NL Wild Card: Philadelphia Phillies to play St. Louis Cardinals
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Phillies know who they're playing Friday. With the San Diego Padres' 6-2 win over the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday night, the Phillies are now locked into the National League's third wild-card spot.
The Phillies will face the St. Louis Cardinals for three games in St. Louis on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Game 1 is for 2:07 p.m. Friday, and Game 2 at 8:37 p.m. Saturday. If necessary, Game 3 will be 8:37 p.m. Sunday or 7:37 p.m. if the New York Mets-Padres series is over.
Zack Wheeler will start Game 1 and Aaron Nola will be on the mound for Game 2. If there's a Game 3, the Phillies will send out Ranger Suarez.
St. Louis has yet to reveal their pitching plans, but 41-year-old Adam Wainwright would be in line to start Game 1.
If Wainwright does start Friday, it would be the third Wainwright-Wheeler pitching matchup of the season. The Phils beat the Cardinals in both games Wainwright started this season.
First, they beat the Cards, 4-0, at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday Night Baseball on July 3. The Phils plated four runs off eight hits, including two homers, in 5 2/3 innings against Wainwright.
In the second matchup, Wainwright allowed two home runs to Alec Bohm in a 2-0 complete-game loss five days later in St. Louis on July 8.
Wheeler allowed no runs and struck out 10 in 14 innings in his two starts this season against the Cardinals.
The Phillies won the season series from the Cardinals, 4-3.
Philadelphia ended the NL's longest postseason drought by clinching a wild-card berth Monday night in Houston. It was briefly the longest drought in all of baseball after Seattle ended its 21-year drought a few days before.
Friday will mark 11 years to the date since the Phillies' last playoff game.
It also came against the Cardinals. It did not end well.
The Phils hope this time around is different.
Red October is back.
