Phillies at Cardinals 5/19/18 - MLB Picks & Predictions

Busch Stadium will play host to a Saturday afternoon MLB matchup between the Philadelphia Phillies and St Louis Cardinals. The Phillies took Thursday night’s series opener, but were hammered last night by a 12-4 final score. SO Jake Arrieta was lifted after three innings and allowed four runs for Philadelphia, who is a half-game behind Atlanta for the NL East Division lead.

Twenty-four year old righty Zach Eflin (1-0 0.71 ERA) will make his third start of the season for the Phillies. Last time out, Eflin struck out nine batters over six plus frames during an 11-0 home victory versus San Francisco.

The St. Louis Cardinals have not been to the postseason since 2015 and need to make it there this year for manager Mike Matheny to keep his job. On Friday, St. Louis received home runs from three different players as part of a 15-hit attack. SP Michael Wacha (5-1) struck out eight batters and allowed two runs for the Cardinals, who are six games above .500 overall.

Twenty-five year old righty John Gant (1-1 4.15 ERA) will head to the hill for the Cardinals in this contest. Through 80 plus career major league innings, Gant has struck out 71 batters and owns a 1.43 WHIP.