Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals Red-Hot Offense Poised To Ruin $172 Million Phillies Hurler's Friday Night

Hopefully, St. Louis is ready to get back on track
Nate Hagerty|
Mar 31, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Lars Nootbaar (21) celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images
Mar 31, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals left fielder Lars Nootbaar (21) celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images | Joe Puetz-Imagn Images

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St. Louis CardinalsPhiladelphia Phillies

The St. Louis Cardinals hope to bounce back from Wednesday's crucial series loss to the National League Central rival Pittsburgh Pirates by lighting up the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

In what should be an entertaining battle between two historic franchises, the Cardinals will host the Phillies at Busch Stadium on Friday night at 7:15 PM Central Standard Time.

Philadelphia has one of the league's most productive rotations but fortunately, St. Louis' offense has come out of the gates hot to start 2025. The Phillies are poised to start a hurler worth $172 million over a seven-year contract against the Cardinals but ruining his Friday night shouldn't be too challenging for the 11-time World Series champion's prolific lineup.

Phillies right-handed pitcher Aaron Nola is scheduled to start against Cardinals youngster Andre Pallante ahead of Friday night's epic matchup. Philadelphia will look to rebound after losing 4-2 to the Atlanta Braves following ex-St. Louis slugger Marcell Ozuna's walk-off two-run home run -- a game that ended shortly before midnight on Thursday.

Despite being one of the Phillies' most reliable starting pitchers throughout his 11-year career, Nola has struggled this season -- logging a 0-2 record with a 6.35 ERA, 10-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .289 batting average against and a 1.24 WHIP in 11 1/3 innings pitched for Philadelphia.

Nola's last performance was on Apr. 5 against the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, during which he sacrificed three earned runs on seven hits, two strikeouts and one walk in six innings pitched for the Phillies.

Considering that Nola and his team endured a late night on Thursday, it'll be interesting to see how they respond Friday against the Cardinals, whose offense ranks third in runs scored (72) and hits (124), second in batting average (.278) and fourth in OPS (.788).

Pallante, who has logged a 1-0 record with a 3.86 ERA, nine-to-five strikeout-to-walk ratio, .222 batting average against and a 1.39 WHIP in 9 1/3 innings pitched for St. Louis in 2025, might face the biggest test of his season against the Phillies.

After Pallante landed a win over the Minnesota Twins and a no-decision versus the Boston Red Sox in his first two starts of the year, Philadelphia's star-laden lineup could give the 26-year-old some trouble.

More MLB: Cardinals Gold Glover Has Quietly Replaced Yankees' Paul Goldschmidt As Team's Leader

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Nate Hagerty
NATE HAGERTY

Nate Hagerty joined “Inside The Cardinals” as a content creator to spread knowledge about his favorite childhood team. A hometown native of Boston, Hagerty chose at an early age of six years old to follow the St. Louis Cardinals. The miraculous season of 04’ for the Red Sox did not deter Hagerty from rooting against his hometown team, nor did it in 2013 against the Red Birds. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding Inside The Cardinals, please reach out to Scott Neville: nevilles@merrimack.edu 

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