Cubs at Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals have won consecutive games for the first time in a month and can end an eight-series winless stretch Saturday night when they host the National League Central-rival Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals managed just five hits Friday, but two of them came in the bottom of the 10th as Kolten Wong doubled and scored on Matt Carpenter’s walk-off single.
St. Louis has a winning streak for the first time since stringing together five straight victories from April 27-May 1 and Wong played a big part with two hits Friday after the second baseman came into the series 0-for-21 over his previous six contests. Jack Flaherty will try to help the Cardinals make it three in a row when he takes the mound Saturday against lefty Jose Quintana, who is winless in his last four trips to the mound since beating St. Louis early in May. The Cubs are barely hanging on to first place by one-half game in the NL Central with six losses in their last eight contests after going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position Friday and getting blanked in the last eight at-bats. Chicago had just six hits in the series opener, but slugger Anthony Rizzo recorded one of them to extend his hitting streak to 12 games in which he is 20-for-47 with five homers and 13 RBIs.
TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, Fox
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cubs LH Jose Quintana (4-4, 3.73 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Jack Flaherty (4-3, 3.77)
Quintana allowed season highs of six runs (five earned) and 12 hits across 5 1/3 innings last Sunday in a 10-2 loss against Cincinnati - his third straight defeat. The 30-year-old Colombia native gave up just eight runs combined in his previous four starts over 23 2/3 innings, but owns a 5.11 ERA in five road appearances. Paul Goldschmidt is 6-for-11 with two homers versus Quintana, who earned his last win May 5 against St. Louis with six innings of two-run ball.
Flaherty has strung together three straight quality starts, including last Sunday when he limited Atlanta to three hits over six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts in a no-decision. The 23-year-old California native, who boasts 65 strikeouts over 59 2/3 innings combined, has yielded three or fewer earned runs in six straight outings. Rizzo is 5-for-9 with a homer against Flaherty, who gave up three runs over 5 2/3 innings in a loss to the Cubs on May 3.
WALK-OFFS
1. Chicago INF-OF Kris Bryant had a hit Friday and is 11-for-29 with two homers in his last eight contests.
2. St. Louis LF Marcell Ozuna has five RBIs in the last four games and is 5-for-11 with a homer against Quintana.
3. The Cubs could activate RHP Pedro Strop (hamstring) as early as Saturday after being out since May 6.