YESTERDAY

Philadelphia rallied to beat the Cardinals 7-6 last night in the series opener, with Alec Bohm delivering a walk-off triple after St. Louis had taken a late lead. Jordan Walker and Joshua Báez each homered for the Cardinals.

NL CENTRAL STANDINGS

NL EAST STANDINGS

RECENT RESULTS (LAST 10)

STARTING PITCHERS

The Cardinals have not named a starter for tonight's game.

Andrew Painter (PHI, RHP) arrives at this start 2-8 with a 6.43 ERA over 85.1 innings across 16 starts this season. He has surrendered 98 hits and 17 home runs while walking 34 batters, producing a 1.55 WHIP. His 71 strikeouts reflect genuine swing-and-miss ability (an 18.5% strikeout rate on the season), but an 8.9% walk rate has kept baserunners coming and the ERA climbing.

Through the lineup in 2026, the first pass has been his most vulnerable window: hitters carry a .959 OPS across 145 plate appearances the first time they see him. That figure drops to .830 OPS the second time through (139 PA) and falls further to .714 OPS the third time through (56 PA). Painter has reached that third pass in 13 of his 16 starts, meaning the Cardinals can expect a full dose tonight.

EXPECTED LINEUPS

Cardinals (Yesterday's lineup from 2026-08-21)

Handedness: 7 RHB (Herrera, Walker, Báez, Jordan, Fermín, Pereira, Pagés), 2 LHB (Wetherholt, Torres).

Phillies (Yesterday's lineup from 2026-08-21)

Handedness: 3 RHB (Turner, Bohm, Realmuto), 6 LHB (Schwarber, Harper, Arraez, Stott, Marsh, Crawford).

INJURIES & ROSTER NOTES

Cardinals

Andre Pallante -- 2026-08-18: St. Louis Cardinals placed RHP Andre Pallante on the 15-day injured list retroactive to August 18, 2026. Right elbow inflammation.

Phillies

Caleb Kilian -- 2026-08-10: Philadelphia Phillies placed RHP Caleb Kilian on the 15-day injured list. Left oblique strain.

Felix Reyes -- 2026-08-20: Philadelphia Phillies transferred LF Felix Reyes from the 7-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Right wrist fracture.

Pallante's right elbow inflammation, with his IL placement backdated to August 18, pulls him from the Cardinals' pitching staff for at least the immediate stretch of this series and adds load to the arms behind tonight's starter. On the Philadelphia side, Kilian has been sidelined since August 10, long enough that the Phillies' staff has settled into his absence. The more consequential move is Reyes' transfer to the 60-day injured list -- a right wrist fracture that effectively ends his availability for an extended run and removes a left-field option from Philadelphia's lineup picture against St. Louis.

2A: BVP -- CARDINALS BATTERS VS OPPONENT STARTER

No data available for this section.

No Cardinals batter in today's lineup carries career BvP history against Painter, making this a blind matchup from top to bottom. With no historical signal to anchor the scouting, his 2026 platoon tendencies provide the sharpest available frame -- the Cardinals present a heavily right-handed order, and how Painter has handled right-handed and left-handed bats this season is the lens to lean on. No significant bench BvP history.

2B: BVP -- OPPONENT BATTERS VS CARDINALS STARTER

No data available for this section.

The Cardinals starter is TBD; this Philadelphia lineup leans heavily left-handed.

2C: PLATOON SPLITS -- CARDINALS

2026 companion columns: sample floor is 60 PA vs this hand (below floor renders SSS in the table above). Above that floor the 2026 vs-hand figure leads the read, with 2025 as the historical anchor; below it, 2025 leads.

