The Philadelphia Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals play the second of their three-game series this Wednesday night at Busch Stadium in a showdown of National League division leaders. Game time is set for 8:15 p.m. (ET) and it will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. <\/p>\n
Bet on MLB Baseball – Philadelphia Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals Philadelphia dropped two of three to Seattle this past weekend, but still came into this series with eight wins in its last 10 games and the best record in the Majors at 45-28. The Phillies have a 4.5 game lead over Atlanta in the NL East. They are 28-12 at home and 17-16 on the road.<\/p>\n Inconsistency at the plate has been an issue for Philadelphia this season. It averaged six runs per game in its last five wins but scored just seven total runs in its last four losses. Fortunately, the Phillies\u2019 pitching staff has been able to make up for this with an NL-best ERA of 3.03.<\/p>\n Philadelphia will send Cliff Lee to the mound in this one. He has pitched lights out as of late, with three straight wins to run his record to 7-5 on the year. Lee has an overall ERA of 3.12, but has only given up one earned run in his last 24 innings pitched.<\/p>\n St. Louis regained a half-game lead over Milwaukee in the NL Central with a 5-4 victory over Kansas City on Sunday as a 189 home favorite. The win moved the Cardinals to 40-33 overall heading into this series. They are 20-20 on the road and 20-13 at home. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]<\/p>\n Sunday\u2019s win proved to be costly after All-Star 1B Albert Pujols broke his arm trying to make a play at first. He will be out for at least four to six weeks, putting a major dent into a lineup that was ranked first in the NL in hitting and second in runs scored.<\/p>\n Kyle Lohse will get the start for St.Louis on Wednesday. He is 7-3 this season with an ERA of 2.88 in 14 previous starts. He has fallen off pace a bit in his last three starts; giving up 12 earned runs on 23 hits in 16.2 innings of work.<\/p>\n Head-to-head, the Cardinals won the first two games this season at home with one of them being a 3-1 victory against Lee as a 133 home underdog. The total stayed \u2018under\u2019 in both games. This time around, stick with the Phillies as Lee atones for the earlier loss with another rock-solid performance.<\/p>\n MLB Gambling Trends:<\/strong><\/p>\n PHI are 9-2 in their last 11 overall.
\nDate\/Time: Wednesday, June 22 8:15 p.m. (ET)
\nVenue: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO.
\nBroadcast: ESPN
\nPhillies at Cardinals lines by BetOnline.com
\nMoneyline: Phillies -155
\nOver\/Under: 7.5
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\nPHI are 9-2 in their last 11 games on grass.
\nPHI are 6-2 in their last 8 games following a win.
\nOver is 8-1-2 in STL last 11 overall.
\nOver is 8-1-2 in STL last 11 on grass.
\nSTL are 2-8 in their last 10 overall.<\/p>\n