St. Louis @ Philadelphia preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 20, 2016 ) St. Louis 2, Philadelphia 4

Cesar Hernandez isn't known for his power, but the 26-year-old Venezuelan has been putting a charge into the ball as of late. Hernandez will look to continue his power display at the plate on Sunday afternoon as the host Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals play the rubber match of their three-game series.

Hernandez belted a solo homer among his three hits in Saturday's 4-2 victory to improve to 12-for-24 with two blasts, three RBIs and seven runs scored in his last seven games. Hernandez also scored on an RBI single by Maikel Franco, who is 7-for-20 with a homer, three RBIs and four runs scored during his five-game hitting streak. While the Phillies have won six of their last nine, the Cardinals had their five-game winning streak come to a halt and saw their lead for the National League's second wild card dip to 1 1/2 games over Miami. Jhonny Peralta is 4-for-9 in the series and batting .319 with three homers and 21 RBIs in 24 career encounters with Philadelphia.

TV: 1:35 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), CSN Philadelphia

PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Mike Leake (8-9, 4.78 ERA) vs. Phillies RH Vince Velasquez (8-5, 4.14)

Leake recorded a pair of no-decisions in his last two starts despite allowing three runs on six hits in six innings in both outings. The 28-year-old received the same result in his last encounter versus Philadelphia, against which he permitted four runs on as many hits - including a pair of homers - on May 4. Leake would be wise to keep a keen eye on St. Louis native Ryan Howard, who is 8-for-23 with three homers and eight RBIs versus the hurler.

Velasquez fell to 0-3 with a gaudy 7.24 ERA in his last five starts on Tuesday after yielding five runs in 5 2/3 innings in a 15-5 setback to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 24-year-old allowed three homers for the second straight outing as his workload this season may be catching up to him. "I don't want to stop right now, at the stage I'm at right now," said Velasquez, who is at 113 innings after tossing just 88 2/3 between the minors and majors in 2015. "It's not the ending point. I want to have a few more starts. Probably three or four more starts, I would say, and finish strong."

WALK-OFFS

1. St. Louis 1B Brandon Moss is 0-for-5 with three strikeouts in the series after going 19-for-62 previously in August.

2. Philadelphia SS Freddy Galvis has five RBIs during his seven-game hitting streak.

3. The Phillies have homered in 14 consecutive contests.

PREDICTION: Cardinals 4, Phillies 1