By Matt Mitchell, Sports Talk Philly Staff (https://twitter.com/mattmitchsax) 
Philadelphia, PA — The Phillies hope to get back to their August winning ways and propel into playoff picture.
After a second rough series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a little over a week, The Philadelphia Phillies look to get back on track Friday night as the St. Louis Cardinals come to town for a three game weekend series. This series is huge for the Phillies, as the Cardinals come into Philadelphia holding the second wildcard spot. The Phillies have already been put into some post season conversation, but a good series against the Cardinals can make the talk realistic.
Other than the two series against the Dodgers in the past 11 days, the Phillies have been arguably playing their best baseball of the season in August. The offense has come alive, and is scoring a nice amount of runs on a consistent basis (just look at what Maikel Franco's home run meant to last night's game), and even though the pitching is setting records no one is proud of, they have generally been able to keep the Phillies in games. The pitching will definitely need to step it up for a playoff race in Philadelphia to become a reality, and this weekend is a good time.
The Cardinals come in position to be in the playoffs if the season ended right now, but they are not the same St. Louis Cardinals of the past several years. Injuries have sidelined many of their premier players, and those who are not injured are starting to show their ages. Yadier Molina is no longer the single nest catcher in baseball, and Adam Wainwright is not the fear-instilling hurler he was a couple years back (more on this below). They come into this series with a one game lead over division rival Pittsburgh, who have been surging the past week, and the Phillies are only eight games behind. St. Louis hopes that a strong showing in the City of Brotherly Love can give them a cushion on their slim lead, and possibly propel them ahead of the Giants for the top wildcard spot.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| St. Louis Cardinals (64-56-L) | Philadelphia Phillies (57-65) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Adam Wainwright | LHP | Home Starter | ||
| (9-7-L, 4.72 ERA) | (1-7, 6.62 ERA) | ||||
Adam Wainwright — Age: 34;
- Last Start: August 12, 2016, at CHC: L, 2.0 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 2 SO, 3 BB
Adam Morgan — Age: 26;
- Last Start: August 14 , 2016, vs. COL: ND, 3.0 IP, 5 H, 2R, 2 ER, 0 SO, 1 BB
Both Adam Wainwright and Adam Morgan are looking to bounce back from subpar outings. This past Sunday, Morgan only pitched three innings in what was eventually a Phillies win against the Colorado Rockies. Morgan has spent the season bouncing between the Phillies and their AAA club Lehigh Valley. Because of his experience in the majors, as well as the inexperience of the bigger name pitching prospects in the minors, Morgan has become the fill-in starter whenever a Phillies pitcher has landed on the DL. While at Lehigh Valley, Morgan did look formidable, especially during the month of July. Hopefully he can keep the positive momentum going, as he will assuredly be spending the rest of the season in the majors. Morgan enters Friday night's game with some unpleasant numbers. When looking at all of Morgan's starts this year in the majors, it is easy to notice that his problem is not that he gives up a ton of runs: it is that he has not consistently been able to pitch deep into ball games. So far this year, Morgan has yet to pitch more than six inning, and he has only pitched more than five three times. In order for Adam Morgan to make a case for himself to be in the 2017 Phillies rotation, he needs to be able to finish the season with strong outing, and go deep into games.
The Cardinals will send their own Adam to the mound tonight in the form of Adam Wainwright. Wainwright's name has come to instill fear in hitters and their fans alike, but the 2016 version of Adam Wainwright is not the same man opponents have grown to fear. In his own words, Wainwright is have "…the worst season of my life", and his stats corroborate this. His record isn't too bad, but his ERA is approaching five, and his last couple starts have been downright ugly. In his last start a week ago at the Friendly Confines, Wainwright only last two innings, giving up more runs than hits. The Phillies hope that hitter-friendly Citizen's Bank Park will cause Wainwright similar issues tonight.
Starting Lineups:
| St Louis Cardinals (64-56) | Philadelphia Phillies (57-65) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | ||
| 1 | LF | Tommy Pham | R | 1 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L |
| 2 | RF | Stephen Piscotty | R | 2 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S |
| 3 | 1B | Matt Carpenter | L | 3 | LF | Aaron Altherr | R |
| 4 | C | Yadier Molina | R | 4 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R |
| 5 | 3B | Jhonny Peralta | R | 5 | 1B | Ryan Howard | L |
| 6 | SS | Jedd Gyorko | R | 6 | C | Carlos Ruiz | R |
| 7 | CF | Randal Grichuk | R | 7 | RF | Peter Bourjos | R |
| 8 | 2B | Kolten Wong | L | 8 | 2B | Emmanuel Burriss | S |
| 9 | P | Adam Wainwright | R | 9 | P | Adam Morgan | L |
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 7:05 p.m.
- Citizen's Bank Park
- TV: CSN
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
Game Notes:
- 1) Short term memory: The Phillies need to have a short term memory going into tonight. The Dodgers did a a good job of overpowering the Phils, and Chase Utley is most likely gone forever from Philadelphia. Now it is time to get back to business and put together a strong showing against the Cardinals
- 2) Know thy enemy: This may be the MOST important series of the year for the 2016 Phillies. St Louis comes into Philadelphia holding the second wildcard spot in what is already becoming a tight race. If Phillies can win this series, or better yet sweep the Cardinals, they will propel themselves into playoff contention. If St Louis overpowers the Phillies, you will continue to hear "There's always next year" throughout the Delaware Valley.
- 3) Ryan Howard against his hometown team: Ryan Howard is looking more true to for this August. He also plays very well against his hometown Cardinals. In order for the previous two points to become reality, Howard will need to continue the offense success he has had throughout his career against the Cardinals.
- 4) Power from first: the Phillies enter Friday with the most home runs by the first base position in all the majors. Ryan Howard finding his swing again, and Tommy Joseph getting increasingly more accustomed to major league pitching means that it is not uncommon, once again, for baseballs to fly around Citizen's Bank Park.
Standings:
[Use http://www.espn.com/mlb/standings]| Updated: August 19, 2016 | |||||
| NL EAST | W | L | GB | RS | RA |
| Nationals | 71 | 49 | — | 576 | 433 |
| Marlins | 62 | 59 | 9.5 | 516 | 506 |
| Mets | 60 | 61 | 11.5 | 457 | 466 |
| Phillies | 57 | 65 | 15.0 | 466 | 578 |
| Braves | 44 | 77 | 27.5 | 429 | 549 |
| NL WILD CARD | W | L | GB | RS | RA |
| Giants | 67 | 54 | +2.5 | 543 | 495 |
| Cardinals | 64 | 56 | — | 599 | 526 |
| Pirates | 62 | 56 | 1.0 | 541 | 535 |
| Marlins | 62 | 59 | 2.5 | 516 | 506 |
| Mets | 60 | 61 | 4.5 | 457 | 466 |
| Rockies | 58 | 63 | 6.5 | 640 | 623 |
| Phillies | 57 | 65 | 8.0 | 466 | 578 |
What's Next:
- Saturday, August 20, 2016: vs. St. Louis Cardinals, 7:05 p.m.
- Citizens Bank Park
- RHP Luke Weaver(0-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. RHP Jeremy Hellickson (9-7, 3.65 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
