St. Louis @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Jun 18, 2018 ) St. Louis 5, Philadelphia 6

Odubel Herrera has answered a nearly month-long home run drought by going deep in back-to-back outings and three times over the last four games. The 26-year-old Venezuelan aims to continue his power surge as the Philadelphia Phillies bid for their first four-game winning streak since early May on Tuesday versus the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.

Herrera belted a three-run homer as part of a four-run first inning and Aaron Altherr had a two-run double in the 10th as Philadelphia (38-32) rallied for a 6-5 win on Monday. Herrera is 9-for-23 with six RBIs and five runs scored in his last five games overall and is 6-for-22 with two homers and nine RBIs versus St. Louis this season. While the Phillies are trending upward, the Cardinals (37-33) fell for the fifth time in six outings by dropping the opener of their seven-game road trip. Tommy Pham homered in the 10th inning to extend his hitting streak to 12 games - including exactly one hit in each of the last 10 - to give him momentum heading into a tilt versus Tuesday starter Vince Velasquez, against whom he is 0-for-3 in his career.

TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), NBCS Philadelphia

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Luke Weaver (3-6, 4.52 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Vince Velasquez (5-7, 4.74)

Weaver dropped the first of four decisions over his last six starts with a hard-luck loss to Philadelphia on May 17 in which he allowed one run on four hits in seven innings. Maikel Franco and Cesar Hernandez are both 3-for-6 in their careers versus the 24-year-old, although the hurler has subdued Altherr (0-for-5). Weaver permitted four runs for the third time in his last four trips to the mound on Wednesday, taking the loss after pitching 5 1/3 innings versus San Diego.

Velasquez answered a career-high 10-run performance by carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning on Thursday against Colorado before walking away with his first win since May 17 versus St. Louis. The 26-year-old scattered five hits over 6 1/3 scoreless innings against the Cardinals in that contest to improve to 1-1 in two career starts versus the club. Marcell Ozuna, who couldn't snare Altherr's hit in the air in the 10th inning, is 3-for-15 with a homer in his career against Velasquez.

WALK-OFFS

1. St. Louis 1B Matt Carpenter has homered in three of his last four games and hit safely in 10 of his last 12.

2. Philadelphia 1B Carlos Santana has scored twice in back-to-back contests after crossing the plate just once in his previous seven.

3. Cardinals C Yadier Molina has scored three times in the last two games after failing to do so in each of his previous 10.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 5, Phillies 2