St. Louis Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Phillies NL Wild Card Game 2: Can Aaron Nola, Phillies Take Game 2?

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Phillies NL Wild Card Game 2: Can Aaron Nola, Phillies Take Game 2?

The St. Louis Cardinals were three outs away from winning the first NL Wild Card game against the Phillies yesterday. Instead, St. Louis allowed six runs in the ninth innings and ended up losing 6-3 at home in the first Wild Card game. Luckily for the Cardinals, there's another game tonight. The Wild Card series is a best-of-three, meaning that the Phillies need to win one more game to close out this series. However, if the Cardinals escape with a win tonight, we'll get a final game of the series on Sunday to decide which team advances to the NLDS to face the Atlanta Braves.

Here are our picks, predictions, and odds for Saturday's game between the St. Louis Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Phillies.

Cardinals vs. Phillies Start Time, Where to Watch, and Odds

• Date: October 8, 2022
• Game Time: 8:37 pm ET
• Where to Watch: ESPN2
• Run Line: Cardinals +1.5 (-175) , Phillies -1.5 (+150)
• Total: O/U 6.5 (-110)
• Moneyline: Phillies (-120), Cardinals (+100)

Cardinals vs. Phillies Injury Report

Cardinals

Out: OF Tyler O'Neill (Hamstring)

Phillies

None of Importance

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St. Louis Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Phillies Prediction

The Philadelphia Phillies will send Aaron Nola for tonight's potential series clincher. Nola has been sensational as of late, holding a 2.80 xFIP over the last 30 days. The right-hander has struck out 32.1% of batters in the last 30 days and has walked just 4.6%. He's induced 48.5% of ground balls and rarely allows fly balls. On top of that, the right-handed ace is not allowing many extra-base hits and has recently kept his wOBA down below average against both sides of the plate. The Cardinals are only hitting a .162 ISO and wOBA of .309 against righties over the last 30 days. Oddly enough, only Albert Pujols has hit righties consistently in the last 30 days. Maybe he should come back next year and continue to slug away. St. Louis has limited strikeouts to just 15.5% as a projected lineup against righties in the last month. But going up against Nola will still be difficult, knowing how well the right-hander has pitched.

Meanwhile, Miles Mikolas will get the call for the Cardinals in a must-win ball game. Mikolas is a righty with a 3.80 xFIP over the last 30 days. He's struck out 24.5% of batters but has allowed 29.2% of line drives while inducing 40.3% of ground balls. Lefties have hit Mikolas with a .245 ISO, but he's been fine everywhere else in terms of wOBA and ISO in the last 30 days. However, the lefties in the Philadelphia lineup are hitting a .240 ISO with a wOBA of .353 over the last 30 days. In the one area where Mikolas struggles, the Phillies excel. Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Brandon Marsh have power from the left side against righties. Therefore, I've got the Phillies taking the second game of the series and earning an NLDS matchup against the Braves.

St. Louis Cardinals vs. Philadelphia Phillies Pick

• Phillies (-120) (Bet $120 to Win $100)

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