Cardinals at Phillies
The visiting St. Louis Cardinals aim to bring out the brooms for the second straight series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday afternoon when the clubs reconvene at Citizens Bank Park. The Cardinals outscored the Phillies 16-7 en route to winning three straight at Busch Stadium last week before working extra innings for the second straight night in a 7-6 triumph in 10 frames on Wednesday.
Tommy Pham homered in Tuesday's 8-1 victory in 11 innings before going deep on two occasions the following day, improving to 8-for-20 with five RBIs against the Phillies this season. Jedd Gyorko also homered in both contests of the series, giving him three blasts in his last five contests. While St. Louis improved to 3-2 on its six-game road trip, majors-worst Philadelphia saw an early five-run advantage go by the boards en route to sustaining its fifth straight loss and 13th in the last 14 contests. Howie Kendrick recorded his second straight three-hit performance to improve to 10-for-19 in his last four games overall and 10-for-19 versus St. Louis this season, but he's 0-for-6 with three strikeouts against Thursday starter Carlos Martinez.
TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), NBC 10 (Philadelphia)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Carlos Martinez (6-5, 2.86 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Aaron Nola (3-5, 4.76)
Martinez has turned around his season since the calendar reached May, posting 6-2 mark in his last nine outings. The 25-year-old Dominican has posted back-to-back gems, striking out 11 and scattering four hits in a 7-0 romp over Philadelphia on June 10 before allowing one run in six innings in an 11-2 rout at Baltimore. "He's just in a nice place right now, making good pitches," manager Mike Matheny told reporters of Martinez, who has recorded a least eight strikeouts in each of his last five outings and allowed exactly four hits in each of his last four.
Nola fell to 1-5 in his last six outings on Friday after allowing five runs on nine hits in six-plus innings against Arizona. "I'm not getting ahead of hitters like I need to, which makes me battle more, which puts a little more stress on you," the 24-year-old told reporters. Although times have been tough, Nola has pitched well in two career outings versus St. Louis - yielding two hits over seven shutout innings in an encounter last season before sustaining the loss on June 11 despite allowing three runs on four hits in five frames.
WALK-OFFS
1. Philadelphia CF Odubel Herrera is 9-for-24 in his last five contests on the heels of an 0-for-14 stretch.
2. St. Louis C Yadier Molina has three homers, four RBIs and five runs scored during his nine-game hitting streak.
3. Phillies 3B Maikel Franco has recorded an RBI in each contest of his three-game hitting streak.