It’s been since 2011, but the Philadelphia Phillies finally find themselves back in the postseason, and they’ll match up with the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card Series, which kicks off on Friday afternoon at Busch Stadium.
Of course, the last time these two teams met in October was 2011, when the Cards were in the midst of their magic carpet ride to their 11th World Series title.
The Cards knocked the Phils out in excruciating fashion, with Chris Carpenter pitching a 1-0 complete-game shutout and barely winning over his friend, the late Roy Halladay.
One Cardinals insider tweeted a highlight video of Carpenter’s performance that night.
Phils Seek Redemption
You can bet that the Phillies are bound and determined to get redemption for what took place in 2011.
This is a painful reminder of what took place that night.
The cast of characters is far different for both sides, but the goal remains the same.
It’s going to be a fun series, that’s for sure.
Cardinals fans certainly have fond memories of the 2011 NLDS, as they should.
They battled back from a 2-1 series deficit to set up Game 5 with Carpenter and Halladay, a dream matchup.
The Phillies fell on hard times after that, but they now have a chance at redemption.
As for the Cardinals, they’ll be lucky enough to start the series at home with an emotionally charged crowd ready to cheer on their Birds.
The Phillies won the season series over the Cardinals, 4-3, but St. Louis will have home-field advantage.
Philadelphia will be motivated by what happened back in 2011 to try and eliminate the Cardinals and return the favor.
We’ll see how this series plays out.
The first game will start at 2:07 p.m. Eastern Time.
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