Phillies vs Cardinals Game 1 Picks & Odds
- Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series is roughly a pick ’em in the Phillies vs Cardinals odds
- Philadelphia will start Zack Wheeler (12-7, 2.82 ERA), while St. Louis will trot out Jose Quintana (6-7, 2.93 ERA)
- The complete Phillies vs Cardinals odds can be found below, along with analysis and a betting prediction
The Phillies (87-75, 40-41 away) snapped MLB’s second longest playoff drought by edging out the Brewers for the NL’s final Wild Card spot. Their reward? A best of three-game series with the Cardinals (93-69, 53-28 home) beginning on Friday afternoon in St. Louis.
Philly and the Cards are seeded sixth and third respectively in the MLB playoff bracket, and the winner of the series will advance to the NLDS to face the defending champion Braves.
Oddsmakers are giving St. Louis the slight edge in the Wild Card Series market, but Game 1 is expected to be a tightly contested affair.
Phillies vs Cardinals Game 1 Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Phillies | -106 | -1.5 (+155) | O 6.5 (-114) |
| St. Louis Cardinals | -110 | +1.5 (-186) | U 6.5 (-105) |
Odds updated October 7th, 2022, at Barstool Sportsbook. Claim the Barstool Sportsbook promo code.
The Phillies are slight -106 road underdogs for Game 1 while the game total had dropped to 6.5 after opening at 7.0.
First pitch is scheduled for 2:07 pm ET at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, with sunshine and 61 degree temperatures on deck.
Philadelphia vs St. Louis Probable Pitchers
The Cards will give the ball to left-hander Jose Quintana. The 33-year-old has been fantastic since being acquired from the Pirates, holding enemy hitters to one run or less in each of his final six starts.
He posted a 28-to-4 strikeout-to-walk rate down the stretch and allowed just one home run over his final 19 regular season starts.
Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber are a combined 1-for-15 with 6 Ks and no extra-base hits against Jose Quintana. #STLCards
— Brenden Schaeffer🎳 (@bschaeffer12) October 6, 2022
Quintana faced the Phillies once in 2022, shutting them out over 5.2 innings while striking out four. Philadelphia hitters are batting .256 against him over 86 at-bats, with Bryce Harper hitless in six plate appearances with three K’s.
Wheeler vs Quintana Stats
| 12-7 | Record | 6-7 |
| 2.82 | ERA | 2.93 |
| 1.04 | WHIP | 1.21 |
| .221 | OBA | .246 |
| 4.8 | SO/W Ratio | 2.9 |
The Phillies will counter with 12-game winner Zack Wheeler. He was equally as sharp as Quintana over the final two weeks of the campaign, allowing just one run total in three starts. He blanked both the Blue Jays and Nationals over that stretch, while those two clubs plus the Cubs combined for only nine hits off him in 15 innings, while striking out 15 times.
Zack Wheeler’s faced the Cardinals 3 times since the start of 2021, allowing 1 run in 22 innings with a 0.68 WHIP. He starts Game 1 Friday in St. Louis.
— Corey Seidman (@CSeidmanNBCS) October 5, 2022
Wheeler has never made a postseason start, but he does have plenty of history against St. Louis. He shutout the Cardinals in each of his two stats versus them this season, racking up a 2-0 record while throwing 14 scoreless innings.
Current St. Louis hitters own a lifetime .224 average off him in 107 at-bats, with a .265 OBP and .308 slugging percentage.
Phillies vs Cardinals Betting Trends
Despite the success he’s had against the Cardinals in the past, Wheeler will have his hands full on Friday. This St. Louis lineup is incredibly strong, with dangerous batters everywhere.
Paul Goldschmidt is the runaway favorite in the NL MVP odds, while teammate Nolan Arenado is the next closest contender. The duo rank first and second in the NL in WAR, while teammate Tommy Edman checks in at number seven.
Regular season ✅
🔜 Postseason#STLCards x @MattressFirm pic.twitter.com/woxsNyQTIp
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) October 6, 2022
Albert Pujols is looking to write a fairytale ending to his hall-of-fame career, and proved he still has plenty of pop left with 24 homers and a .550 slugging percentage in the regular season.
The Cardinals and Phillies finished fourth and fifth in the NL in scoring, but the Phillies ended the campaign on a brutal run. They had multiple five-game losing streaks over the final three weeks, dropping 13 of their last 20 overall.
2022 Philadelphia Phillies:
16-3 against Nationals
70-70 the rest of their gamesNationals are the reason the Phillies are in the playoffs
— Kev (@OnePursuitTakes) October 3, 2022
Philly’s lineup features plenty of power and big names including Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins, but the bats enter Friday cold. The Phillies slashed just .230/.302/.375 over the last 14 days, despite being in the thick of a playoff race.
PHI vs STL – 2022 H2H Results
| Date | Away | Home | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7/11/22 | Phillies | Cardinals | STL, 6-1 |
| 7/10/22 | Phillies | Cardinals | STL, 4-3 |
| 7/9/22 | Phillies | Cardinals | PHI, 1-0 |
| 7/8/22 | Phillies | Cardinals | PHI, 2-0 |
| 7/3/22 | Cardinals | Phillies | PHI, 4-0 |
| 7/2/22 | Cardinals | Phillies | STL, 7-6 |
| 7/1/22 | Cardinals | Phillies | PHI, 5-3 |
Phillies vs Cardinals Pick
Playoff baseball breeds low scoring games, and given the recent form of both of Friday’s starters, that could definitely be the case in Game 1. The Cardinals have a slight advantage at the plate, but their biggest edge comes from their bullpen.
St. Louis’ relievers own a significantly lower ERA than Philly’s (3.61 vs 4.27), while the Cards hurlers are stranding 75% of their men on base compared to only 70% by the Phillies.
Over the past month, the discrepancy between the two ‘pens has been even greater. Philadelphia relievers had the fourth worst ERA in baseball over that stretch (5.07), while the Cards’ ERA was over a run and a half better (3.33).
Pick: St. Louis Cardinals Moneyline (-110)
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As SBD's resident Swiss Army Knife, Chris covers virtually every sport including NFL, PGA, NBA, MLB, NCAAB, NCAAF and the Olympics. A true grinder, he'd rather pick off small edges in the player props market than swing for the fences with a 5-leg parlay.
