Cardinals at Phillies
Michael Wacha has been battling both fatigue and opponents with marginal success this season, so much so that the St. Louis Cardinals right-hander may be pitching to remain in the starting rotation. Wacha will look to make his best pitch on Wednesday as the visiting Cardinals aim to continue their dominance of the Philadelphia Phillies in the second contest of a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park.
"We've talked about (reliever)," manager Mike Matheny told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch of Wacha, who has not pitched past the fifth inning in four of his last five starts. "He's built as a starter. There is no doubt about it. ... We need to help him get through those parts of the game that have been biting him." Yadier Molina has been providing some bite at the plate, as his third homer in as many contests highlighted a seven-run 11th inning in Tuesday's 8-1 triumph. While St. Louis has outscored Philadelphia 24-8 en route to winning all four encounters this season, the Phillies' offense hasn't been doing much of anything of late with just 31 runs while losing 12 of the last 13 contests.
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), CSN Philadelphia
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Michael Wacha (3-3, 4.78 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Nick Pivetta (1-3, 4.46)
Wacha has posted a 1-2 mark with a bloated 8.86 ERA in his last five starts after allowing four runs in as many innings of a no-decision versus Milwaukee on Thursday. The 25-year-old's lone win in that stretch was a strong outing against Philadelphia, as he permitted two runs on five hits in six innings to improve to 2-2 in his career versus the club. Howie Kendrick is 7-for-14 in his last three games overall and 6-for-10 with one homer in his career against Wacha, although the hurler has kept Freddy Galvis (2-for-10) under wraps.
Pivetta outdueled Chris Sale in his last encounter, recording career highs in strikeouts (nine) and innings worked (seven) while scattering four hits in a hard-luck no-decision against Boston on Thursday. The 24-year-old's long outing marked the first time in seven starts that he ventured past the fifth inning. Pivetta will be making just his third start at home Wednesday, where he has yet to record a decision despite striking out 15 in 12 innings.
WALK-OFFS
1. Philadelphia 1B Tommy Joseph, who saw his career-high 14-game hitting streak to come to a halt on Tuesday, is 4-for-18 with four strikeouts versus St. Louis this season.
2. Cardinals 1B Matt Carpenter, who had an RBI double in the 11th inning, has hit safely in 11 of 13 games while moving into the leadoff spot in the order.
3. Phillies CF Odubel Herrera is 7-for-19 in his last four games on the heels of an 0-for-14 stretch.