Phillies (57-65) vs. Cardinals (64-56)
7:05 p.m. on CSN
From one contending opponent to another, the Phillies move on from facing the Dodgers to play the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend.
Let's take a look at the series opener:
1. Playoff positioning
The Cardinals currently occupy the second National League wild-card spot. They're 2½ games behind the Giants, who would host the one-game playoff if the season ended today.
St. Louis has a one-game advantage on Pittsburgh, a 2½-game lead on Miami and a 4½-game lead on the Mets. The Marlins and Mets are both struggling but the Pirates have won four in a row, so these will be important games for the Cardinals to keep their position.
The Phillies, meanwhile, are eight games out of the second wild-card spot after losing two of three to the Dodgers. There were faint, and I mean faint, wild-card hopes earlier in the week when the Phils were 6½ games back, but with an eight-game deficit and five teams ahead of them, that's pretty much over.
Maybe if the Phils had the starting pitching they had earlier in the season, they'd be capable of making a late-season push, but fans will instead have to live with them finishing 10 or so games better than last year. That's an achievement in itself.
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2. Adam and Adam
Left-hander Adam Morgan pitches tonight for the Phillies after leaving his last start because of a line drive that struck his left forearm.
Morgan has figured out Triple A, but he's had an awful season in the majors. He's 1-7 with a 6.62 ERA, a 1.62 WHIP and a .323 opponents' batting average. He's allowed 95 hits and 16 home runs in 69⅓ innings.
Lefties and righties alike have hit Morgan, who is 0-5 with a 6.81 ERA at home. He faced the Cardinals in St. Louis on May 4 in his second start of the season and allowed three runs in four innings. The Phillies gave him a 4-0 lead but he gave the momentum right back to the Cardinals after beginning the game with four scoreless innings.
Longtime Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright pitches Friday night. It's been an up-and-down season for the 34-year-old right-hander, who enters 9-7 with a 4.72 ERA in 24 starts.
Wainwright had a 6.80 ERA in his first eight starts this year, then rebounded to post a 2.58 ERA in his next 12. His last four starts have been a struggle, with Wainwright allowing 19 runs on 31 hits in 19⅔ innings.
Wainwright has the same repertoire he's always had: sinker and fastball in the 90 mph range, big curveball around 75 mph and a cutter in the mid-80s. He's thrown the cutter 29 percent of the time, the curveball 28 percent, the sinker 25 percent and the fastball 16 percent of the time this season.
Current Phillies are 19 for 66 (.288) off Wainwright but haven't homered. Freddy Galvis is 3 for 9 with three RBIs. Carlos Ruiz is 8 for 19 with three doubles. Ryan Howard is 6 for 27 with six singles, three RBIs, six walks and nine strikeouts.
3. More Piece?
Howard continues to reward Pete Mackanin for giving him additional playing time. He hit a 416-foot homer to center last night, his third in his last four starts.
In the month of August, Howard is 13 for 31 (.419) with five homers, two doubles and 13 RBIs in nine games.
Since the All-Star break, he's hit .357 with seven homers, four doubles and 16 RBIs.
It's been the kind of hot streak you'd expect from the Ryan Howard of old.
Now hitting .210/.268/.480 against right-handed pitchers, Howard will be given opportunities by Mackanin until this run ends. It makes sense given the difference-making nature of his bat when he's going well. Tommy Joseph will get plenty of opportunities next season and into the future.
Mackanin said last night that Howard has made actual adjustments.
"He looks like he’s seeing the ball a lot better," Mackanin said. "He’s made some adjustments to his swing path. He looks more spread out than he has been, reverting back to the way he used to hit. He’s made a lot of adjustments and he’s been working hard to get there. But, knock on wood, he’s not swinging at a lot of pitches and expanding the strike zone like we’ve seen him do. It’s just great to see. He’s going to get more playing time because of it."
4. Scouting the Cards
The Cardinals haven't been nearly as dominant as they were last season, because of the declines of several of their players and the rise of the Cubs. But St. Louis always seems to be in playoff position this time of year and still poses a threat to the Phillies this weekend.
The Cards are led by Matt Carpenter, who might be the most underrated player in baseball. He can play every base in the infield, hit for average, power and take walks. Carpenter is hitting .289/.406/.541 this season with 26 doubles, six triples, 15 homers, 56 RBIs and 63 walks in 89 games. He missed about a month with an oblique injury but returned the first week of August.
Phillie-killer Yadier Molina has been on fire since the All-Star break, hitting .370 with a .951 OPS.
Outfielder Stephen Piscotty has been solid all year, hitting .276 with 28 doubles, 17 homers, 67 RBIs and an .813 OPS.
Brandon Moss continues to be a power threat with homers in four of his last six games. He has 22 on the season in just 317 plate appearances.
Two players who batted at the top of the Cardinals' order, Matt Holliday and Aledmys Diaz, are out with injuries. Holliday recently had surgery to repair a fractured thumb, while Diaz (hitting .312 as a rookie) is about two weeks away from returning from a thumb issue of his own.
The Cardinals made a switch at closer earlier this summer, replacing struggling Trevor Rosenthal with 34-year-old Korean rookie Seung Hwan Oh. Nicknamed "The Final Boss," Oh has a 1.88 ERA with 12 saves in 14 chances. He's struck out 84 batters in 62⅓ innings.
5. This and that
• Cesar Hernandez, hitting .352 with a .429 OBP in his last 48 games, was scratched just before Thursday's game with a foot injury. He fouled a ball off his foot four games ago.
• Jeanmar Gomez is 32 for 35 in save opportunities this season. His first blown save came in the game pitched by Morgan in St. Louis at the beginning of May.
• Maikel Franco is on pace for 29 home runs and 94 RBIs after hitting the game-winner Thursday night.
