With the Phillies' magic number to clinch a fifth consecutive National League East Division championship, they'll begin a four-game series with the visiting St. Louis Cardinals. Not only are the playoffs ahead, but the Phils, who currently possess the best record in baseball at 97-51, also have home field advantage throughout the playoffs and an all-time franchise single season record for wins in sight. The current Phillies record for wins, 101, was set in 1976, then tied in 1977.
The Cardinals, who are 5 1/2 games back in the Central division, will send lefty Jaime Garcia, who has held Philadelphia to a .171 batting average in 5 career appearances, to the mound for the series opener. The Phillies will counter with rookie right-hander Vance Worley, who took a loss for the first time in 15 starts his last time out against the Brewers.
St. Louis has won three of five meetings with Philadelphia this season.
Read ahead for details on the pitching match ups as well as more key stats on this series.
Friday, 7:05 PM. Jaime Garcia (12-7, 3.68 ERA) vs. Vance Worley (11-2, 2.92 ERA). In 5 career games against the Phillies, Garcia has a 2-1 record with a 1.17 ERA. Garcia is 2-2 with a 6.04 ERA over his last 5 starts. Ryan Howard is 2-for-12 (.167 avg) with a homerun in his career against Garcia. In 10 home starts, Worley is 6-0 with a 2.07 ERA and a .189 batting average against. Worley is 9-0 with a 1.62 ERA in 15 night games this season.
Saturday, 7:05 PM. Jake Westbrook (12-8, 4.61 ERA) vs. Roy Oswalt (7-9, 3.88 ERA). In 15 road starts this year, Westbrook has an 8-3 record with a 3.65 ERA. Westbrook is 3-1 with a 3.98 ERA in his last 5 starts. Hunter Pence is 6-for-11 (.545 avg) in his career against Westbrook. In 30 career games against the Cardinals, Oswalt has a 9-9 record with a 3.30 ERA. Oswalt is 1-2 with a 5.19 ERA in his last 4 starts. In 8 home starts this year, Oswat is 3-3 with a 3.83 ERA.
Sunday, 8:05 PM. Chris Carpenter (9-9, 3.80 ERA) vs. Cole Hamels (14-8, 2.71 ERA). In 10 career starts against the Phillies, Carpenter is 6-2 with a 4.66 ERA. Carpenter is 5-2 with a 3.72 ERA in 12 starts since the All-Star break. In 14 home starts this year, Hamels is 7-5 with a 2.45 ERA. Hamels is 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA in 8 career starts against St. Louis. Albert Pujols is 3-for-20 (.150 avg) with a double and a HR against Cole Hamels in his career.
Monday, 7:05 PM. Kyle Lohse (13-8, 3.62 ERA) vs. Roy Halladay (18-5, 2.34 ERA). Lohse is 2-4 with a 3.91 ERA in 9 career starts against the Phillies. In 15 road starts this season, Lohse has a 7-3 record with a 3.39 ERA. Raul Ibanez is 9-for-30 (.300 avg) with 3 HR in his career against the righty Lohse. In 3 career starts against the Cardinals, Halladay is 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA and a .198 batting average against. Halladay has a 3-0 record and a 1.29 ERA in his last 5 starts. In 33 career regular season games at Citizens Bank Park, Halladay is 20-7 with a 2.23 ERA.
Lance Berkman is a .299 hitter with 5 HR and 15 RBI in 19 career games at Citizens Bank Park.
Skip Schumaker is a .340 career hitter in 33 career games against the Phillies. Schumaker is batting .321 in 52 games since the All-Star break.
Yadier Molina's 12 homeruns this season are 5 more than his previous career high. Molina is 8-for-17 (.471 avg) in 5 games against the Phillies this season.
In 67 home games this season, Raul Ibanez is batting .292 with 13 homeruns. Ibanez on the road...63 games, .200 average, 5 homeruns.
Carlos Ruiz is a .319 career hitter in 30 games against the Cardinals. In 48 games since the All-Star break, Ruiz is batting .320.
In 39 games against the Cardinals in his career, Shane Victorino has a .304 average with 4 HR and 21 RBI. In 15 games this month, Victorino is batting .177.
Cardinals team batting avg- .271
Phillies team batting avg- .253
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