The top starting pitching matchup of Tuesday around Major League Baseball appears to be from St. Louis as Sonny Gray makes his Cardinals debut against Phillies right-hander and NL Cy Young favorite Zack Wheeler.

The Phillies swept the Cards in the first series in which they met in 2023, and the Phillies took two-out-of-three later in the year when they traveled to Busch Stadium. Between both series, the Cards were outscored 38-16.

It’s time to get a complete look at the game information, team and player statistics, along with an expert prediction and the latest MLB odds, provided by our crypto sportsbook.

Philadelphia Phillies vs. St. Louis Cardinals Game Information

A little extra excitement to start your week#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/vAodIfeYmj

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 9, 2024

• When: Tuesday, April 9, 2024, 7:45 PM ET
• Where: Busch Stadium, St. Louis, MO
• TV: NBCS App, BSMW
• Radio: WIP 94.1 FM (Phillies) // KMOX 1120 AM (Cardinals)
• Live Stream: MLB.tv
• MLB Odds: Phillies (-128) // Cardinals (+112)

Why bet on the Philadelphia Phillies?

Philadelphia is in pretty good shape injury-wise. Reliever Orion Kerkering will require a couple additional rehab appearances before he’s ready to rejoin Philadelphia’s bullpen mix. The 23-year-old righty opened the season on the injured list with a right forearm strain after missing time during spring training due to illness.

The Phillies have been very patient at the plate as they rank fifth in the majors with an 11.3% walk rate. Individually, Bryson Stott ranks 4th in the National League this season with a 19.4% BB rate, Nick Castellanos ranks 9th at 18.2% and Alec Bohm ranks T-25th at 12.9%. Kyle Schwarber has 22 career games with the Phillies with a leadoff homer including playoffs. The Phillies are 17-5 in them.

Ace right-hander Zack Wheeler is on the mound Tuesday for the Phillies. Wheeler (0-1, 0.75 ERA) took the loss last Wednesday, giving up three runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk over six innings as the Phillies fell 4-1 to the Reds. He struck out 10. A Bryson Stott error and a hit by pitch contributed to a two-run third inning by Cincy, and Philly’s offense never woke up in a game delayed by nearly seven hours due to rain.

Through two starts, Wheeler has logged 12 innings, allowed eight hits, one earned run and one walk to go along with 15 strikeouts. Much better than last season through two games when he pitched a total of 9 2/3 innings, allowed 12 hits, six earned runs and four walks to go along with a 5.59 ERA and 1.66 WHIP.

Wheeler’s working on a new splitter and threw two of them in his last start. One was a whiff and the other went to the backstop: “Opens up the book a little more to a lefty. They did a lot better off me last year… I think this could put me over the top, hopefully get a Cy Young,” Wheeler said of adding the pitch.

Why bet on the St. Louis Cardinals?

The Cardinals opened the 2024 season without injured outfielders Lars Nootbaar and Dylan Carlson, but Nootbaar will be activated for this series after playing in two minor-league rehab games over the weekend for Triple-A Memphis. Carlson is waiting to be cleared to resume baseball activities. The 25-year-old center fielder suffered a left shoulder sprain at the end of spring training when he collided with teammate Jordan Walker during a Grapefruit League contest.

Reliever Keynan Middleton will have 72 hours of no activity and a week without throwing after receiving a PRP injection in his forearm. When he gets cleared, he’ll restart his throwing program. The Cardinals signed Middleton on Feb. 3 with hopes that he would be a key piece in the bullpen. He was outstanding in his three spring appearances, with two strikeouts and only two hits allowed in three scoreless innings. But Middleton was shut down in mid-March with a right forearm strain, and he hasn’t thrown since.

It’s new Cardinals right-hander Sonny Gray in his team debut. He was signed to a three-year, $75 million contract in free agency this past winter. Gray was the 2023 American League Cy Young Award runner-up to Gerrit Cole after finishing 8-8 with a 2.79 ERA (2nd in A.L.) and 183 strikeouts over 184.0 innings pitched and 32 starts for the A.L. Central Champion Twins. His 2.83 Fielding Independent Pitching was tops in Major League Baseball.

Gray allowed only eight home runs over 184.0 innings pitched in 2023 for a Major League-best 0.39 home runs/9 IP ratio, the lowest mark by any starting pitcher in a single season with 180 or more innings pitched since his career began in 2013. Gray threw 54 pitches in a simulated game last Wednesday and is expected to be limited to about 65 pitches versus Philadelphia.

The Cardinals had planned for Gray — who hasn’t pitched in a game since straining his right hamstring in a Spring Training game on March 4 — to make a rehab start at Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday, but the veteran pitcher convinced the club that he is ready to return to the majors. Zach Thompson, who made the starting rotation following a strong Spring Training and was slated to start on Tuesday, will be held out of the rotation for now.

Phillies vs. Cardinals Betting Trends

• Philadelphia is 4-2 SU in their last 6 games.
• Phillies are 8-1 SU in their last 9 games against St. Louis.
• The total went under in 5 of Philadelphia’s last 5 games.
• St. Louis is 4-2 SU in their last 6 games at home.
• Cardinals are 1-5 SU in their last 6 games when playing at home against Philadelphia.
• The total went under in 4 of St. Louis’ last 6 games.

Phillies vs. Cardinals Betting Prediction

Take the Phillies on the money line for Tuesday night’s action.

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