St. Louis Cardinals at Philadelphia Phillies Betting Preview

Sunday Night Baseball features a National League battle of central versus east as the St. Louis Cardinals (44-36) take on the Philadelphia Phillies (41-38). This game will be played in the City of Brotherly Love as the Phillies will play host at Citizens Bank Park. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:08 pm ET.
After dropping Friday’s game, St. Louis bounced back with a 7-6 win on Saturday. Matthew Liberatore struggled in the start allowing five runs in just 2.2 innings, but the bullpen locked it down for St. Louis.
The story of the game was the history that was made in the first inning. For just the 11th time in history, the Cardinals hit four straight home runs as Nolan Arenado, Nolan Gorman, Juan Yepez, and Dylan Carlson all went deep. Arenado added a second homer later in the game.
Starter Kyle Gibson was on the wrong side of history for Philadelphia as he went four innings, giving up six runs, including the four home runs in the loss.
Offensively, the Phillies had 12 hits, but they also left 18 runners stranded. Nick Castellanos, Alec Bohm, Odubel Herrera, and Yairo Munoz all had multiple hits.
The Phillies are the favorites playing at home Sunday night. They are -136 to win while the Cardinals’ moneyline sits at +116. The runline features St. Louis +1.5 (-188), and the over/under for total runs is 7.5.
Cardinals Trying To Move Above .500 On The Road
While the Cardinals sit 44-36 overall, they are exactly .500 on the road at 20-20. On Sunday, they will try to move above the .500 mark on the road and take the series against the Phillies.
As they also sit just one game back of the Brewers in the division, the Cardinals know every game is critical as they look to move back into first in the NL Central.
Veteran righty Adam Wainwright will take the ball Sunday. In 15 games, he is 6-5 with a 3.07 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, and has 76 strikeouts in 91 innings of work.
Wainwright was sensational in his last start. He picked up the win over the Marlins after going seven scoreless innings, allowing just seven hits and striking out nine.
Offensively, Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado have led the team in most all categories. Goldschmidt is hitting .346/.428/.633 with a team-leading 19 home runs, 65 runs batted in, and 60 runs scored. Arenado is hitting .291/.353/.543 with 17 home runs, 55 runs batted in, and 38 runs scored.
Against the Phillies’ Zack Wheeler, these are the only two who have hits against the righty in their careers. Goldschmidt is hitting .235 in 17 at bats while Arenado is hitting .250 in eight at bats. No other Cardinal has a career hit off of him.
Philadelphia Trying To Stay In Thick Of NL East
At 41-38, the Phillies have a respectable record this season; however, they have the misfortune of playing in a loaded NL East. As they currently sit 7.5 games back, they will look to pick up another win Sunday as they try to keep pace in the division.
Zack Wheeler will take the mound for the Phillies in the finale. In 14 games, Wheeler is 6-4 with a 2.89 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, and has 94 strikeouts in 81 innings.
Wheeler did take a no-decision in his last start against Atlanta. He went 6.1 innings, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out eight.
Without Bryce Harper in the lineup, the Phillies have to find some power from other spots. Luckily, Kyle Schwarber has given them that power. The NL June Player of the Month, Schwarber, is hitting .218/.335/.502 this season with 23 home runs, 51 runs batted in, and 54 runs scored.
Keep an eye on Odubel Herrera and Rhys Hoskins on Sunday, as they have both had success off of Wainwright. Herrera is hitting .417 in 12 at bats with a home run and two runs batted in. Hoskins is hitting .571 in seven at bats with two solo home runs.
Take St. Louis On The Runline
Both games of this series have been really tight thus far, and with two excellent pitchers going in Adam Wainwright and Zack Wheeler, expect the same on Sunday.
With that in mind, the best option in this one is to take the Cardinals on the runline at +1.5 (-188).
While both of these pitchers have the ability to shut down an opposing offense, it is St. Louis who have been able to shut teams down on all accounts as they rank sixth in scoring defense, allowing opponents a measly 3.90 runs per game.