Andrew Painter is a right-hander, and the Cardinals send a right-handed-heavy order against him; the platoon edge falls to JJ Wetherholt at the top of the lineup and Bryan Torres batting eighth, both batting left-handed. Among the same-hand matchups that fill the bulk of the order, Jordan Walker shows the sharpest 2026 reversal from his historically difficult split against right-handers: 2026 to date: .289 AVG, .832 OPS in 393 PA. 2025 baseline: .200/.263/.291 across 289 PA. Iván Herrera is tracking below his own historical right-handed line: 2026 to date: .243 AVG, .718 OPS in 397 PA. 2025 baseline: .268/.343/.399 across 328 PA. José Fermín has cooled from a productive 2025 split: 2026 to date: .233 AVG, .614 OPS in 145 PA. 2025 baseline: .280/.379/.420 across 59 PA. Pedro Pagés: 2026 to date: .234 AVG, .669 OPS in 106 PA. 2025 baseline: .225/.264/.364 across 276 PA. Everson Pereira is the clearest exposure in the group: 2026 to date: .213 AVG, .695 OPS in 67 PA. 2025 baseline: .097/.216/.097 across 37 PA.

2C: PLATOON SPLITS -- OPPONENT

2026 companion columns: sample floor is 60 PA vs this hand (below floor renders SSS in the table above). Above that floor the 2026 vs-hand figure leads the read, with 2025 as the historical anchor; below it, 2025 leads.

The Cardinals starter is left-handed and not yet named. Against left-handed pitching, the Phillies do not present a uniform threat across the lineup: Schwarber at the top is the most dangerous same-hand matchup, Harper and Turner in the middle of the order are each tracking well below their 2025 baselines, and Marsh at the bottom remains the softest split profile in the group.

Kyle Schwarber (DH) leads off as the sharpest left-on-left threat in the lineup. 2026 to date: .268 AVG, .916 OPS in 200 PA vs left-handed pitching. 2025 baseline: .252 AVG, .366 OBP, .598 SLG in 276 PA, including 23 home runs. No platoon advantage exists against Schwarber.

Bryson Stott (3B) has emerged as an elevated same-hand threat in 2026. 2026 to date: .301 AVG, .839 OPS in 107 PA. 2025 baseline: .225 AVG, .287 OBP, .288 SLG in 123 PA. His current profile is a meaningful step forward from that prior-season line against lefties.

Bryce Harper (RF) and Trea Turner (SS) are each running well below their 2025 marks against left-handed pitching. Harper: 2026 to date .204 AVG, .648 OPS in 208 PA; 2025 baseline .273 AVG, .336 OBP, .478 SLG in 229 PA. Turner: 2026 to date .217 AVG, .627 OPS in 178 PA; 2025 baseline .323 AVG, .376 OBP, .460 SLG in 205 PA.

Luis Arraez (2B) is a contact threat regardless of pitcher hand. 2026 to date: .299 AVG, .737 OPS in 158 PA vs lefties. 2025 baseline: .262 AVG, .294 OBP, .350 SLG in 204 PA, a season in which he struck out just 10 times in that split. Alec Bohm (1B, right-handed bat): 2026 to date .265 AVG, .764 OPS in 146 PA; 2025 baseline .295 AVG, .351 OBP, .467 SLG in 134 PA. Brandon Marsh (LF) is the softest profile in this lineup against left-handed pitching: 2026 to date .232 AVG, .635 OPS in 120 PA; 2025 baseline .197 AVG, .287 OBP, .289 SLG in 88 PA, with 32 strikeouts across that sample.

2D: PITCHER PLATOON SPLITS

No data available for this section.

Andrew Painter enters as a right-hander facing a Cardinals lineup with 7 right-handed bats and 2 left-handed (Wetherholt and Torres). His 2026 platoon figures show comparable vulnerability to both sides: .299/.353/.500, ops .853, in 237 BF against left-handed hitters, and .274/.372/.468, ops .840, in 146 BF against right-handers. The Cardinals' right-handed majority gives Painter no meaningful platoon advantage on either side of the split.

St. Louis has not named a starter; the designated arm is left-handed and will face a Phillies order that sends 6 left-handed hitters -- Schwarber, Harper, Arraez, Stott, Marsh, and Crawford -- against that arm, with Turner, Bohm, and Realmuto providing the only right-handed presence. A same-side-heavy opposing lineup is the central platoon consideration for the Cardinals' arm.

