HOUSTON — There are plenty of reasons why, when presented with the choice of facing the Mets or the St. Louis Cardinals, the Phillies would choose the Cardinals. The Mets were just swept in three games in Atlanta, but have won 14 of 19 games played against the Phillies this season. The Phillies have faced the Cardinals fewer times — only seven games this season — but have gone 4-3 over that span.
The Cardinals have two NL MVP candidate on their roster, in Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt, but both are righties. As a whole, the Cardinals have struggled more against right-handed pitching than left-handed pitching, posting a .730 on-base percentage against righties and a .810 mark against lefties. With right-handed pitchers Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola taking Game 1 and Game 2, respectively, those matchups should play to the Phillies’ advantage.
There is also, of course, the revenge factor. The last playoff game the Phillies played was on Oct. 7 against the Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park. Chris Carpenter pitched a complete game and allowed three hits. Roy Halladay also threw a gem, giving the Phillies eight innings of work and allowing six hits, one run and one walk, but wasn’t as a dominant as Carpenter was.
