The Philadelphia Phillies continue on their nine-game road trip with the first of three games against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium this Tuesday night. Game time for this National League clash is set for 8:15 p.m. (ET), and it will be available on MLB Extra Innings.

Philadelphia started this trip with a three-game set against New York this past Friday. And after winning the first game 13-8 in a wild shootout as a +108 underdog, it dropped the next two games by a combined score of 10-4. The Phillies are now 49-50 on the year and 23-29 on the road.

The Cardinals continue to hold onto a slim two-game lead over Pittsburgh in the NL Central title race with a record of 59-37. They took two of three from San Diego this past weekend at home to improve to 29-17 at Busch Stadium this season, and the total has stayed “under” in four of their last seven games.

Phillies at Cardinals Betting Storylines

The Phillies are not dead in the water in the NL East race, but they are taking on water fast sitting 6.5 games in back of Atlanta. Consistency on the mound and at the plate has been an issue for this team all season long. They are currently ranked 13th in the National League in pitching with a team ERA of 4.10. Philadelphia is ranked fifth in hitting with a .258 team batting average, but that has not always translated to runs on the scoreboard. It is ranked ninth in that department with an average of 3.9 runs per game.

Look for Jonathan Pettibone to get the start on Tuesday night for the Phillies. The rookie is 5-3 this season in 16 previous starts. While he boasts a 2.68 ERA in nine home starts, the right-hander has an ERA of 5.65 in seven starts on the road. His overall ERA this season is 3.89. This will be his first career start against the Cardinals.

St. Louis appears to be in the driver’s seat in the NL Central behind the fourth-ranked pitching staff in the NL and the No.1-ranked hitting lineup. The Cardinals come into this series with a team ERA of 3.42 and a .276 team batting average. The also lead the league in scoring with an average of five runs a game. The biggest bats belong to Allen Craig and Carlos Beltran. Craig leads the team in RBI with 77, and Beltran has already belted 19 home runs.

Shelby Miller is slated to be on the mound Tuesday night as the Cardinals’ starter. The right-hander is 9-6 this season with a 2.92 ERA. He gave up three earned runs on five hits in a no-decision against Houston his last time out. He has now allowed a total of 14 earned runs in his last four starts. This will be Miller’s first career start against Philadelphia.

Phillies at Cardinals Betting Odds and Trends

BetOnline has opened the Phillies as +165 road underdogs for Tuesday night’s series opener with St. Louis listed as a -185 home favorite. The total has been set at 8.5.

The Phillies are 4-1 in the first game of their last five series and 5-2 in Pettibone’s last seven starts against a team with a winning record. The total has gone “over” in Game 1 of five of their last seven series.

The Cardinals are 9-3 in their last 12 games against a team with a losing record and 6-1 in Miller’s last seven starts at home. The total has stayed under in 10 of their last 15 home games against a team with a losing record.

These two evenly split a four-game series in Philadelphia earlier in the season with the total going 2-1-1. The Phillies have a slight 6-4 edge in the last 10 meetings, and the total has gone over in four of the last five games between the two in St. Louis.

Phillies at Cardinals Picks and Betting Predictions

Pettibone has had his issues on the road this season, while the Cardinals have played well when Miller is on the mound at home. This game should remain competitive until the final out, but stick with St. Louis to draw first blood in the series with a tight win at home that stays under the total.

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