2D-HA: PITCHER HOME/AWAY SPLITS

No data available for this section.

Andrew Painter starts at Citizens Bank Park as the home pitcher. His 2026 home line across 181 batters faced shows a .831 OPS allowed and a 6.59 ERA. In road starts this season, opposing batters post a .864 OPS against him across 202 batters faced, with a 6.29 ERA. St. Louis has not announced a starter.

2E: TTO SPLITS (TIMES THROUGH ORDER)

No data available for this section.

Andrew Painter's first pass through the order is his most exposed stretch in 2026: opposing hitters have slashed .325/.403/.556 with a .959 OPS across 145 first-pass plate appearances. The second pass shows a step down -- .281/.338/.492 and a .830 OPS in 139 PA -- and the third pass is his tightest stretch, holding hitters to .250/.339/.375 and a .714 OPS in 56 PA. Painter has reached the third pass in 13 of his 16 starts. The Cardinals carry their best attacking leverage in the opening cycle, before the game settles into the grooves where he has been sharpest.

2F: INHERITED RUNNERS PROFILE

League average strand rate: ~68-72%. Among these five Cardinals relievers, three finished below that band on 2025 inherited-runner assignments.

Kyle Leahy: 2026 to date: 3.24 ERA, 1.31 WHIP in 122.1 IP. 2025 strand rate baseline: 62.1% across 29 inherited runners, below the league-average range.

Gordon Graceffo: 2026 to date: 3.13 ERA, 1.12 WHIP in 63.1 IP. 2025 strand rate baseline: 54.5% across 11 inherited runners.

Riley O'Brien: 2026 to date: 2.94 ERA, 1.12 WHIP in 52.0 IP. 2025 strand rate baseline: 70.0% across 10 inherited runners, inside the league-average window.

Ryan Fernandez: 2025 strand rate: 50.0% across 8 inherited runners. He has logged 13.1 IP in 2026.

Michael McGreevy: 2026 to date: 3.54 ERA, 1.21 WHIP in 137.1 IP. 2025 strand rate baseline: 100.0% across 3 inherited runners.

2G: BATTED BALL MATCHUP

Pitcher Batted Ball Profiles (2025)

No data available for this section.

Hitter Batted Ball Results (2025) -- PHI

Every PHI hitter in the 2025 table converts line drives at a .521 average or better; Turner leads at .655, Schwarber at .644, and Marsh at .636. Fly balls are the reverse: the full group sits below .200 in 2025 fly-ball average, with Schwarber at .056 at the floor and Arraez at .066 just above it.

Ground ball production divides the lineup -- Turner (.321) and Stott (.313) convert grounders at a markedly higher rate than Schwarber (.186) and Harper (.230) in 2025. The uniform weakness on fly balls is the clearest contact-shape signal in this group: elevated ball flight yields the lowest-ceiling results for every bat in the lineup, regardless of which Cardinals pitcher takes the ball.

2H: BATTERY PAIRING

No data available for this section.

Pedro Pagés is tonight's scheduled catcher and is confirmed on the Cardinals active roster. The 2025 pairing table returns no entries: with no Cardinals starter confirmed, no battery history can be established. Pagés and whoever takes the mound tonight enter without a shared 2025 track record to anchor the matchup.

2I: BASERUNNING MATCHUP

Philadelphia brings one of baseball's more active baserunning groups to this matchup. In 2025, Trea Turner stole 36 bases at 83.7%, Bryson Stott 24 at 82.8%, Bryce Harper 12 at 85.7%, Luis Arraez 11 at 73.3%, Kyle Schwarber 10 at 83.3%, and Brandon Marsh 7 at 87.5%. Alec Bohm stole 2 bases without being caught (100%).

Pedro Pagés starts behind the plate for St. Louis tonight and holds a 31.5% caught-stealing rate on 54 attempts this season. Backup Jimmy Crooks has allowed 14 steals against 1 CS on 15 attempts -- the sample is too small for a rate, with Pagés as the Cardinals' published-rate arm.

