Phillies should be hoping for Cardinals
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Phillies should be hoping for Cardinals
Bob Brookover
One of three teams is going to show up at Citizens Bank Park for Game 1 of the National League division series Saturday against the Phillies.
The team the Phillies should want to see the most is the only one of the three that had a winning record against them this season and is currently the hottest of all the contenders.
The St. Louis Cardinals went into their final three games of the season at Houston having won 14 of 18 games to pull within one game of Atlanta in the N.L. wildcard standings. They recently took three of four games from the Phillies in Philadelphia and now have Matt Holliday back in their dangerous lineup.
All of that may sound threatening, but there is one simple reason the Phillies should be cheering for the Cardinals to overtake the Braves for the wildcard: pitching.
Should the Cardinals finish off their remarkable climb back from 10 1/2 games behind the Braves to win the wildcard, they will have to use Chris Carpenter in Wednesday's season finale to get the job done.
In the best-case scenario for the Phillies, the Cardinals and Braves would play a one-game playoff Thursday in St. Louis with Kyle Lohse pitching and beating Atlanta.
If that were to happen, the Cardinals would likely pitch Jaime Garcia in Game 1 and either Jake Westbrook or Edwin Jackson in Game 2. Garcia has a career 1.20 ERA in six games (four starts) against the Phillies, but you still have to like Halladay at home in that Game 1 matchup.
The Cardinals would certainly prefer to use Carpenter or Lohse in Game 2 and would be at a distinct disadvantage with Westbrook or Jackson going against Lee.
Win the first two games at home and they should be able to finish off the series in St. Louis.
The other reason the Phillies should want to face the Cardinals is the St. Louis bullpen is the worst among the playoff contenders and that usually proves to be important in tight postseason games.
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Phillies should play to beat the Braves, but if I were Lee and Hamels I wouldn't show them my best stuff. Let's face it, losing and seeing the Braves in the playoffs isn't a big deal. If Lee gets smoked tonight (already gave up a HR to Jones) it's not the end of the world.— Sam Crow- MATT you are a moron. really. this is the stupidest thing anyone has ever written... the phillies who over the last 2 weeks could not a high school team WANT to face the BEST HITTING team in the NL? moron...— wxdavid
- carefule what you wish for! Just remember all we want is to win the world series.— male
- Doesn't matter. They will be swept whoever they play. Four hits a game doesn't win, even if they were playing the ASTROS !— chetsheets
- I love the dopes in here. worried that the phils AA lineup they have been throwing out can't hit. Imbeciles. Phils are cakewalking to the WFC. Doesn't matter who they play.— thingfish
- It does not matter. We will face good teams and we will beat them -- or not. We'll either beat the best teams or not.— eman
- Yep, Cards are so good, they're losing to Houston tonight with the postseason on the line and the Phillies giving them the Braves on a platter.— mike l
- Regardless of who they face, the Phils need their hitting to be in order. Play these last games with all the starters, and play to win. The Phils need their offense firing on all cylinders. Every loss in the last series with Stl. except the 5-0 drubbing was winnable when this team's bats are hot.— DrumsAndBeer
- You're higher than that actress chick— Drumphil
- Somebody say LaRussa can out manage Charlie? His over managing has cost him just a few games this week. His bp is a revolving door. Takes out starters when they are pitching well and ends up using every bp guy on the bench. What has he done that Charlie hasn't done, except lose with a pretty darn good club. I would rather play the Diamond backs because they are so young but would rather play the Cardinals over Milwaukee. Funny Garcia has been hit pretty good except by us.— pattymac3
- LaRussa is a dope. Cards blow. Thank God our team of mercenaries is not as gutless as the natives.— mrnmkr
- Andy Reid write this? You know the guy that's "smarter" than the rest of us.— squad3417
- I couldn't disagree more with this article. Offensively, the Cardinals are on par with the Brewers. How the offseason pitching rotation shakes out is of little concern -- anything can happen.— smokinjoe92
- This is crazy. The Cardinals have two pitchers with a track record of shutting the Phillies down. They have three of the best hitters in the league in the middle of their lineup, all of them with plenty of playoff experience. And they have a manager whose adept at managing the late innings of a game. You do not want this team in a short series! The Diamondbacks have nothing that should beat you. Kennedy is good, but we got to him once already and he knows it.— auntesther
- Saint Louis Cardinals are by far the most dangerous team we'd ever want to face. LaRussa is a brilliant manager. Give me AZ any day. Saint Louis would school the Phillies.— Veloscot
