ST. LOUIS — The Philadelphia Phillies have earned an MLB postseason berth for the first time since 2011.
As the No. 5 seed in the National League, the Phillies are set to face the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-game National League Wild Card Series.
The Cardinals will host all three games, if necessary, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Game 1 is scheduled for 2:07 p.m. ET on Friday, Oct. 7. Game 2 is set for 8:37 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 8.
The starting time for Sunday's Game 3, if necessary, will be announced later.
Both the National League and American League Wild Card Series will air entirely on ESPN.
The Cardinals have the feeling of a team of destiny, as they are led by the Hall-of-Fame trio of first baseman Albert Pujols, catcher Yadier Molina, and pitcher Adam Wainwright.
After winning the National League Central by a wide margin, the Cardinals still found late season heroics in the form of Pujols launching his 700th home run in September.
Oddly enough, the last time the Phillies were in the postseason, it was a Cardinals team led by this same trio that knocked Philadelphia out of the playoffs.
Of course, since then, Pujols has gone on to leave and return to the Cardinals, and isn't the same force he used to be, but St. Louis now boasts MVP-candidate Paul Goldschmidt as well as Gold Glove third baseman Nolan Arenado.
Overall, the Cardinals have the makings of a 92 win team. However, the Phillies were able to take the season series from St Louis, 4-3, and outscore the Cardinals in those games, 22-20. Like those figures show, it is likely to be a tight series.
Philadelphia has been able to set its pitching up the way it wants, with Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola slated to start the first two games of the series.
If the Phillies are able to defeat the St. Louis Cardinals, they would face the National League East Division winners, the Atlanta Braves, in a best-of-five Division Series.