Phillies Travel to St. Louis, Look to Take Wild Card Lead

In the heat of the battle for the third NL Wild Card spot, the Philadelphia Phillies take on the St. Louis Cardinals.

Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

As the heat of the summer starts to turn up, so does the race for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. The Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals are currently tied for the third Wild Card, and will now begin a four-game series in the Gateway City. 

The Phillies are coming off of a 2-1 series win against the Washington Nationals, a series in which their bats came alive, scoring 18 runs across three games.

Kyle Schwarber runs to third base against the Washington Nationals / © Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

One of the main reasons that Philadelphia tallied up so many runs was Kyle Schwarber, who slammed four home runs while bringing in five RBI. Not a bad way to continue his month-long hot streak.

Their biggest strength also turned out to be their biggest weakness, as the Phillies dropped the second game of the series against the Nationals as a result of their offense not getting it together.

Meanwhile, the Cardinals are coming off of a difficult series against the Atlanta Braves, in which they dropped three out of four games.

One thing that contributed to St. Louis' struggles was their pitching. In the first two games, their starters allowed more than five runs and both nearly gave up double-digit hits.

These losses came despite the efforts of Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, who both averaged a slash line above .400/.460/.410 throughout the series.

With St. Louis only managing to grab one game against Atlanta, they now find themselves tied with the Phillies for the final Wild Card spot. This series has the potential to give one of the teams a four-game cushion, which will help ease the pressure ahead of the All-Star Break.

Let's take a look at the pitching match-ups for this series:

Game 1:

Phillies starter: Zack Wheeler (7-4, 2.66 ERA)

Cardinals starter: Adam Wainwright (6-6, 3.26 ERA)

Zack Wheeler's previous start came against the Cardinals, leading the Phillies to a series win in the final game of the series. Now, he'll have the chance to open in St. Louis. In his last outing, Wheeler allowed four hits while striking out five batters across seven innings.

Adam Wainwright's last start against the Phillies wasn't one of his best, as the veteran allowed eight hits and four runs across 5.2 innings. Philadelphia will have to look out for his breaking pitches which proved effective against them on Sunday.

First pitch: Friday, 8:15 p.m. EST

Where to watch: NBCSP, 94 WIP

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Game 2:

Phillies starter: Kyle Gibson (4-3, 4.91 ERA)

Cardinals starter: Dakota Hudson (6-5, 4.29 ERA)

Kyle Gibson struggled on the mound in his previous start against St. Louis, giving up seven hits and six runs across four innings on the mound, including four straight home runs to begin the game. It was Gibson's second brief start in a row, a pattern he'll be trying to break on Saturday.

Dakota Hudson will look to reverse the difficult start he suffered in Atlanta on Monday, where he allowed nine hits and six runs. It was the second nine-hit and six-run appearance of the season for Hudson. 

First pitch: Saturday, 2:15 p.m. EST

Where to watch: NBCSP, 94 WIP

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Game 3:

Phillies starter: Cristopher Sánchez (1-1, 3.48 ERA)

Cardinals starter: Andre Pallante (2-4, 3.03 ERA)

On Sunday, Cristopher Sánchez will make his third start of the season, with his last outing coming against the Nationals on Tuesday. Sánchez earned the win for his two-hit, five-inning effort.

Andre Pallante will grab the start on Sunday. In his last time out against Atlanta, he surrendered 10 hits and seven runs across 3.2 innings.

First pitch: Sunday, 2:15 p.m. EST

Where to watch: NBCSP, 94 WIP

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Game 4:

Phillies starter: Aaron Nola (5-6, 3.15 ERA)

Cardinals starter: Miles Mikolas (5-7, 2.73 ERA)

The Phillies will give Aaron Nola the ball on Monday to close out the series. In his previous start against the Nationals, Nola lasted 7.2 innings on the mound, allowing seven hits and three runs.

Miles Mikolas will face the Phillies for the second time in a week and a half on Monday. In his previous start against the Braves, Mikolas went six innings while allowing five hits and three runs.

First pitch: Monday, 7:15 p.m. EST

Where to watch: NBCSP, 94 WIP

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Players to watch:

Phillies: Kyle Schwarber

In what is becoming almost a no-brainer, Schwarber finds himself as the player to watch for Philadelphia. This comes after his huge series against the Nationals, in which Schwarber became the first Phillie to have back-to-back multi-home run games since Chase Utley in 2006. Schwarber will look to strike against a St. Louis pitching staff which held him to a .154 batting average a week ago.

Kyle Schwarber celebrates with Rhys Hoskins at home plate following his home run against the Washington Nationals / Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

Cardinals: Nolan Arenado

Arenado finds himself as the player to watch for the Cardinals due to his strong performance against the Phillies last week. Throughout the three-game set, Arenado slashed .583/.615/1.583 with three home runs and six RBI, including hitting for the cycle in the series opener.

Nolan Arenado rounds third base after hitting a home run against the Philadelphia Phillies / John Geliebter-USA TODAY Sports

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