The Philadelphia Phillies will look to continue their power surge on Saturday night when they host the St. Louis Cardinals in the second contest of a three-game series.
Alec Bohm and Kyle Schwarber homered in Philadelphia’s 7-2 romp over St. Louis in the series opener Friday.
The Phillies have gone deep an MLB-best 45 times this month, with Schwarber doing so on eight occasions — including in back-to-back outings — to boost his team-leading total to 35 homers for the season. He also leads the Phillies in RBIs with 83.
“I feel like I’m in a good spot right now,” Schwarber said, per NBC Sports Philadelphia. “I feel like the whole team is in a pretty good spot right now. We’ve been swinging well, taking good at-bats, working deep counts and getting rewarded for it. Just got to keep it going.”
Teammate Bryce Harper is 14-for-30 with five homers, nine RBIs and 11 runs in his past eight games.
“Just getting pitches on the plate to swing at,” Harper said earlier this week. “Not missing them, trying not to chase the pitches out of the zone, taking chances when I can. But just continue to try to square up baseballs.
“Like I said about a month ago, I’m not worried about the homers or anything like that. I’m just trying to square up baseballs as much as possible. When I’m doing that, we’ve got a really good chance to go out there and win games.”
Trea Turner carries a six-game hitting streak into Saturday’s contest for the Phillies, who will look to hand the Cardinals their eighth loss in their last 10 games.
Philadelphia’s Zack Wheeler (9-6, 3.70 ERA) and St. Louis’ Dakota Hudson (5-0, 3.95) will clash Saturday in a battle of right-handers.
Wheeler, 33, will look to rebound after allowing four runs on seven hits in seven innings of a 4-3 setback to the Washington Nationals on Sunday in Williamsport, Pa.
Wheeler is 3-2 with a 2.65 ERA in six career starts against the Cardinals. He’d be wise to tread carefully around Paul Goldschmidt, who hit a two-run homer in the series opener and has two homers, six RBIs and six runs in his past five games.
Hudson, 28, won his fourth straight start after allowing two runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 7-3 victory over the New York Mets on Sunday.
He credited an improved slider for helping him on his recent run of good fortune.
“It protects and enhances my arsenal well,” Hudson said. “Lets me free up my game a little bit. It’s more about location and not so much about being nasty. More of a mentality of getting it in the right place.”
Hudson is 1-1 with a 1.59 ERA in three career starts against Philadelphia.
St. Louis All-Star third baseman Nolan Arenado exited the series opener in the seventh inning with lower back tightness. Nolan Gorman, who was reinstated from the injured list prior to the game, took his place in the lineup for his first game since Aug. 12.
—Field Level Media
