Phillies-Cardinals Game 2: Start time, channel, how to watch and stream MLB playoffs

After a thrilling comeback win in the ninth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Phillies go for the wild-card sweep tonight at 8:37 p.m. on ESPN2.

Aaron Nola will make his first postseason start for the Phillies, and is coming off a dominating performance last week in the Phillies playoff clincher against the Houston Astros, where he struck out nine batters in 6⅔ scoreless innings. He had a 2.36 ERA in September, the lowest it’s been all year, and is throwing with more conviction.

“No matter what pitch it is, or what count, I’m throwing that pitch with 100% conviction,” Nola told reporters on Friday. “That’s the pitch we want to throw right there.”

» READ MORE: Phillies-Cardinals Game 2 live updates: Starting lineups, injuries, and more

Nola will face Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas, who went 12-13 with a 3.29 ERA this season. Mikolas faced the Phillies twice this season, allowing just three earned runs over 12⅔ innings.

Here’s everything you need to know to watch Game 2 of the Phillies-Cardinals wild-card series:

Game 2 of Phillies-Cardinals is scheduled to begin at 8:37 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2.

Calling the game for the second straight day will be Yankees announcer Michael Kay and former Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez. While A-Rod didn’t have any major mistakes or slip-ups on Friday, he tends to call a conservative game where he dishes platitudes like “Contact is king in October” and avoids going too deep on analysis.

“The odd thing about A-Rod is he really knows baseball,” wrote New York Post columnist Andrew Marchand, who covered Rodriguez as a Yankees beat reporter for ESPN. “When he was a player and you were just talking the game, he could be as good as anyone. Sometimes a little goofy, but very smart on it. Doesn’t trust himself enough or is too unprepared to trust himself enough.”

If you’re looking for a little Philly flair in the broadcast, you could always tune into 94.1 WIP, where longtime Phillies announcer Scott Franzke will call the game alongside Larry Andersen, who is well-rested thanks to a reduced schedule in which he called just 40 of the team’s 162 games.

Bill Kulik and Oscar Budejen will call Phillies-Cardinals in Spanish on La Unika 1680 AM.

Phillies-Cardinals will stream on the ESPN app and on ESPN’s website, though it will only be available to those with a cable subscription. It won’t be available to stream on ESPN+.

The game will also stream on any so-called skinny bundle that carries ESPN, including fuboTV, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, and DirecTV Stream. Most offer a free trial.

While Tom McCarthy, John Kruk, and the rest of the Phillies TV announcers won’t be calling the game, NBC Sports Philadelphia will still offer pre- and postgame coverage of every game.

On Friday, Phillies Pregame Live will air at 8:00 p.m. featuring Michael Barkann, Rickie Bottalico, and Ben Davis, with Taryn Hatcher reporting from St. Louis. They’ll all return for Phillies Postgame Live following the game.

If the Phillies defeat the Cardinals tonight and finish the wild-card series sweep, they’ll face the Atlanta Braves in the divisional series, which begins on Tuesday.

The best-of-five series has a 2-2-1 format, meaning the Phillies would be playing at Citizens Bank Park in Games 3 and 4.

Divisional round

Championship round

World Series