Sunday’s MLB schedule concludes with a primetime game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Philadelphia Phillies. After the teams split the first two games of the series, the Phillies are home favorites on Sunday with a moneyline of -135, while the Cardinals have a moneyline of +115. The game also has an over/under of 7.5 runs.
The Cardinals won a 7-6 slugfest on Saturday, avoiding a three-game winning streak in the process. St. Louis is just 6-10 over the team’s last 16 games, so the Cards need a series win to help get back on track. But despite that June swoon, the Cardinals are just one game behind the Brewers in the NL Central.
Meanwhile, the Phillies are also looking for their first series win in two weeks. Philly has gone 5-7 over the last 12 games, losing some momentum after being one of the best teams in baseball in June. The Phillies currently sit just three games over .500, 7.5 games back in the NL East, and 2.5 games back in the Wild Card race.
The Wheels on the Bus
The Phillies will send Zack Wheeler to the mound in Sunday’s rubber match. After a rough start to the season, Wheeler has turned things around, going 6-4 with a 2.89 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP over his first 14 starts. Wheeler has allowed two earned runs or less in seven of his last eight starts, although the Phillies have lost in his last two starts.
At the same time, the Philadelphia lineup has heated up in recent days, scoring a total of 25 runs over the team’s last three games. The injury to Bryce Harper has hurt them, although Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins have provided plenty of power, combining for 39 home runs this year. In fact, both have hit three home runs in their last six games, while Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott are also heating up to add some depth to the Philly lineup.
Get in Wright
The ageless Adam Wainwright will get the start for St. Louis on Sunday. At age 40, Wainwright is 6-5 with a 3.07 ERA over his 15 starts of the 2022 campaign. Despite a couple of rough starts in June, he threw seven scoreless innings against the Marlins in his last start, and the Cardinals have won five of the last six games that Wainwright has started.
Likewise, the St. Louis lineup is starting to come around over the last week, scoring at least five runs in five of the last seven games. Paul Goldschmidt might be the MVP frontrunner in the National League right now, while Nolan Arenado isn’t far behind. But the Cards have also gotten meaningful contributions from Dylan Carlson and Juan Yepez in recent days, giving St. Louis a scary lineup.
Fighting Phils
While neither team has a winning record over the last two weeks, both teams will feel good with their ace on the mound Sunday. However, the Phillies have a few players with a good history against Wainwright, including the red-hot Hoskins. That could be enough to shift things in Philly’s favor in a game that is a tossup otherwise.
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