PITTSBURGH — For the Cardinals to get off to the postseason start they want Friday against the Philadelphia Phillies, they’ll have to do what they could not during the regular season.
The Phillies’ planned starter for Game 1 of the wild-card series at Busch Stadium, right-hander Zack Wheeler, did not allow a run in 14 innings pitched against the Cardinals, and all nine of the Cardinals’ hits off Wheeler were singles. Wheeler went 2-0 against the Cardinals, claiming half of the Phillies’ wins in their seven games vs. the Cardinals. The lineup Wheeler will face Friday is different than the one the Cardinals sported when they played the Phillies, and manager Oliver Marmol said his decisions won’t be guided by such limited innings, regardless of his team’s limited production in them.