Cardinals at Phillies
Bryce Harper hasn't provided the most bang for his buck in the early portion of his time with the Philadelphia Phillies, although the $330 million man has showed signs of putting it all together in the first two contests against the St. Louis Cardinals. Harper looks to continue the good fortune for the Phillies on Thursday afternoon when they vie for a sweep of the visiting Cardinals.
Harper followed up a pair of doubles in Tuesday's 4-3 win with a homer and four RBIs the following night as Philadelphia posted its ninth victory in 12 games with an 11-4 romp over St. Louis. The 2015 National League Most Valuable Player aims to remain hot versus Thursday starter Dakota Hudson, against whom he belted a grand slam in a 11-1 rout on May 7. While the Phillies' 20-10 record matches their best 30-game start at 16-year-old Citizens Bank Park, the Cardinals have lost 10 of their last 12 road games and 18 of 24 overall. Marcell Ozuna, who has scored a run in four straight games, is 5-for-16 with four extra-base hits (three doubles, homer) against Thursday starter Jerad Eickhoff.
TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FS Midwest (St. Louis), NBCS Philadelphia
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Dakota Hudson (3-3, 4.22 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Jerad Eickhoff (2-2, 3.86)
Hudson recorded his fourth quality start in his last five outings and posted a 3.07 ERA in that stretch, but only has a 1-2 mark to show for it. The 24-year-old allowed two runs on five hits in a career-high 6 1/3 innings in a no-decision on Saturday against Atlanta. Hudson was blasted for a season-high eight runs on seven hits and walked three batters in his loss to Philadelphia earlier this month.
Eickhoff is seeing his strong start to the season unravel in short order, as he followed up a 1.50 ERA in his first five starts with a ghastly 9.75 over his last three. The 28-year-old has been taken deep on seven occasions in his last three trips to the mound after keeping the opposition in the park in his first 30 innings of the season. Eickhoff authored his best start of the season against St. Louis on May 8, scattering three hits over eight innings in a 5-0 victory.
WALK-OFFS
1. St. Louis SS Paul DeJong is 1-for-23 with five strikeouts in his last seven games.
2. Phillies 2B Cesar Hernandez has four RBIs in this series and 17 over his last 21 contests.
3. St. Louis 1B Paul Goldschmidt is 10-for-26 in his last seven games.