Phillies set to begin crucial series against Cardinals

The Phillies are entering an extraordinarily crucial part of their season. Seven of their next 10 games are against the St. Louis Cardinals, a team ahead of Philadelphia in the race for the final wild card spot. St. Louis has a 2 1/2 game lead over the Phillies. The San Francisco Giants are just a game behind St. Louis. The Cardinals are also a game back of the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the NL Central. Unless the Marlins string together a lengthy winning streak and get back into the race, three teams, the Phillies, Cardinals/Brewers and Giants, will likely battle for the final playoff spot in the National League.

For the team to still be in contention once Bryce Harper returns, the Phillies have to gain ground against teams like St. Louis.

The Cardinals-Phillies matchup could be a high-scoring affair. St. Louis (373) is just ahead of the Phillies (370) in runs scored. They’ll have Miles Mikolas, Matthew Liberatore and Adam Wainwright on the bump for the series. The Phillies have listed Bailey Falter, Kyle Gibson and Zack Wheeler as the probable pitchers this weekend.

Falter was recalled prior to Friday’s game. He’ll make his fifth start of the season for the Phillies after coming off throwing six innings of one run ball in his last start with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs. With Zach Eflin on the injured list and the Phillies unsure of whether or not he’ll be back after 15 days, Falter will likely spend a few weeks in the Phillies rotation. Interim manager Rob Thomson said Falter is good to throw around 85 pitches.

“He’s been throwing the ball well,” Thomson said. “He’s got that high spin fastball and a lot of extension when he releases it. That’s what makes him effective.”

Notes

• The Phillies are honoring Albert Pujols prior to Friday’s game. In 81 career regular season games against the Phillies, the 42-year-old has homered 14 times against the Phillies. The first came against Jon Lieber in April of 2005. The future first ballot Hall of Famer announced that he would be retiring at the end of the 2022 season. He’s batting sixth and DHing in Friday’s game.
• Matt Vierling is batting eighth and playing third base against the right hander Mikolas. Since he was recalled from Lehigh Valley on June 7, Vierling is slashing .313/.365/.542. “He’s got big tools,” Thomson said. “He can run, he can throw, he can defend. He can defend anywhere. He’s got power. The ball jumps off his bat. He’s a guy. He’s a player.”
• Bryce Harper was not at Citizens Bank Park on Friday. He’s expected to address the media at some point in the next few days regarding his broken thumb and a possible timeline for a return. Based on the messaging from the team so far, there’s a high level of optimism that Harper will return to the Phillies at some point this season.

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