The Philadelphia Phillies will aim for their third consecutive series sweep on Sunday afternoon when ace left-hander Cristopher Sanchez faces the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.
The Phillies carry an eight-game winning streak into the matchup, including triumphs of 7-6 and 12-3 in the first two contests of this three-game series.
Alec Bohm played the hero’s role Friday with a two-run, walk-off triple in the 10th inning. On Saturday, four Phillies drove in multiple runs in support of rookie Andrew Painter, who logged seven strong innings (one run, five hits, eight strikeouts) in the lopsided victory.
“Man, Paint was good tonight,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. “… Just on the attack all night long. He located all night long. He was in good counts. You can’t ask for much better than that.”
Rookie JJ Wetherholt’s 17th home run was the top highlight for St. Louis, which would drop to .500 for the season with a loss Sunday. The Cardinals’ pitching staff has struggled lately, giving up 28 runs in the last three contests.
Philadelphia will look to continue the momentum behind Sanchez (16-4, 2.51 ERA), who is the National League’s only 16-game winner. The All-Star held the Miami Marlins to one run over six innings Monday to improve to 3-0 with a 1.17 ERA this month.
Sanchez is on pace to become the team’s first 20-game winner since Hall of Famer Roy Halladay in 2010.
“It would be an honor to be in a position to get to 20 wins,” Sanchez said through an interpreter. “But my first goal is always to throw as many quality innings as I can for the team and always leave the team in a good position to win games whenever I’m out there on the mound.”
Sanchez is 11-1 with a 1.42 ERA in 15 starts at home this season.
“He’s elite. All of his pitches are elite,” Philadelphia outfielder Derek Hill said.
Sanchez has started four times in five career appearances against the Cardinals, going 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA. He pitched six scoreless innings against St. Louis on Aug. 11 in a game the Phillies lost 2-0.
He will be opposed Sunday by St. Louis’ Kyle Leahy (10-4, 3.24 ERA), a right-hander who is 3-0 with a 1.80 ERA in three starts this month, including a 7-1 win over Philadelphia on Aug. 12 in a game in which he yielded one run over five frames.
With Leahy at 122 1/3 innings this season — his previous career high was 88 — the Cardinals are expected to monitor his workload closely down the stretch.
“I think there’s a path to continuing as a starter and then tapering it off into the bullpen in order to get to where you want to get to when the regular season comes to completion,” St. Louis manager Oliver Marmol said.
In four lifetime games (one start) against the Phillies, Leahy is 2-0 with a 2.00 ERA.
–Field Level Media
