Giants at Cardinals
The St. Louis Cardinals attempt to bounce back from a rare setback when they close a four-game series against the visiting San Francisco Giants on Thursday. The Giants outlasted the Cardinals 9-8 on Wednesday to hand St. Louis its fourth defeat in the past 18 games.
The Cardinals hold a 2 1/2-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the National League Central and the finale against San Francisco precedes a six-game road trip against Pittsburgh and Colorado. The Giants have been sinking in the wrong direction with Wednesday's win being their fourth in 15 games as they have fallen 8 1/2 games behind the Cubs for the NL's second wild-card spot. On Wednesday, Kevin Pillar went 4-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs, Brandon Crawford smacked a three-run blast and Buster Posey reached base five times on three hits and two walks to highlight San Francisco's 15-hit attack. Paul Goldschmidt had four RBIs - a two-run double and a two-run triple - as the Cardinals had seven extra-base hits among 13 overall.
TV: 1:15 p.m. ET, MLB Network; NBCS Bay Area (San Francisco), FS Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Giants RH Logan Webb (1-0, 3.52 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Dakota Hudson (14-6, 3.53)
Webb is making his fourth big league start and he has struck out 16 and issued four walks in 15 1/3 innings. The 22-year-old received a no-decision against the San Diego Padres in his last turn when he gave up one run and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. Webb served an 80-game minor league suspension without pay earlier this season after testing positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance.
Hudson has won four consecutive starts and didn't allow a run in three of the outings. The 24-year-old beat the Cincinnati Reds in his last turn as he gave up four runs and four hits over a career-best 7 2/3 innings. Hudson beat the Giants on July 5 when he allowed three runs and six hits over five innings, and has a 3.52 ERA in three career appearances (two in relief in 2018) versus San Francisco.
WALK-OFFS
1. Giants rookie OF Mike Yastrzemski is 5-for-12 in the series and hit his 19th homer Wednesday.
2. St. Louis SS Paul DeJong belted his 25th homer to match his career high set in 2017.
3. San Francisco RHP Johnny Cueto (elbow) suffered a setback during Tuesday's bullpen session and his scheduled weekend return from Tommy John surgery has been pushed back.