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Good morning, everyone! Happy Friday. The Cardinals have won 12 in a row and own a 4 1/2-game lead in the National League Wild Card standings. At the start of play on Friday, the Cardinals probability to make the playoffs, according to FanGraphs, is 98.2 percent.
A dozen! pic.twitter.com/HdoY8n0O2R
— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) September 23, 2021
Thank you for shopping at Cardinals Devil Magic ™ have a great day!
— Brenden Schaeffer (@bschaeffer12) September 23, 2021
The Phillies are 4 1⁄2 games back of the Cardinals in the Wild Card standings, the Reds are 5 1⁄2 back, and the Padres are six games behind with 10 days left in the regular season.
The final stop on the Cardinals’ last regular season road trip is Wrigley Field for a four-game series, starting off with a split doubleheader on Friday. J.A. Happ will start the first game, and Jack Flaherty will go in the night cap. Flaherty is only slated for one or two innings, so a long outing for Happ in the first game is key, as the bullpen will have a lot of work to do in the second game.
First pitch of the day from the North Side is set for 1:20 PM Central time. The second game will start around 7:05 PM.