Rockies at Cardinals
St. Louis right-hander Jack Flaherty hasn't lost since the All-Star break, thanks to some eye-popping numbers that he will somehow try to improve on when the Cardinals host the Colorado Rockies on Friday in the second contest of their four-game series. Flaherty is 3-0 with a 0.83 ERA in his last seven starts, allowing 23 hits with 55 strikeouts in 43 1/3 innings after winning at Cincinnati on Sunday without his best stuff.
"Jack was good. Not quite as crisp, but that’s a high bar,” St. Louis manager Mike Shildt told reporters. “He probably had a little more in the tank but his command started to get away from him.” The Cardinals are one-half game behind the first-place Chicago Cubs in the National League Central but lead the New York Mets by 1 1/2 games for the final wild-card spot after Thursday's 6-5 come-from-behind victory. Rookie right-hander Peter Lambert takes the ball for Colorado, which has won only once in its last 10 games at Busch Stadium. Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado has six homers in his last seven games after belting a three-run shot Thursday, giving him 32 home runs and 99 RBIs this season.
TV: 8:15 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain (Colorado), FS Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Rockies RH Peter Lambert (2-3, 6.55 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Jack Flaherty (7-6, 3.46)
Lambert is still looking for his first victory since winning the first two starts of his career - both against the Chicago Cubs. The 22-year-old Californian is 0-3 with a 7.67 ERA since but has allowed three or fewer runs in five of his last seven turns. Lambert, who have never faced St. Louis, has yielded 81 hits with 44 strikeouts and 22 walks in 66 innings.
Flaherty has turned it around after going 4-6 with a 4.64 ERA in 18 starts prior to the break, telling reporters he is better at executing, locating and trusting his pitches depending on the situation at hand. “You don’t have to nibble all the time,” the 23-year-old Californian told reporters. “Sometimes you’re going to fall behind and get into not-so-great counts. But you’re going to have to challenge hitters depending on the situation, playing the game within the game and not just playing to the corners every time. ..." Flaherty lost in his only appearance against Colorado - 6-3 at Busch Stadium on July 31 in his rookie season of 2018 - after allowing four runs in 5 1/3 innings with Charlie Blackmon taking him deep.
WALK-OFFS
1. Cardinals CF Dexter Fowler belted a go-ahead two-run homer in the seventh inning Thursday and is 4-for-14 with eight RBIs in his last four games.
2. Colorado hasn't wasn't won back-to-back games in St. Louis since 2009 - a span of 32 games. Win or lose Friday, the streak will reach 33 - the second-longest such run in history behind Houston at Milwaukee, 52 games from 2006-16.
3. St. Louis on Thursday recalled RHP Dominic Leone from Triple-A Memphis and sent rookie RHP Junior Fernandez, who pitched two scoreless innings of relief Wednesday, back to the Redbirds. Leone pitched a perfect seventh inning Thursday.