Phillies look to cool off Cardinals

Jun 20, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard (6) scoops the ball as St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams (32) is out at first base during the eighth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Rovak-USA TODAY Sports

Halting Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals in their tracks may prove troublesome for the Philadelphia Phillies and the inconsistent Kyle Kendrick.

The Cardinals look to move their road record to .500 with a win and they felt confident handing the ball to Wainwright a day early.  For Philadelphia, Kendrick (5-11, 4.90) is seeking his first win in almost a month and the Cardinals’ ace has a chance to win a major-league best 16th game.

St. Louis has scored at least four runs in nine of its last ten games with Matt Holliday driving in a run in each of the last three.  While Holliday is just 2-for-21 lifetime against Kendrick, those two hits were a double and home run.  He has three RBIs against the righty also.

Matt Adams and Jon Jay have a combined four doubles and four RBIs against Kendrick while they and Pete Kozma all have .400 batting averages or better against the struggling Philadelphia starter.

In 11 career games against Philadelphia, Wainwright has given up 16 runs.  Seven of those came in one game in the 2009 season.  He has 46 strikeouts in those 11 games with 38 against the current Phillies roster.

The Phillies, who just took two of three from the Seattle Mariners, are 28-37 at home in 2014.

Cardinals lineup:

Carpenter 3B

Wong 2B

Holliday LF

Adams 1B

Peralta SS

Jay CF

Taveras RF

Cruz C

Wainwright P

Phillies lineup:

Revere CF

Rollins SS

Utley 2B

Howard 1B

Byrd RF

Brown LF

Ruiz C

Asche 3B

Kendrick P