October 06, 2022
Now the Phillies' bats know what they're dealing with.
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol announced Thursday that lefthander José Quintana will get the nod in Game 1. Righthander Miles Mikolas will start Game 2.
Game 1 — Quintana
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) October 6, 2022
Game 2 — Mikolas
Game 3 — TBD#stlcards https://t.co/Yt088pAZrX
Quintana was acquired by St. Louis at the trade deadline and put up a 2.01 ERA and a 1.117 WHIP for the club through 12 starts. The 11-year vet began the season in Pittsburgh, where he faced the Phils on July 29, back when he was believed to be on their radar as a potential trade target for the back of their rotation before they went and got Noah Syndergaard from the Angels.
In 5.2 innings, the 33-year old allowed just four hits and struck out four in what was eventually a 4-2 Phillies win.
Mikolas has a 3.29 ERA and a 1.033 WHIP on the season and faced the Phillies twice. On July 1 in Philadelphia, he was tagged for four runs (two earned) in 5.1 innings and charged with the loss in a 5-3 Phillies win. On July 11 in St. Louis, he bounced back with 7.1 innings of one-run ball in a 6-1 Cards victory.
St. Louis' announced top pairing for the series will go up against Zack Wheeler (Game 1) and Aaron Nola (Game 2).
Here's a quick tale of the tape
| Starters | Phillies | Cardinals |
| Game 1 | RH Zack Wheeler (12-7, 2.82 ERA) | LH José Quintana (6-7, 2.93 ERA) |
| Game 2 | RH Aaron Nola (11-13, 3.25 ERA) | RH Miles Mikolas (12-13, 3.29 ERA) |
| Game 3 | LH Ranger Suárez (10-7, 3.65 ERA) | TBD |
Per Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Jack Flaherty, Jordan Montgomery, and Adam Wainwright will be available as arms out of the bullpen, but the thought process behind Marmol's choice of starters appears to be an attempt to neutralize the Phillies' most dangerous hitters in Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber as pointed out by NBC Sports Philadelphia's Corey Seidman.
So Phillies face veteran lefty Jose Quintana in Game 1. Assumption is he’d go thru the lineup 2.5x max. Averaged just over 5 innings per start this season and teams are obviously more willing to pull a starter early in the playoffs.
— Corey Seidman (@CSeidmanNBCS) October 6, 2022
Harper/Schwarber 1-12 with a single and 5 K.
Game 1 is set for Friday at 2:07 p.m. ET and Game 2 for Saturday at 8:37 p.m. ET. The whole series will be played in St. Louis.
It's the Phillies' first trip to the postseason in 11 years, so October is uncharted territory for a majority of the roster. That said, the Phils do own the season series over the Cards, and Quintana and Mikolas present a very beatable pairing so long as the lineup is making decent contact.
Wheeler and Nola, especially if he pitched like he did in the clincher down in Houston, should pitch deep into games as well.
To see how both rosters stack up, check out Evan Macy's analysis HERE.
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