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The Philadelphia Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals will play the rubber match of their current series and their season series Wednesday afternoon.

The teams have split the first two games of their series at Citizens Bank Park and are 3-3 against one another in 2018. Jake Arrieta and Michael Wacha will face off for the second time this season.

Arrieta (5-5 George Blanda Jersey , 3.33 ERA), who spent four-and-a-half seasons with the Chicago Cubs, is familiar with the Cardinals. The veteran right-hander is 8-5 with a 2.38 ERA and a 9.5 K/9 rate in 18 career starts against St. Louis. The ERA is the third-lowest for Arrieta against any opponent he’s faced more than twice in his nine-year major league career.

Arrieta gave up four runs (two earned) in just three innings against the Cardinals during a rain-shortened start on May 18.

Arrieta also had a short outing the last time he was on the mound. Facing the Brewers last Friday, he surrendered eight runs (four earned) on seven hits and two walks over 3 1/3 innings. It marked the third straight start in which Arrieta gave up at least four earned runs, and his ERA has risen from 2.16 to 3.33 over that span.

Arrieta took blame after the 13-2 loss.

“It was (bad) all the way around,” he told mlb.com. “I single-handedly lost us the game. I put up a five-spot in the second inning, and it wasn’t because of the defense really. And again, if there’s a play on defense that’s not made, it’s our job to get the next guy out to pick that guy up. And I didn’t do that.”

Wacha (8-2, 3.24 ERA) is also coming off a short start.

The right-hander was hit hard against the Cubs on Friday. He allowed nine runs (eight earned) on seven hits and four walks in four innings. Wacha picked up just his second loss of the season and his first since his season debut against the New York Mets on March 31.

Wacha gave up three homers in the loss after allowing just three long balls in his previous 12 starts.

“They were all elevated John Matuszak Jersey , middle of the plate,” Wacha told mlb.com. “I just have to do a better job of locating and getting it where I need it to go.”

Wacha tied his season-high with eight strikeouts against the Phillies on May 18. He allowed only two runs on five hits across six innings in that start, and has a 4.15 ERA in six career starts against Philadelphia.

Wacha will try to help the Cardinals win back-to-back games for the first time since June 8-9.

St. Louis was a 7-6 winner Tuesday night thanks in large part to Matt Carpenter. The infielder hit the game-winning home run in the ninth inning off Phillies reliever Seranthony Dominguez and also had a two-run double. Carpenter has homered in three straight contests and is hitting .316 in his last 13 games.

Carpenter has just four hits in 38 lifetime at-bats against Arrieta, but two of them have been home runs.
— Quarterback Sam Bradford was well aware of David Johnson even before signing with the Cardinals in the offseason.

Bradford was on the opposite sideline when Johnson rushed for 187 yards and three touchdowns while trouncing Bradford’s Eagles in 2015.

A training camp with Johnson has only amplified Bradford’s appreciation.

“When I first got here, I think everyone tried to explain just how special he was and what he was able to do in the run game and the pass game, all the ways that he could be used,” Bradford said. “I’ve heard that before about some players, but then you actually see it and you see how smooth he is running routes. He looks like a receiver when he is split out wide. You just don’t see that from a guy that is as talented at running the ball as he is. I’m excited to play with David. I think he is extremely versatile, and hopefully we find a way to use him a lot.”

New coach Steve Wilks and new offensive coordinator Mike McCoy are expected to do exactly that, although it might not be evident in the Cardinals’ preseason opener against San Diego on Saturday.

Neither Bradford nor Johnson is likely to see much time Weston Richburg Jersey , more to give the coaches time to evaluate the rest of the squad than to protect Bradford (knee) and Johnson (wrist) from contact.

Rookie Chase Edmonds, a fourth-round pick out of Fordham, is listed as No. 2 on the depth chart, and veteran D.J. Foster provides a run/pass threat in a running back corps that also includes T.J. Logan and Sherman Badie.

Johnson, who was second in the NFL with 2,118 yards in total offense in 2016, was injured in the 2017 season opener against Detroit and hasn’t played since. He understands the preseason plan.

“Even though I was hurt last year, I know how the NFL works,” Johnson said. “I’ve played long enough to know the speed of NFL games and I know what I am supposed to do.”

Johnson’s focus in training camp, which he opted to attend after sitting out the mandatory offseason workouts in June because of a contract dispute Will Dissly Jersey , is to get in synch with McCoy’s playbook.

The new offense is more oriented to the short pass, while former coach Bruce Arians believed in the home run ball.

“It’s been great,” Johnson said. “Mike McCoy really knows how to bring out everyone’s strengths. He knows how to structure the offense to where it brings out what everyone is good at. I feel like it is going to be a great offense.”

Johnson’s emphasis now is on learning the nuances of the new running game, although it is safe to assume his pass-catching ability will be utilized as it was in 2016, when he had 1,239 rushing yards on 293 carries and 879 receiving yards on 80 receptions.

While Johnson will be the feature back, the Cardinals will use other packages that could involve Edmonds, Foster and others depending on the opponent’s defensive schemes, Wilks said.

“All those guys are being very competitive,” Wilks said. “There are going to be some tough decisions. That’s what you want as a coach. We want those guys to make us make those tough decisions with the things they are doing.”

NOTES: The Cardinals placed center A.Q. Shipley on injured reserve Tuesday C. J. Beathard Jersey , three days after he suffered a season-ending knee injury in a team scrimmage. Mason Cole, a third-round draft choice from Michigan, is listed as the starting center, but coach Wilks said, “I’m not going to try to put all the pressure on him. It’s going to be by committee. Those guys have to do a great job communicating, starting with the guards and out to the tackles and making sure they put us in the right position from a (pass) protection standpoint.”
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