The Phillies went 1-5 on their road trip that included stops in Atlanta and New York. They welcome a Cardinals team that's also struggling, having lost four of their last five games.
Zach Eflin will make the start for the Phillies in the series opener. He surrendered four runs over six innings in his last time out against Atlanta. He has a 3.46 ERA on the season over two starts. The Cardinals counter with right-hander Carlos Martinez. The 29-year-old has a 6.30 ERA over two starts to go along with a 1.40 WHIP.
Cold cuts
The Phillies enter play on Friday with a strikeout rate of 28.9 percent, the second-highest mark in the majors behind only the Chicago Cubs (29.4 percent). Compounding the offensive woes, the Phils have a walk rate of just 7.2 percent, the second-lowest figure in baseball behind only the Colorado Rockies (6.6 percent).
Winning at home
The Phillies have won 19 of their last 25 games at Citizens Bank Park (8/14/20-current, .760 wining percentage) and have outscored the opposition 131-93 in that span (+38 run differential).
Cardinals in Philly
Since 2018, the Cardinals have not won a series of games against the Phillies. Prior to that, St. Louis took the previous six series (2015- 17).
Odds and weather
The Phillies are listed as favorites at -140. The over/under is set at eight runs. Temps are going to hover near 50-degrees throughout the contest with winds coming from the north at about 10 mph.
Tonight's Phillies lineup
McCutchen 7
Hoskins 3
Harper 9
Realmuto 2
Bohm 5
Gregorius 6
Segura 4
Moniak 8
Eflin 1
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