Astros at Cardinals
St. Louis first baseman Paul Goldschmidt on Sunday will try to hit a home run in his seventh straight game when the Cardinals host the Houston Astros in the rubber match of their three-game series. Goldschmidt tied the club record set by Mark McGwire and Matt Carpenter with a solo shot during Saturday's 8-2 loss and is two shy of the major league record set by Dale Long, Don Mattingly and Ken Griffey Jr.
Goldschmidt (23 home runs, 56 RBIs this season) is 9-for-24 with six homers, 13 RBIs and nine runs scored during his long ball streak. Houston enjoys a comfortable lead in the American League West while St. Louis, which had its season-high six-game winning streak snapped Saturday, is one game ahead of the Chicago Cubs for National League Central supremacy. Astros shortstop Carlos Correa matched a career high with five RBIs on Saturday, including a grand slam, in his second game since returning from the injured list (ribs). Houston first baseman Yuli Gurriel extended his career-best hitting streak to 15 games by going 2-for-5 on Saturday and is batting .426 during the run and .407 in July. The Astros' Wade Miley is 2-0 with a 2.25 ERA in his last five starts and takes the ball Sunday opposite Dakota Hudson, who has won four straight starts and leads the club with 10 victories.
TV: 2:15 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Houston), FS Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros LH Wade Miley (8-4, 3.18 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Dakota Hudson (10-4, 3.61)
Miley pitched eight shutout innings before allowing two in the ninth and settling for a no-decision in Houston's 4-3 loss to Oakland on Tuesday. The 32-year-old Louisiana native boasts a 1.11 WHIP and .216 batting average this season - well below his career numbers of 1.36 and .264. Goldschmidt is 3-for-4 with a double against Miley, who is 2-3 with a 4.41 ERA in six starts against the Cardinals.
Hudson yielded three runs and six hits for the second straight start after working 6 1/3 innings of a 4-3 victory at Pittsburgh on Tuesday. The 24-year-old Tennessee native hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in 19 of his 20 starts. Hudson, who has a 1.50 WHIP with 115 hits and 50 walks allowed in 109 2/3 innings this season, has never faced Houston or any of its players.
WALK-OFFS
1. Astros 2B Jose Altuve is 12-for-26 in his last seven games and has raised his average 52 points since June 21 to .288.
2. St. Louis 2B Kolten Wong walked Saturday to extend his career-high on-base streak to 16 games and is batting .377 during that span.
3. Houston RHP Ryan Pressly (knee) remains day-to-day, telling reporters: "Everybody's got to work through something. I'm in the training room getting treatment and I've got all the faith in my training staff to get me right."