Cardinals at Phillies
Matt Carpenter was ice cold to begin the month of June before heating up in a hurry, with homers in three straight games and four of his last five. Carpenter aims to continue the power display on Wednesday afternoon as the St. Louis Cardinals (38-33) and Philadelphia Phillies (38-33) play the rubber match of their three-game series at Citizens Bank Park.
Carpenter belted the go-ahead homer just inside the right foul pole with two out in the ninth inning of Tuesday's 7-6 triumph to improve to 11-for-25 with eight extra-base hits (six doubles, two homers), six RBIs and as many runs scored versus Philadelphia this season. The 32-year-old hasn't been as fortunate versus struggling Wednesday starter Jake Arrieta, going 3-for-35 with 10 strikeouts. While St. Louis has erupted for 17 runs en route to winning two of three following a four-game skid, Philadelphia saw its bid for a fourth straight victory thwarted as it was unable to escape its third consecutive contest in which its bullpen imploded. Odubel Herrera homered for the third straight game and fourth time in five outings heading into a tilt versus right-hander Michael Wacha, against whom he is 4-for-13 with six RBIs in his career.
TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), NBCS Philadelphia
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Michael Wacha (8-2, 3.24 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Jake Arrieta (5-5, 3.33)
Wacha is looking to atone for a horrific outing on Friday after surrendering three homers and nine runs total over four-plus innings as he suffered his first loss since March 31 in a 13-5 setback versus the Chicago Cubs. The 26-year-old issued four free passes in that contest to increase his walk total to 13 in his last four trips to the mound after allowing 21 in his previous 10 starts. Wacha improved to 3-2 in his career against Philadelphia after permitting two runs in six innings and striking out a season high-tying eight batters in a 12-4 romp on May 18.
Signed to a three-year, $75 million deal, Arrieta answered a strong 10-start performance out of the blocks with an 0-3 mark and 7.98 ERA in his last three outings. The 2015 National League Cy Young Award winner was blitzed for eight runs on seven hits in 3 1/3 innings of a 13-2 setback at Milwaukee on Friday. Arrieta also fell victim to Wacha and the Cardinals on May 18, yielding four runs (two earned) in three frames to drop to 8-5 with a 2.38 ERA in his 18 career encounters with St. Louis.
WALK-OFFS
1. Philadelphia LF Rhys Hoskins has 10 hits -- including three homers -- to go along with eight RBIs and six runs scored in his last six games.
2. St. Louis CF Tommy Pham, who is riding a 13-game hitting streak, has homered in back-to-back contests.
3. Phillies 1B Carlos Santana's solo homer extended his hit streak to four games, during which he has scored five times in the last three.