After losing to a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 11th inning (and a two hour, 45 minute rain delay), the Phillies (8-4) are heading to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals (5-7) to close out their quick road trip. Each game in Atlanta may not have been pretty, but Philadelphia are still winners of three of their four series so far. St. Louis, on the other hand, is reeling. After starting their season with a 3-0 sweep, the Cardinals lost three straight series, including getting swept by the Red Sox and most recently dropping a series to the Pirates.
Phillies vs Cardinals preview
St. Louis is not the powerhouse they once were, but are a team with dreams of pushing for a Wild Card spot nonetheless. Philadelphia has bigger aspirations, but you must win series to put yourself in proper position. Manager Rob Thomson told me before the series finale against the Dodgers this past Sunday:
“There’s 52 series in a year,“ Thomson said. “You win 28, 29, 30 series of the 52, you’re probably guaranteed to get in. So every series is important.”
Philly is looking to get hot, after losing to a division rival. St. Louie is ice cold, losers in five of their last six. Here’s how they match up with their enemy for the weekend.
Pitching Matchup
Game 1: Aaron Nola (0-2, 6.35 ERA) vs. Andre Pallante (1-0, 3.86 ERA)
Pallante is starting his third game of the early season. He hasn’t gone more than five innings in either start. Last season, the right-hander pitched mostly in the rotation, but his two appearances against Philadelphia came in relief appearances last year – and he only recorded one out across those outings. The last time he started a game against the Phils was back in 2022. Philadelphia’s current roster is slashing .417/.447/.556 against the 26-year old, with Kyle Schwarber catching him for the only home run he’s surrendered to the team.
On the other hand, Nola has handled the entire Cardinal roster with relative ease. Navigating his way through two dangerous veterans, Nolan Arenado and Wilson Contreras, over the years while limiting their impact against his club. Alec Burleson has faced Nola 11 times – no one else on the club has stepped in against him more than six times.
Their slashline of .207/.261/.317 is not threatening, and his recent weakness of allowing the long ball has been mostly avoided – allowing just two homers to a current Cardinal hitter. However, he’s never faced their current HR leader – Iván Herrera. In eight starts at Busch Stadium, he’s pitched to the tune of a 3.78 ERA and a 0.986 WHIP.
Game 2: Cristopher Sánchez (0-0, 4.09 ERA) vs. Miles Mikolas (0-1, 11.25 ERA)
Sánchez only has two appearances against The Redbirds in his career – a six-inning start in 2023, and a three-inning relief spot in 2022. His exposure to the current Cardinals is minimal, as only five of their hitters have even stepped in the box against the Phillies left-hander. Total, they are 1-for-13 with four strikeouts versus Sánchez. The six-foot-six, power lefty is a different pitcher since the last time he faced St. Louis – so it’s not hard to expect more of the same on Saturday.
Mikolas has average numbers against the Phillies in his career, but a strong 3.55 ERA against the 2024 squad across two starts and 12.2 innings. In 179 at-bats, current Philly hitters have eleven doubles and seven home runs with a .274 batting average. Something to watch – Bryson Stott has struggled mightily against the right-hander, recording just two hits in 17 ABs. Mikolas failed to finish six innings in half his starts, and only went beyond that four times. The Phillies early season patience should shine in the Saturday tilt.
Game 3: Zack Wheeler (1-0, 3.44 ERA) vs. Matthew Liberatore (0-1, 5.84 ERA)
Wheeler has pitched like himself this season. Even though he didn’t have his best stuff his last time out, a mental mistakes from center fielder Johan Rojas led to him allowing a three-run home run to a batter that never should have come to the plate in the inning he launched a ball into the stands. Still, he’s been the ace Phillies fans have come to know to start the season. Wheeler tossed seven strong innings against the Cardinals last season, and he has a 1.64 ERA in St. Louis since joining the Phillies.
Liberatore has spent the majority of his career pitching out of the bullpen, but finds himself in the Cardinals rotation to start the 2025 season. He faced Philadelphia four times (4.2 IP) and didn’t allow an earned run. In fact, Liberatore didn’t allow a run against Philly in the year prior either. Phillies hitters .408 Slugging against him is worrisome, but Philadelphia’s aforementioned patience will likely lead to an early exit for the Cardinals starter. If they continue to dismantle opposing relief corps, they should walk out of St. Louis with a victory.
These will be days four through six of sixteen straight days of games before Philadelphia’s next off day. After the Phillies close their series with the Cardinals, they head home to Citizens Bank Park. They’ll welcome in the Giant for a four game series. Philadelphia should leave the weekend with double-digit victories on the year.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
