Giants at Cardinals
Even playing five games over a span of 52 hours couldn’t slow down the surging St. Louis Cardinals, who went 4-1 during the marathon stretch. The Cardinals look to settle back into their routine Tuesday when they continue their four-game series against the visiting San Francisco Giants.
Adam Wainwright tossed seven scoreless innings and Carlos Martinez recorded his 17th save in 20 chances in Monday’s 3-1 victory as St. Louis won for the 10th time in its last 12 contests and remained three games ahead of the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central with 25 games remaining. Kolten Wong, Paul Goldschmidt and Paul DeJong each drove in runs for St. Louis, which is 14-2 at home since August 1. San Francisco has lost six of seven but received a spark in Monday’s loss from rookie Mauricio Dubon, who went 2-for-3 and blasted his first major league homer. Dubon is sharing time at second base with Donovan Solano, who is batting .373 with 11 extra-base hits since the All-Star break.
TV: 7:45 p.m. ET, NBCS Bay Area (San Francisco), FS Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants RH Dereck Rodriguez (5-7, 5.49 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Jack Flaherty (8-7, 3.31)
Rodriguez struggled in his final two starts last month, allowing a total of 11 runs and 14 hits over nine innings. The 27-year-old son of Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez has shuffled between the Giants and the minors this season and owns a 51-to-29 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 22 games (13 starts) at the major league level. Rodriguez faced the Cardinals twice last season and posted a 4.26 ERA across 12 2/3 innings.
Flaherty saw his four-game win streak come to an end Wednesday after giving up three runs (two earned) over six innings in a 4-1 loss to Milwaukee. The 23-year-old native Californian has been outstanding since the All-Star break, recording a 0.98 ERA in 10 starts covering 55 1/3 innings. Flaherty made his major league debut against San Francisco in 2017 and is 0-1 with a 6.08 ERA in three career starts versus the Giants.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Cardinals are 72-25 when scoring three runs or more in a game this season, including 31-3 since the All-Star break.
2. The Giants recalled LHP Andrew Suarez from Triple-A Sacramento and purchased the contract of RHP Kyle Barraclough from the River Cats.
3. St. Louis recalled INF Edmundo Sosa from Triple-A Memphis.