Cardinals vs. Phillies: Picks, predictions, how to watch Friday’s game

The Cardinals and Phillies square off on Friday with first pitch set for 6:05 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Miles Mikolas (5-5, 2.57 ERA) will throw for the Cardinals, and the Phillies will start with Bailey Falter (0-2, 4.50 ERA) on the hill.

St. Louis (43-35) failed to complete the sweep of the Miami Marlins in a 4-3 loss on Wednesday and heads into Friday night one game behind the Milwaukee Brewers for the top spot in the National League Central. Mikolas made 15 starts this season and allowed 1 run over 6 innings with 9 strikeouts in last weekend’s start against the Chicago Cubs. St. Louis scores the seventh-most runs per game (4.8), and Paul Goldschmidt leads the team in most offensive categories including home runs (19), RBIs (65), batting average (.342) and on-base percentage (.424).

Philadelphia (40-37) avoided getting swept by the Atlanta Braves with a 14-4 victory on Thursday. Falter will make his eighth appearance and fourth start of the season, and he will make his first start since June 17, taking the place of Zach Eflin, who is on the injured list. The Phillies score the fifth-most runs per game (4.8) as they continue on the next 6-8 weeks without Bryce Harper.

Cardinals vs. Phillies

Pitchers: Miles Mikolas vs. Bailey Falter
First pitch: 6:05 p.m. ET
Cardinals local broadcast: Bally Sports Midwest
Phillies local broadcast: NBC Sports Philadelphia
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)

Odds, picks & predictions

Run Line: Cardinals -1.5 (+120)
Run total: 9.5
Moneyline odds: Cardinals -140, Phillies +120

Moneyline pick: Cardinals -140

It’s hard not to love this pitching advantage for St. Louis, as Mikolas has been excellent so far in 2022. He allowed just 5 earned runs over his last four starts, a span of 29 innings. Meanwhile, Falter played in just 29 games during his MLB career, which began last season, and this will be just his fifth start.

Player prop pick: Bailey Falter Over 3.5 strikeouts (+125)

The Phillies starter has low strikeout numbers in a limited sample size with a 5.9 K/9 this season. Falter struck out at least 4 batters in two of his three starts in 2022. This is fairly decent value with plus odds for Falter to reach this K total.

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