ST. LOUIS — The Phillies are in a much different position than the Cardinals when it comes to starting pitchers. Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suarez have been lined up to pitch the wild card round since the last home series of the regular season. Rob Thomson did so as a courtesy this week, but he did not have to reiterate who was getting the ball. It was common sense.
The Cardinals, on the other hand, do not have two ace level starters. They have a bit more flexibility than the Phillies when it comes to starting options, so it was a bit of a mystery as to who St. Louis was going to throw out there.
The team announced Thursday that Jose Quintana will get the ball in game one for St. Louis. Miles Mikolas will take the mound for game two.
Quintana, 33, was acquired by the Cardinals from the Pirates at the trade deadline. The veteran has had a superb season, pitching to a 2.01 ERA since moving to St. Louis. He has not allowed more than two earned runs in a start since coming to St. Louis. The journeymen starter threw 5 1/3 scoreless innings earlier this year against the Phillies in his last start as a Pirate. The Phillies had interest in Quintana at the trade deadline.
Mikolas, 34, posted a 3.29 ERA over 202 1/3 innings this season. In two starts against the Phillies this year, Mikolas allowed just three earned runs over 12 2/3 innings.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch notes that starters Jack Flaherty, Jordan Montgomery and Adam Wainwright will be available out of the bullpen starting in game one. It’s possible that one of these starters could work as a piggyback with either of Quintana or Mikolas in the first two games. It’s also possible that all three could appear in a possible game three.
Wainwright in particular has struggled mightily in the last month of the season. He has a 7.22 ERA in his last six starts and is dealing with dead arm. It’ll be interesting to see what kind of role the 41-year-old lifelong Cardinal will have in this series.
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