Phillies vs Cardinals Preview: Pitching Matchup and Props for Aug. 23

The Philadelphia Phillies will attempt to sweep their home series with the St. Louis Cardinals — and push their ongoing winning streak to an MLB-best nine games — starting at 1:35 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 23. The Phillies (72-58) dominated the Cardinals (66-65) 12-3 in the best start of rookie Andrew Painter’s career on Saturday night: the big righty fanned eight batters across seven innings and threw his fastest pitch since promotion to the big leagues.

The series finale will pit Phillies left-handed ace Cristopher Sánchez against Cardinals righty Kyle Leahy as St. Louis’ starting rotation continues to come undone. Leahy faced the Phillies two weeks ago and is reportedly facing an innings restriction as the season winds down, so don’t be surprised if the Cardinals look to their bullpen early in this matchup on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

The Phillies opened as a -194 favorite on DraftKings, with the over/under set at 7.5 in an expected pitchers duel. The run line sits at -1.5, with the Phillies given even odds (+100) of covering.

Weather

Temperatures have cooled off significantly as summer begins its final act. Expect a first pitch thermostat reading around 82 degrees, one that will remain steady throughout today’s matchup. With sunny skies and humidity around 55 percent, pack sunscreen if you’re headed to Citizens Bank Park… otherwise, enjoy a beautiful August day. Strong winds between nine and 19 miles per hour are forecast out of the west: something of a cross breeze, but one that could help balls on their way over the fence.

Pitching Matchup

Sánchez (2.51 ERA, 161.2 innings pitched, 1.22 WHIP and 10.4 K/9) dominated the Cardinals his last time out, striking out seven batters over six scoreless innings in an eventual Phillies loss; Leahy pitched six innings of one-run ball against Philadelphia the day after.

Cardinals’ batters hold a career .179 batting average (7-for-39) against Sanchez, their lone extra base hit a home run from righty designated hitter Ivan Herrera. With 16 strikeouts (38 percent) and three walks in 42 career plate appearances against Sánchez, expect plenty of swings and misses from the Birds on the Bat.

Leahy, meanwhile, has held the Phillies to a 9-of-34 (.265 batting average) clip with three doubles and nine strikeouts (26.5 percent). A strong groundball pitcher, Leahy has yet to issue a walk to the Phillies. Bryce Harper, Luis Arraez and Brandon Marsh boast the Phillies’ extra base hits, Alec Bohm is a perfect 3-for-3, and lefty slugger Kyle Schwarber is 0-for-5 with a pair of strikeouts.

It’s important to note that Leahy might not stay in the game for long, especially if the Phillies put a rally together, so keep that in mind when eyeing historical trends to place prop bets.