This matchup features one of the better teams against one of the worst teams in the National League when the Philadelphia Phillies travel to take on the St. Louis Cardinals in game three of a three-game series in which the Phillies have won the first two games including Saturday’s 6-1 win in game two of the series on Saturday. 

Will the Phillies complete the three-game series sweep or will the Cardinals end their two-game losing streak? Let’s take a look at how these teams have fared this season.

The Philadelphia Phillies enter this game with a record of 81-67 which puts them 15 games behind the Atlanta Braves for 1^st place in the NL East and gives them a four-game lead in the Wild Card race in the National League. Philadelphia has compiled a record of 7-8 in September but is on a two-game winning streak which includes a 6-1 win in game two of the series against the St. Louis Cardinals. Three of the runs for the Phillies came in the 5^th inning when Kyle Schwarber hit a three-run home run that also scored Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas.

St. Louis enters this matchup with the 3^rd worst record in the National League with a record of 65-83 which puts them 18.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers for 1^st place in the NL Central and 12 games behind the Cincinnati Reds for the final Wild Card spot in the National League. The Cardinals have compiled a record of 7-7 in September and are on a two-game losing streak which includes Saturday’s 1-6 loss at home against the Philadelphia Phillies in game two of the series. The lone run for the St. Louis Cardinals came in the 3^rd inning when Masyn Winn scored off a double hit by Paul Goldschmidt.

BookMaker has the Philadelphia Phillies listed as -130 money line favorites on the road against the St. Louis Cardinals in game three of the series on Sunday. Philadelphia has won eight of the last ten including the previous seven matchups in a row while winning by an average margin of 2.4 runs per game over the last ten and 3 runs per game over the last three games in the series. 

Philadelphia will send Taijuan Walker to the mound while St. Louis will send Dakota Hudson to the mound for game three of the series on Sunday. Walker is 15-5 this season with a 4.30 ERA while recording 128 strikeouts while Hudson is 6-2 on the year with an ERA of 5.10 and has recorded 37 strikeouts.

Taijuan Walker is 2-0 with a no-decision in his last three starts this season while allowing a total of 12 runs and recording 15 strikeouts in those matchups with his last start coming at home against the Atlanta Braves in which Walker allowed five runs and recorded five strikeouts in a no-decision.

In his last three starts this season, Dakota Hudson is 1-1 with a no-decision while allowing a total of 13 runs and recording four strikeouts in those starts with his last start coming on the road against the Baltimore Orioles in which Hudson allowed seven runs and struck out two batters in a loss.

Philadelphia is the better team this season and has been the dominant team in the series, winning eight of the last ten including the last seven matchups in a row while winning by an average margin of 2.4 runs per game over the last ten and 3 runs per game over the last three games in the series. As a result, I am taking the money line for the Philadelphia Phillies at -130 on BookMaker for this matchup on Sunday afternoon.