Gray And Nola Will Keep Hitters Guessing

Cardinals vs. Phillies, 6:15 ET Game 2

Don't look now, but we are cookin' with gas! I've gone 5-0-1 on my past six plays and am looking to keep rolling. I mentioned before that I knew that I would get on a roll and May has been a good month after a fairly tough April. I know that eventually a streak will come to an end, but right now, we want to keep extending it as much as possible. Today, the Cardinals are taking on the Phillies and we are looking to take down another unit.

The Cardinals are playing their best baseball of the season and look like they could be a competitive team. They are currently 23-19 for the season, but they are five games under .500 on the road. The Cardinals are looking to win their 10th straight game today. They took two of three from the Mets before sweeping both the Pirates and Nationals. The biggest question is if this is a one-time streak or if this team has actually improved. There have been 42 Cardinals games this season. In the first 21 games, they went 9-12. The next 21, they've gone 14-7. This could be a very streaky team all season. One guy who has been pretty consistent for them has been Sonny Gray. Gray is 4-1 for the season with a 3.50 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP. He has been equally good on the road as he has been at home. Gray has a quality start in four of his past five outings. Phillies hitters have been just okay against him with a .230 batting average. About a third of the at-bats have ended in a strikeout, and of the 34 hits he has allowed in 148 at-bats, none have left the yard. 

St. Louis Cardinals LHP Sonny Gray throws against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. (Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)

The Phillies are not playing their best ball, but they still have a winning record with a 24-17 mark to this point in the season. At home, the team has had most of their success, going 13-7 to this point in the year. Over the past five games, the team has gone 3-2, and most of their games have been rather low scoring. Only one of the five games has gone over an 8.5 total. The Phillies offense is hitting .257 for the season and has 193 runs which is basically the same as the Cardinals. Even the pitching staff is similar. However, their starter today, Aaron Nola, is struggling quite a bit. Nola is 1-6 for the year with a 4.89 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. Nola has allowed at least four earned runs in four of his eight starts. He did face the Cardinals once this season and allowed two runs in five innings. In that span, he allowed five hits and four walks as well. Cardinals hitters aren't great against Nola though as they are hitting just .190 against him. 

The Cardinals seem to have the Phillies number this season, having taken three of four games to this point. However, this game seems like it is still a toss up because St. Louis is playing really well and Philadelphia can compete with anyone. I really like Sonny Gray, and he is certainly pitching better than Nola is to this point in the year. I think it makes more sense to take the under than it does to play a side, so I'm going to play under 8.5. 

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