St. Louis at Philadelphia

The Cardinals went with their best pitcher in Game 1 and still lost 11-6 to the best team in baseball. Now it's a huge pitching mismatch for Game 2. Philly is a tough park to pitch in with its small dimensions, as we saw yesterday when the Phillies had 14 hits and two homers. Philadelphia is on a five game win streak, every game but one, by more than one run with wins by 5, 6, 2 and 5 runs. And the Cardinals are stuck with 36-year old Chris Carpenter (11-9),  a former ace who is 7-6 with a 3.85 ERA on the road where he gave up 11 of his 16 homers. The Cardinals are 2-6 in Carpenter's last eight starts as an underdog.  The Cardinals are 16-36 in their last 52 games as an underdog of +151 to +200, 3-7 in their last ten games vs. a left-handed starter. And they don't face just any lefty this game but ace Cliff Lee (17-8, 2.40 ERA). He has allowed two earned runs or less in each of his last ten starts and looks primed for another strong playoff run, which is his history. He is 11-3 with a 1.94 ERA at home this season and a remarkable 143-24 strikeout to walk ratio, allowing 107 hits in 134 innings at home. Plus he has a 1.76 ERA against the St. Louis offense this season. The Phillies are 19-7 in Lee's last 26 home starts. Look for another one-sided game, Play the Phillies on the run line in Game 2.