St. Louis Cardinals (65-82) vs Philadelphia Phillies (80-67)
Game Info: Saturday, September 16, 2023 at 7:15 pm (Busch Stadium)
Miles Mikolas (7-11) (4.75) vs Ranger Suarez (2-6) (3.93)
Betting Odds: St. Louis Cardinals -105 / Philadelphia Phillies -115 --- Over/Under: 9 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Philadelphia Phillies will play the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 2 of their series on Saturday night at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri. Philadelphia won the first game in this series by a score of 5-4 on Friday night and they have a comfortable lead for the first NL Wild Card spot.
Phillies Preview
The Philadelphia Phillies are 80-67 this season and they have lost four of their last six games. Prior to this series, Philadelphia lost three out of four games against the Braves and allowed 26 runs in the four game series. The Phillies have struggled a little bit in their last 15 games, but they still hold a 2.5 game lead over the Cubs for the first Wild Card spot. The Philadelphia pitching staff has a 4.03 ERA, a 1.25 WHIP, and a .241 opponent batting average this season. The Phillies offense has scored 719 runs with a .258 batting average and a .329 on base percentage. Trea Turner is batting .270 with 26 home runs and 75 RBI’s for the Phillies. The projected starting pitcher for Philadelphia is Ranger Suarez, who is 2-6 with a 3.93 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP over 107.2 innings pitched this year.
Cardinals Preview
The St. Louis Cardinals are 65-82 this season and they have lost three of their last five games. St. Louis came into this series after winning two out of three games in their series against the Orioles. The Cardinals have won seven of their last eleven games, but they are still last in the NL Central standings. The St. Louis pitching staff has a 4.75 ERA, a 1.45 WHIP, and a .275 opponent batting average. The Cardinals offense has scored 670 runs with a .253 batting average and a .328 on base percentage this year. Paul Goldschmidt is batting .271 with 24 home runs and 74 RBI’s for the Cardinals. The projected starting pitcher for St. Louis is Miles Mikolas, who is 7-11 with a 4.75 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP over 176.1 innings pitched this season.
St. Louis Cardinals Team Facts
- The Cardinals have won three of their last four games as underdogs following a loss.
- The Cardinals have failed to cover the run line in seven of their last eight games against the Phillies following a loss.
- The 'Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs' market has hit in each of the Cardinals' last five games as underdogs against NL East opponents.
- The Cardinals have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last six games as home underdogs against National League opponents.
Philadelphia Phillies Team Facts
- The Phillies have lost each of their last three games as favorites following a win.
- The Phillies have covered the run line in seven of their last eight games against the Cardinals following a win.
- The Phillies have led after 7 innings in each of their last five games against NL Central opponents that held a losing record.
- The Phillies have led after 3 innings in each of their last five night games against the Cardinals.
- The Phillies have led after 5 innings in each of their last five games against NL Central opponents that held a losing record.
St. Louis Cardinals Player Prop Facts
- Willson Contreras has hit a home run in three of his last four appearances with the Cardinals against NL opponents.
- Willson Contreras has recorded two or more total bases in each of his last four appearances against NL opponents.
- Nolan Arenado has recorded at least one RBI in each of the Cardinals' last four games at Busch Stadium against NL East opponents that held a winning record.
- Nolan Arenado has scored at least one run in four of his last five appearances after playing the previous day.
- Miles Mikolas has recorded four or more strikeouts in 11 of his last 14 appearances at Busch Stadium against opponents that held a winning record.
- Tommy Edman has recorded at least one hit in each of the Cardinals' last nine games as underdogs against NL East opponents.
Philadelphia Phillies Player Prop Facts
- J.T. Realmuto has hit a home run in three of the Phillies' last four games as road favorites.
- Trea Turner has recorded two hits in four of his last five appearances against opponents that held a losing record.
- J.T. Realmuto has recorded an RBI in each of the Phillies' last four games as road favorites against NL opponents.
- J.T. Realmuto has recorded two or more total bases in each of the Phillies' last four games as road favorites against NL opponents.
- Trea Turner has scored at least one run in 11 of his last 12 appearances with the Phillies as favorites.
- Ranger Suarez has recorded five or more strikeouts in each of his last six road appearances against NL Central opponents.
- Bryce Harper ranks 8th amongst qualified players for On Base Percentage (.396) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- The St. Louis Cardinals rank 2nd in the league for home runs allowed this season (158).
- The St. Louis Cardinals rank 29th in the league for hits allowed this season (1397).
- The Philadelphia Phillies rank T5th in the league for triples this season (27).
- The Philadelphia Phillies rank 5th in the league for slugging percentage this season (.439).
Pick
The Phillies are in command of that NL Wild Card race, but they need to get things turned around quickly if they want to hold off the Cubs. Philadelphia is 6-9 in their last 15 games and they are only 37-36 on the road. Luckily for the Phillies, St. Louis is 31-41 at home and has been terrible when looking at the full season. St. Louis is starting Miles Mikolas, who has allowed 5, 3, 3, 5, and 7 earned runs in his last five starts. Philadelphia is starting Ranger Suarez, who has allowed two earned runs or fewer in four of his last five starts. Take the Phillies in this matchup.
David’s Pick Phillies ML
AUTHOR: David Racey
Mitch's Take...
