Philadelphia Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals Pick & Prediction APRIL 13th 2025
Preview and Prediction
Following an unsuccessful attempt at producing a quality performance in his previous outing, Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies will look to bounce back on Sunday afternoon.
He will take the mound against the St. Louis Cardinals in the deciding game of their three-game series at Busch Stadium. The Cardinals claimed a 2-0 victory on Friday night, but the Phillies responded with a 4-1 win on Saturday afternoon.
Wheeler (1-0, 3.44 ERA) surrendered five runs on eight hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday.
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This ended his streak of 13 consecutive starts where he pitched six or more innings and allowed two or fewer runs. A defensive error in the outfield led to a three-run home run by Sean Murphy.
"Not being able to bear down and escape that inning unscathed, that made me angry," Wheeler stated. "Things like that happen, you have to stay focused. I've been in this situation before and things like that have happened in my career. So as a pitcher, you take pride in saying, 'Alright, I'm going to get us out of this.' But it just didn't work out."
Wheeler holds a 4-3 record with a 2.63 ERA in eight career starts against the Cardinals.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson made changes to his batting order for this series, moving struggling third baseman Alec Bohm to the seventh spot on Friday and the eighth spot on Saturday.
Bohm broke his 0-for-19 slump with a single and a run on Saturday. Prior to this game, he had only four hits in his last 43 at-bats.
"The only at-bats that I'm not happy with are the ones where I'm swinging at pitches out of the strike zone, and I'm not doing that too often," Bohm explained. "If I get a pitch that I should swing at, I'm putting it in play."
The Cardinals will close out the series with left-hander Matthew Liberatore (0-1, 5.84 ERA). In his first two starts, he allowed early runs but then settled in to provide valuable innings for the team.
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Manager Oliver Marmol saw this as a positive step for Liberatore, who is trying to solidify his spot in the starting rotation after previously switching between starting and relieving.
"Not everything is going to go perfectly," Marmol acknowledged. "You have to find a way to pitch through tough situations and still come out with zeros. He has shown the ability to do that so far."
Liberatore holds a 0-0 record with a 4.35 ERA in seven career appearances against the Phillies, including one start.
The Cardinals made adjustments to their lineup for this series after shortstop Masyn Winn was sidelined with back spasms. He was placed on the 10-day injured list and was replaced on the roster by Nolan Gorman, who returned from the 10-day IL after recovering from a hamstring strain.
In Winn's absence, Thomas Saggese and Brendan Donovan will take turns at shortstop. Gorman will play second base and also serve as designated hitter.
Gorman made a pinch-hit appearance on Saturday in his first game back.
"He's happy that we're not prolonging this and sending him down for more at-bats," Marmol shared. "He was eager to return. Even if this injury didn't happen, he was really pushing to come back today."
Philadelphia Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals Recap APR 13TH 2025
Willson Contreras and Jordan Walker hit two-run homers to power the St. Louis Cardinals past the Philadelphia Phillies 7-0 Sunday.
Nolan Arenado scored twice and drove in two runs as the Cardinals won their first series against the Phillies since the 2017 season.
Matthew Liberatore (1-1) limited the Phillies to three hits in his six innings. He struck out seven and walked one.
Phil Maton, JoJo Romero and Kyle Leahy pitched an inning each to complete the shutout.
Phillies starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (1-1) allowed four runs on seven hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked one.
Liberatore worked out of major trouble in the second inning. J.T. Realmuto hit a leadoff single and went to third on Edmundo Sosa's one-out single.
Sosa moved to second on the throw to third, giving the Phillies a second runner in scoring position. But Liberatore escaped by striking out Brandon Marsh and throwing out Johan Rojas attempting to bunt his way on.
Wheeler retired his first six batters on just 14 pitches. Then the Cardinals threatened in the third when Walker hit a single and Victor Scott II reached on a one-out bunt single.
But Lars Nootbaar flied out and Alec Burleson struck out to strand them.
The Cardinals took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning when Arenado hit a single and Contreras followed with his homer.
St. Louis increased its lead to 4-0 in the sixth inning. Brendan Donovan and Arenado hit one-out doubles to produce a run, then Nolan Gorman dropped an RBI ground-run double down the third-base line.
The Cardinals made it 5-0 in the seventh inning. Yohel Pozo hit a ground rule double, advanced on a bunt and scored on a wild pitch.
Arenado hit a double and Walker hit his two-run homer in the eighth inning to make it 7-0.