Cardinals at Giants
After struggling at the plate last month, the St. Louis Cardinals have rediscovered their offense during the first week of July. The Cardinals continue their three-game series against the host San Francisco Giants on Saturday after belting nine homers in their last four contests.
Kolten Wong went 3-for-5 with two RBIs while Jose Martinez, Paul Goldschmidt and Dexter Fowler each went deep in Friday’s 9-4 victory as St. Louis won its third straight and improved to 4-3 on its 10-game road trip. “We’ve gotten back to doing what we need to do, and that’s putting some damage out there,” manager Mike Shildt told reporters. “Balls in the gap, balls out of the ballpark. Getting a good pitch to hit and hammering it.” San Francisco saw its season high-tying four-game winning streak come to an end despite another strong showing by Alex Dickerson, who homered for the fourth time since joining the team on June 21. Buster Posey added a pair of singles, but Joe Panik was hitless in three at-bats and is 10-for-60 with two RBIs over his last 17 games.
TV: 10:05 p.m. ET, FS Midwest (St. Louis), NBCS Bay Area (San Francisco)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Miles Mikolas (5-8, 4.34 ERA) vs. Giants LH Madison Bumgarner (5-7, 4.02)
Mikolas received a no-decision last Sunday after allowing one run on seven hits over five innings against the Los Angeles Angels. The 30-year-old Florida native owns a 2.48 ERA in nine home starts this season compared to a 7.23 mark in eight outings away from Busch Stadium. Mikolas tossed seven innings of one-run ball against San Francisco last Sept. 23 and has a 1.46 ERA in five career games (one start) versus the Giants.
Bumgarner won his second straight start with a stellar outing against Arizona last Sunday, when he allowed one run with nine strikeouts over seven innings. The four-time All-Star has recorded a total of 20 strikeouts over his last two starts covering 13 innings. Goldschmidt is 22-for-66 with three homers against Bumgarner, who is 4-5 with a 4.60 ERA in 10 career starts versus St. Louis – including 1-0 with a 5.56 mark in two outings last season.
WALK-OFFS
1. Martinez is 9-for-28 with three home runs over his last seven games.
2. The Giants have doubled in 25 consecutive games, the longest streak in the majors.
3. St. Louis recalled 1B/OF Rangel Ravelo from Triple-A Memphis and optioned OF Lane Thomas to the Redbirds.