Skip to main content

Series Preview: Phillies at Cardinals, 6/21-6/23

When the Cardinals and Phillies meet in a 3-game series beginning on Tuesday night in St. Louis, it will be a match up of two teams that have held onto the top spot in their respective divisions, despite repeated injuries all season long.

The Cardinals (40-33) are in first place in the National League Central, but they are just 1/2 game ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers. They'll have a difficult time holding onto that lead as baseball's top hitter suffered a fractured wrist on Sunday in a collision with the Royals' Wilson Betemit. Pujols, the 3-time NL Most Valuable Player, is expected to miss up to 6 weeks with the injury.

St. Louis has also lost top pitcher Adam Wainwright for the season to an elbow injury. In addition, outfielder Matt Holliday has spent 2 stints on the disabled list. Nick Punto, David Freese, Gerald Laird, Eduardo Sanchez and others are also currently on the DL.

The defending NL East champion Phillies (45-28), with Brian Schneider, Joe Blanton and Brad Lidge currently out of action have also missed Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, Domonic Brown and others to injury this season. With all of that, Philadelphia still possesses the best record in Major League Baseball, as they begin this series with St. Louis.

Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups and more key details for this series.


Tuesday, 8:15PM. Roy Halladay (9-3, 2.56 ERA) vs. Kyle McClellan (6-3, 3.96 ERA). Halladay is 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA in 2 starts against the Cardinals. In his last 6 starts, Halladay is 4-0 with a 3.14 ERA. Halladay has a 4-2 record with a 2.45 ERA in 6 road starts this year. McClelland has a 0-2 record and a 4.50 ERA in 10 games against the Phillies in his career. In 6 home games this year (5 starts), McClellan is 3-1 with a 4.38 ERA. Jimmy Rollins and Shane Victorino are a combined 0-for-10 against the right-hander McClellan.

Wednesday, 8:15PM. Cliff Lee (7-5, 3.12 ERA) vs. Kyle Lohse (7-3, 2.88 ERA). In 3 career starts against St. Louis, Lee has a 2-1 record and a 2.11 ERA. In 6 road starts this season, Lee is 1-4 with a 5.35 ERA. In his last 3 starts, Lee is 3-0 with a 0.38 ERA. In 8 career starts against the Phillies, Lohse is 2-3 with a 4.00 ERA. Lohse has a 2-2 record with a 3.09 ERA in 6 home starts this year. Ryan Howard is 6-for-13 (.462 avg) with a HR in his career against Lohse.

Thursday, 8:15PM. Roy Oswalt (4-5, 3.37 ERA) vs. Chris Carpenter (1-7, 4.47 ERA). In 29 career games against the Cardinals, Oswalt is 9-8 with a 3.15 ERA. Oswalt is 2-3 with a 3.38 ERA in 7 road starts this season. In his last 8 starts, Oswalt is 1-5 with a 4.57 ERA. In 9 career starts against the Phillies, Carpenter is 5-2 with a 5.08 ERA. In his last 7 starts, Carpenter is 0-5 with a 4.62 ERA.


In 36 career games against the Cardinals, Shane Victorino has a .311 batting average with 10 doubles, a triple and 4 HR. In his last 12 games Victorino is 20-for-49 (.408 avg).

Ryan Howard, who was born in St. Louis, has a .365 average with 4 doubles, 8 HR and 31 RBI in 23 career games at Busch Stadium.

In 17 May games, Carlos Ruiz posted a .300 batting average. In 17 June games, Ruiz is batting .192.

Former Phillie Ryan Franklin has an 8.17 ERA and a .367 batting average against in 21 games out of the Cardinals bullpen this season.

In 4 games since returning from the disabled list with a quadriceps injury, Matt Holliday is 5-for-12 (.417 avg) with a double and 2 HR. Holliday is batting .316 at home this year, compared to .374 on the road.

Skip Schumaker, in 31 career games against the Phillies, has a .330 batting average and a .900 OPS. Schumaker's overall career numbers are .288/.725.

Phillies team batting average- .247
Cardinals team batting average-

____________________________________________

You can follow PhoulBallz on Twitter by clicking HERE.

You can also connect with PhoulBallz on Facebook by clicking HERE.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Jersey Shore clinches playoff berth on final day of regular season

Ottto Kemp, image- Jay Floyd With an extra-inning victory over first-half division champions Hudson Valley on Sunday, the Class A Advanced Jersey Shore BlueClaws clinched the team's first playoff appearance since 2018, winning the second-half division title. Key performers in the BlueClaws' clincher were righty hurler Jason Ruffcorn, who threw three innings of relief to earn the victory and third baseman Otto Kemp, notched three hits, a walk, two stolen bases and plated the game winning run in the 11th inning on a sacrifice fly.  On top of that, Kemp, who turned 24-years-old on Saturday, made an absolute game-saving defensive play to help the club hold their lead in the bottom of the 11th frame. One of Jersey Shore's most consistent performers all season long has been right-handed reliever Cam Wynne.  The Phillies' 20th round draft pick in 2021 out of Nebraska.  In 34 appearances, one start, the 24-year-old tallied a 1-1 record with one save, a 2.44 ERA and a .190 batti

PhoulBallz Interview: BlueClaws OF Justin Crawford

Justin Crawford w/ junior reporter Evan At the age of 19, outfielder Justin Crawford has played his way into the conversation of being considered as one of baseball's top prospects. The son of four-time MLB All-Star Carl Crawford, Justin has looked every bit as impressive as his position as the 17th overall draft selection last year would have most fans thinking he should be.  He opened the season with Class A Clearwater where, in 69 games, he notched a .344/.399/.478 slash line.  And since mid-August when he was promoted to Class A Advanced Jersey Shore, the younger Crawford has posted a .300/.364/.440 line.  He's also stolen 44 bases in 52 attempts overall. And while the BlueClaws enter the final week of the regular season 1/2 game out of first place in their division, I spoke with Justin Crawford about the team's hopes of making the postseason for the first time since 2018. I also asked Justin about the similarities and differences between his skillset and his father'

RHP Pipkin headed to AFL after hot August

After completing what was easily the best month of his career, righty hurler Dominic Pipkin is ready to face the tough competition of the prominent Arizona Fall Leage.   Pipkin, who was the Phillies' 9th round draft selection in 2018, has had moderate success in his five years as a pro, posting a 4.93 ERA, a 7.6 K/9 mark and a .260 batting average against mostly at the lower levels on the minors. After missing time this year with an unspecified ailment, the six-foot-four 170-pounder proved to be healthy as he dominated AA competition in nine appearances with the Reading Fightin Phils during August.  Pipkin's impressive production resulted in a 1-0 record with a save and a 0.96 ERA while striking out eight and walking three in 9 1/3 innings. The California native says his efforts to improve have helped him touch 100 MPH on the radar gun, while his fastball velocity is mostly around 96 MPH.   Pipkin's arsenal includes that improved fastball as well as a slider while his curve