Catching for Philadelphia is J.T. Realmuto, who carries a 26.4% CS rate on 72 attempts this season (19 CS, 53 SB allowed). Backup Garrett Stubbs has allowed 12 steals with 7 CS on 19 attempts -- the sample is too small for a rate; Realmuto is the Phillies' published-rate reference behind the plate.

2J: DEFENSIVE CONTEXT

Pedro Pagés starts behind the plate tonight, carrying a 2025 fielding percentage of .994 across 110 games at catcher. Jordan Walker takes right field with a 2025 mark of .981 in 108 games there, with four errors at the position in that sample. Everson Pereira is slotted at center field tonight and posted a 1.000 fielding percentage across 20 2025 games in center. José Fermín also appears at center field on tonight's card; his 2025 position work covers 15 games at second base, five at third, four in left, and one in right -- no center-field games in that sample. Iván Herrera carries a 2025 .989 mark from 14 games behind the plate but is tonight's designated hitter and sits outside the defensive alignment.

2K: BALLPARK CONTEXT & HEAD-TO-HEAD

The Cardinals went 4-2 against Philadelphia in 2025, their best mark in the 2022-2025 stretch after bottoming out at 1-5 in 2023. The matchup has swung sharply by year, with St. Louis posting a winning record against the Phillies only in the most recent of those four seasons.

2L: BATTER K%/BB% PROFILE

Cardinals

Everson Pereira leads the lineup in strikeout rate: 2026 to date: 33.3% K%. 2025 baseline: 38.4%. Pedro Pagés also clears the high threshold in both windows: 2026 to date: 26.2% K%. 2025 baseline: 27.5%. Jordan Walker has pulled below 25% in 2026: 2026 to date: 24.1% K%. 2025 baseline: 31.8%.

Pagés also sits below the low walk-rate threshold in both samples: 2026 to date: 5.3% BB%. 2025 baseline: 4.9%.

Phillies

Kyle Schwarber's strikeout rate has climbed in 2026: 2026 to date: 33.6% K%. 2025 baseline: 27.2%. Brandon Marsh clears the high threshold in both windows: 2026 to date: 25.0% K%. 2025 baseline: 25.9%. Luis Arraez is the lineup's contact outlier in the opposite direction: 2026 to date: 4.5% K%. 2025 baseline: 3.1%.

Schwarber and Bryce Harper anchor the lineup's walk-rate profile: Schwarber, 2026 to date: 14.7% BB%, 2025 baseline: 14.9%; Harper, 2026 to date: 16.7% BB%, 2025 baseline: 12.1%. Arraez sits below the low threshold in both samples: 2026 to date: 5.0% BB%. 2025 baseline: 5.0%. Alec Bohm's 2025 walk rate checked below the low threshold: 2026 to date: 6.3% BB%. 2025 baseline: 5.8%.

2M: BATTER BATTED BALL PROFILE

Cardinals

Herrera's 2025 GB rate of 52.6% across 285 BIP is the lineup's highest, with Walker (48.9% GB, 231 BIP) close behind. Pagés carries the sharpest fly-ball profile in the group at 30.9% 2025 FB across 243 BIP. Painter's 40.6% GB rate reflects a contact profile that does not lean heavily on ground balls -- putting the ground-heavy top of the Cardinals lineup in a partial mismatch and placing Pagés and Pereira (34.3% 2025 FB, 35 BIP) in closer alignment with his allowed contact shape. Fermín's 30.4% 2025 LD rate leads the group but spans only 46 BIP.

