The Philadelphia Phillies stormed back in the ninth inning of yesterday’s Wild Card game against the St. Louis Cardinals to win 6-2.

The win gave the Phillies a crucial one game lead in the best of three against the Cardinals, with Aaron Nola on the mound today looking to send the Fightins to the NLDS.

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The Phillies straight up punk’d the Cardinals on their home field yesterday, as St. Louis fans left in droves after Jean Segura, making his first playoff start in his decade-plus career, had arguably the biggest at-bat of the game, driving in the go-ahead run with an RBI single past the glove of a diving Tommy Edman on the right side of the infield.

Jean Segura Go-Ahead RBI Single

It’s always important to remember that baseball games are nine innings long, and “The Fightins” lived up to their name yesterday. Now, attention turns to tonight’s Game 2 matchup between Aaron Nola and Miles Mikolas. 

Phillies – Cardinals Game 2 Starters

Phillies: Aaron Nola (11-13, 3.25 ERA, .96 WHIP, 235 strikeouts)

Cardinals: Miles Mikolas (12-13, 3.29 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, 153 strikeouts)

The Liberty Line is currently down in Arizona with Phans of Philly, who threw an ELITE Phillies watch party in Old Town Scottsdale. 

In case you missed it, here was The Liberty Line reaction video after Segura’s hit. 

The Phillies need to use their 9th inning magic and extend it into the early innings  of tonight’s game. The top five of the Phillies batting order only had one hit, courtesy of JT Realmuto. 

• Kyle Schwarber: 0-4
• Rhys Hoskins: 0-4 
• JT Realmuto: 1-4 
• Bryce Harper: 0-3 
• NIck Castellanos: 0-3

Outside of Realmuto, only Bohm, Segura, Vierling, and Brandon Marsh accounted for hits. That will certainly need to change if the Phillies want to close out the Wild Card Series with Aaron Nola on the mound tonight. 

I’m looking at Rhys Hoskins to take Miles Mikolas to Big Mac Land like he did earlier this season. 

Rhys Hoskins Sends One to Big Mac Land Off Miles Mikolas

Just like Zack Wheeler, Nola has been successful in limiting Cardinals stars Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado. Goldschmidt is 3-for-20 with eight strikeouts while Arenado is 3-for-15. Neither player has managed to hit a home run.

Miles Mikolas will be on the mound trying to even the series for the Cardinals. He had a 3.29 ERA in just over 202 innings pitched, walking only 39 batters in the regular season. Mikolas is another junk, soft contact pitcher, just like game one starter Jose Quintana.

A patient approach at the plate and selective swinging would greatly benefit the Phillies tonight. Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos, and Rhys Hoskins have all hit home runs off Mikolas in past matchups, so I fully expect the top of the order to get back on track tonight in Game 2.

Timely hitting and another strong pitching performance from Aaron Nola, who went perfect in nearly seven innings of work on Monday night to clinch the Phillies playoff berth, will have the Fightins advancing to the NLDS for a matchup against the Atlanta Braves.