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

The St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies square off on Monday with first pitch set for 7:15 p.m. EST. The game takes place at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Aaron Nola will be on the bump for the Phils and Miles Mikolas will toe the rubber for St. Louis.

The home team has had a rough go of it lately. Despite sitting in second place in the NL Central, just 2.5 games off the Brewers, they could very well be in the lead. They’ve lost seven of their last 10 games though, which includes a series loss to these Phillies to start July. In one of those games against Philly, Mikolas earned the loss tossing 5.2 frames and allowing two earned runs on six hits. St. Louis would lose the game 5-2. Overall, he’s given up 14 earned runs in his last 45.1 innings

Philadelphia is coming into this game on a bit of a hot streak, having won seven of their last 10 games, which includes two of the first three games in this series. Though the Cards won Sunday, the Phils are outscoring their opponent 6-4 overall in what has been a very low-scoring series. Nola is the team’s ace though has not faced STL this season. In his last 50.2 innings, he’s given up 15 earned runs.

Phillies vs. Cardinals

Pitchers: Aaron Nola vs. Miles Mikolas
First pitch: 7:15 p.m. EST
Phillies local broadcast:NBC Sports Philidelphia
Cardinals local broadcast: Bally Sports Midwest
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)

Odds, picks & predictions

Run Line: Phillies -1.5
Run total: 8
Moneyline odds: Phillies -125, Cardinals +1-5

Moneyline pick: Phillies -125

Philly has won four of the last six games against the Cards this season. Nola also has an advantage tonight since the STL hitters haven’t seen him throw yet this year, while Philly saw Mikolas toss just over a week ago. Add in the overall trends of how these clubs are playing at the moment and it should make for a Phillies victory.

Player prop pick: Aaron Nola under 5.5 strikeouts (+120)

Nola is typically a big strikeout guy, earning 46 Ks in his last 50.2 frames. His last time out he only sat down three batters though and he’s going against a Cardinals lineup that doesn’t strike out much at all. On the season, STL is going down on strikes just 7.78 times per game which ranks seventh in baseball. Despite their offensive woes lately, they’re actually striking out less. Over the last three games, they’ve struck out an average of just 5.67 times per nine innings, which is the least in MLB.

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