Phillies

Bohm (52.0% 2025 GB, 371 BIP) and Turner (50.1% 2025 GB, 467 BIP) anchor the Phillies' ground-ball tier; Schwarber is the sharpest contrast at 35.3% 2025 FB and 39.9% GB across 351 BIP. Arraez (29.0% 2025 LD, 586 BIP) and Marsh (30.0% 2025 LD, 257 BIP) carry the lineup's highest line-drive rates, making them the contact-quality concentration in the Philadelphia order. Against Painter's 40.6% GB rate, the air-side profiles -- Schwarber and Stott (33.7% 2025 FB, 392 BIP) -- fit the expected contact shape more naturally than the lineup's ground-ball tier. The Cardinals present the same structural note from the other side: Herrera (52.6% 2025 GB, 285 BIP) and Walker (48.9% GB, 231 BIP) are the heaviest ground-ball hitters in either lineup, both pointed toward a starter whose contact profile does not run high on grounders.

2N: PITCHER K%/BB% PROFILE

No data available for this section.

Andrew Painter's 2026 K% is 18.5 and BB% is 8.9, compiled over 85.1 innings in 16 starts. The Cardinals' rotation slot carries no season line to report at this time.

KEY MATCHUPS

Painter's First-Time-Through Vulnerability. Opposing batters have posted a .325 average and 0.959 OPS against Painter through his first pass of the order in 2026. That is his most exposed stretch of the game -- the Cardinals' most productive window against him opens early and narrows quickly.

STL Right-Handed Lineup vs. Painter. Painter has allowed a .274 average and .840 OPS to right-handed hitters in 2026, and seven of nine Cardinals in the expected lineup bat from the right side -- Iván Herrera and Jordan Walker among them near the top of the order. The platoon alignment runs in St. Louis's favor through most of the lineup card.

PHI Left-Handed Core vs. TBD Cardinals Lefty. Harper is hitting .204 with a .311 slugging mark against left-handed pitching in 2026 across 208 PA, well below the .273 average and .478 slugging he posted in 2025; Turner is hitting .217 against lefties in 2026 across 178 PA, down from his .323 mark against southpaws in 2025, and Arraez has climbed to .299 across 158 PA this season from .262 that year. Arraez remains a consistent contact threat through the Philadelphia middle of the order, while Harper and Turner arrive well below their 2025 baselines -- and Schwarber still factors in behind them.

PHI Speed Threats vs. Pagés. Turner posted 36 stolen bases in 2025 at an 83.7% success rate; Stott added 24 at 82.8%. Pagés has thrown out 31.5% of attempted base-stealers, leaving a substantial window for the Philadelphia running game to apply pressure whenever either runner reaches base.

WATCHLIST

-- Gordon Graceffo. If Graceffo enters with runners on base, his 2025 inherited-runner strand rate of 0.545 -- the weakest figure among regularly deployed Cardinals relievers -- makes any appearance with men aboard a live blow-up risk in a series the Cardinals cannot afford to drop further behind in.

-- Andrew Painter. If Painter survives early trouble and works into the second time through the order, his TTO2 OPS allowed of 0.83 is the signal he is settling in -- a longer outing compresses the Cardinals' best offensive window and stresses a bullpen built for the shorter role.

-- Ryan Fernandez. If Fernandez is called on with inherited runners in a tight spot, his 2025 strand rate of 0.5 -- the lowest mark on the Cardinals' relief staff -- is the sharpest inherited-runner liability entering tonight's game.

-- Andrew Painter. If Painter looks settled after a clean opening frame, his 2026 home ERA of 6.59 at Citizens Bank Park is the counterevidence that comfort here is not a given -- St. Louis has every reason to press rather than concede early plate appearances to a pitcher with a track record of giving ground at home.

QUICK REFERENCE -- IN-GAME QUERIES

1. How has Jordan Walker performed against Andrew Painter in their career?

2. How has Iván Herrera performed against Andrew Painter in their career?

3. How has Joshua Báez performed against Andrew Painter in their career?

4. What were Andrew Painter's third-time-through-the-order splits in 2025?

5. What were Jordan Walker's splits against left-handed and right-handed pitchers in 2025?

6. What was Kyle Leahy's inherited-runner strand rate in 2025?

7. What is the park factor at Citizens Bank Park in 2025?