Phillies-Cardinals prediction: Picks, odds on Friday, September 15

The Philadelphia Phillies (79-67) and St. Louis Cardinals (65-81) will begin a three-game weekend series tonight. First pitch for this NL matchup is scheduled for 8:15 p.m. ET at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. Aaron Nola (12-9, 4.64 ERA) will step on the hill for the Phils and go up against Cards lefty Zack Thompson (5-5, 4.06).

Philadelphia has dropped four of its last five games heading into this series, but is still clinging onto the top NL Wild Card spot. The team just dropped three of four at home to the Braves in a series where the visitors officially clinched their six NL East title. A first-inning run was all the Phillies could whip up against Spencer Strider in a 4-1 loss on Wednesday.

St. Louis surprisingly took two of three off Baltimore this week and has staved off its first losing season since 2007 for at least one more game. After taking down the O’s 5-2 on Tuesday, the Cardinals blanked the AL East leaders 1-0 on Wednesday in the series finale. St. Louis currently sits 10 games out of the last NL Wild Card spot and is still technically alive in that race.

Philadelphia enters this one as a -142 favorite on the moneyline over at DraftKings Sportsbook, making St. Louis the +120 underdog. The run total is set at 8.5.

Phillies-Cardinals picks: Friday, September 15

Injury report

Phillies

Out: 1B Rhys Hoskins (knee)

Cardinals

Day-To-Day: C Willson Contreras (hand)
Out: OF Dylan Carlson (ankle), INF Brendan Donovan (elbow), 2B Nolan Gorman (hamstring), RP JoJo Romero (knee), SP Steven Matz (lat), RP Guillermo Zuniga (forearm)

Starting pitchers

Aaron Nola vs. Zack Thompson

Nola hasn’t been particularly sharp this month as he’s posted less than stellar outings in back-to-back starts. Through just nine combined innings, he has yielded 11 earned runs off 15 hits and three walks. He’ll try to bounce back tonight and will have to do it on the road, where he has struggled this season with a 5.66 ERA.

Thompson has picked up the win in back-to-back outings, his latest one coming against the Reds last Saturday. He went five full innings in that one, striking out six while yielding three earned runs in an eventual 4-3 victory for the Cards. The lefty has been comfortable at Busch Stadium this season, posting a 2.37 ERA with a .252 opponent batting average this year.

Over/Under pick

Both teams have been supbar at the plate in the last week, with team batting averages under .235 during that stretch. This is a matchup of two pitchers who haven’t been totally flawless, but are capable of holding the line for 5-6 innings of work. I lean towards the under cashing in this matchup

Pick: Under 8.5

Moneyline pick

Philly has struggled over the past week and currently finds itself right in the middle of the NL Wild Card dog fight. St. Louis is in a position to play playoff spoiler for contending teams down the stretch and after winning its series against Baltimore, I think it takes tonight’s series opener against the Phillies.