 p.m. EDT
In the series finale, it will be the Phillies ace, Zack Wheeler, against Matthew Liberatore for the Cardinals. For Liberatore this season, he has appeared in two games and has gone deep in both but has also given up multiple runs in each. In his appearances, he has pitched at least six innings in both. However, he has allowed three runs in the first matchup against the Angels and five against the Pirates. As for Wheeler, he has appeared in three games for the Phillies and been lights out in two out of the three. In his first two games, Wheeler went a combined 13 innings en route to strike out 18 batters while only giving up two combined runs. In his latest outing against the Braves, Wheeler struggled a bit, as he gave up five runs in 5.1 innings of work. Wheeler will need to be careful of a Cardinals’ lineup led by Brendan Donovan, who is hitting for 0.375 this season, and Nolan Arenado, who is batting 0.310 this season.
