Article author:
Reuters
Philadelphia Phillies tries to cool Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado when hosting St. Louis on Sunday night.
Arenado hit a cycle hit and drove in three runs when the Cardinals fell to the Phillies on Friday 5-3 in the opening round of a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park. Arenado then hit two home runs and drove in three runs as the Cardinals won 7-6 on Saturday.
"It's a really special day like today," Arenado said. "It's really hard to think about it the moment you have to sit down and get ready for the game (Sunday)."
After hitting just .196 in May, Arenado heated up in June to hit .290 with 17 RBIs. He is 6-8 with 6 RBIs in the first two games of July.
"He's very good at bat," said Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol. "The man has a mission. You can tell me. He's really big to us.
" He doesn't want to give anything. He's very much in every aspect of the game. Competitive ... he wants to win every corner of the game. "
Cardinals launches Adam Wainwright (6-5, 3.07 ERA) in a series of rubber games. Wainwright threw seven shutout innings at his recent start. Defeated the Miami Marlins 9-0 on Monday.
Wainwright hit nine batters and allowed seven hits while walking one. He first worked with newcomer Ivan Herrera. He shared the duty of catching with Yadier Molina and Andrew Knizner, who were shelved due to knee pain.
"I've been playing catch with a man for 17 years," Wainwright said of Molina. "So he knows me pretty well."
But Molina is at least a few weeks away from home, so Wainwright has to adapt to the pitch to replace him. .. Given the shortened spring training in baseball this season, Wainwright had never worked with Herrera before winning Miami.
"We considered things. How do I like to approach things, what does the ball do," Wainwright said. "I got a strike 3 backdoor cutter once, but he says," Hey, I didn't know you had that pitch. "
Wainwright is 7-4 and ERA is 3.00. 17 career outings to the Phillies (including 15 starts). Rhys Hoskins (4 to 7, 2 home runs), Odubel Herrera (5 to 12, home runs, 2 RBIs) and JT Realmuto (7 to 16) hit him well.
Phillies counters Wainwright with Zack Wheeler (6-4, 2.89). From Saturday's comeback, they try to maintain the aggressive momentum that has wiped out the 5-0 and 6-5 deficits.
"These guys kept fighting," said Rob Thomson, Phillies' interim manager. "I've returned to my tie twice. It looks like I couldn't take the lead, but I'm very proud of how they fight."
Recently on Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves. At the start of the game, Wheeler allowed Phillies to lose 5-3 in the final 5-3, with 5 hits (including 2 home runs) in 6 1/3 innings and 3 runs. He hit eight batters and walked one.
Before the match, Wheeler allowed only three home runs in the 742/3 innings this season. This is the first time Wheeler has allowed two home runs in one inning since April 20, 2021. Arenado is 2 to 8 with 2 walks and RBI against him, while Paul Goldschmidt is 4 to 17 with double and 2 walks.
– Field-level media