Cardinals at Nationals
The St. Louis Cardinals finished April with a flourish, emerging victorious in nine of their last 10 games to lead the National League in both wins (19) and run differential (32). The Cardinals look to continue their success in the new month on Wednesday when they play the third contest of a four-game series against the host Washington Nationals.
Harrison Bader followed up his solo homer and stellar diving catch in the series opener with a two-run single in Tuesday's 3-2 win over Washington. Jose Martinez has collected three consecutive multi-hit performances to boost his average to .364 for St. Louis, which has won its first two contests of its seven-game trek to improve to 7-6 on the road. Anthony Rendon (elbow) is the latest member of the Nationals to succumb to injury, as the club has lost eight of 11 after being forced to get creative with its lineup. "You can't overemphasize that these are several of your best players, most productive players," Washington general manager Mike Rizzo said. "We have to find ways to win without them."
TV: 7:05 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), MASN (Washington)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Miles Mikolas (2-2, 5.29 ERA) vs. Nationals RH Max Scherzer (1-3, 4.12)
Mikolas surrendered three homers for the second time this season in his last outing, boosting the number of times that he has been taken deep to eight in 2019 after allowing 16 in 32 starts last year. The 30-year-old permitted four runs on six hits in five innings of a 12-1 shellacking by Cincinnati on Friday, accounting for his first loss since March 28. Mikolas sports a 1-1 mark with a 6.43 ERA in three career appearances (two starts) against Washington, although Howie Kendrick (3-for-5) has gotten the better of the hurler in a small sample size.
While Scherzer continues to lead the National League in strikeouts (54), his struggle to record victories continued on Friday after being saddled with a no-decision despite fanning 10 and allowing two runs in seven innings against San Diego. The three-time Cy Young Award recipient collected his 2,500th career strikeout in that contest, becoming the third-fastest pitcher to reach the plateau, based on innings. Scherzer owns a 2-4 mark with a 2.84 ERA in nine career meetings with St. Louis, although Paul Goldschmidt (1-for-18, 10 strikeouts) and Dexter Fowler (4-for-24, 12 strikeouts) struggle mightily against him.
WALK-OFFS
1. Washington RF Adam Eaton homered on Tuesday, giving him three RBIs in the series after failing to drive in a run in his previous nine games.
2. St. Louis SS Paul DeJong's 20 extra-base hits before May 1 were the sixth-most in baseball since 2000.
3. Nationals SS Carter Kieboom is 0-for-7 in the series after belting a homer in two of his previous three games.