Can Cardinals’ Wainwright punish Phillies?
The Cardinals typically love facing the Phillies. In this brave new world for Pete Mackanin’s club, though, all bets are off the table.
Last year’s National League Central Division champs host red-hot Philadelphia tonight, with an 8:15 p.m. ET first pitch in the Midwest. Oddsmakers at online sports book BetDSI seem confident in manager Mike Matheny’s wherewithal to snap the Phils’ six-game winning streak. The over/under figure for the contest rests at 7.5 runs.
Where Philly represents one of baseball’s biggest surprises, St. Louis (12-13) finds itself floundering. Washington just completed a road sweep of the Cards, who risk dropping five straight for the first time since 2013. Matheny’s feast-or-famine offense now ranks fourth in the senior circuit with 213 strikeouts.
Adam Wainwright (1-3, 7.16 ERA) used to excel at lifting the Redbirds’ spirits during trying stretches. Considering his ineffectiveness to begin 2016, however, there’s no telling how tonight’s assignment will unfold. The perennial Cy Young contender last threw on Wednesday, surrendering four runs over 5 1/3 innings.
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For the Phillies (15-10), Jeremy Hellickson (2-1, 3.81) shoots to build on Sunday’s sterling mound performance from Vince Velasquez. The veteran doesn’t boast his younger teammate’s swing-and-miss stuff, but his most recent turn did encompass seven frames. Hellickson also fanned eight in that 8-0 triumph over the Nationals.
St. Louis has tallied six runs while batting .206 in this four-game slide. Can Wainwright keep the visitors’ raw hitters off-balance long enough to let the Cardinals’ sticks concoct something? We’ll give the staff leader the benefit of the doubt.
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