Phillies extend NL Wild Card lead following 6-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals

Kyle Schwarber and the Philadelphia Phillies secured their second win in a row last night in St. Louis, beating the Cardinals 6-1.

Ranger Suarez is looking more and more like the Phillies No. 2 heading into the postseason.

Last night, Suarez tossed six strong innings, allowing just four hits, one earned run, and four walks while striking out five. Since returning from the injured list, Suarez has posted a 3.31 ERA and over his last six starts, that number drops down to 2.86.

The Phillies bottom of the order continued their strong play, with Nick Castellanos, Brandon Marsh, and Johan Rojas all notching two hits last night against the Cardinals. 

• Castellanos: 2-4, R 
• Brandon Marsh: 2-4, RBI, R 
• Johan Rojas: 2-3, RBI, R  

In game one on Friday night, Nick Castellanos hit a 3-run bomb to secure the win for the Phillies. Last night, Kyle Schwarber broke the game open, snapping an 0-16 streak with a 3-run home run in the top of the fifth inning to give the Phillies a 5-1 lead. 

Kyle Schwarber Home Run No. 44 

Phillies Hunt for Red October

The Phillies have now take the first two games of the series against the Cardinals and hold a 3.5 game lead over the Chicago Cubs for the No. 1 spot in the National League Wild Card.

Note: The Phillies hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Cubs. 

Taijuan Walker (15-5, 4.30 ERA) will take the bump today against Dakota Hudson (6-2, 5.10 ERA) at 2:15PM looking to secure a sweep of the Cardinals before he and the Phillies head to Atlanta for three final games against the Braves in the regular season.

Needless to say, a sweep in St. Louis would be massive.

(14) Games Remaining: at STL (1), at ATL (3), vs. NYM (4), vs. PIT (3), at NYM (3)

Join The Chase