Mets at Cardinals
Adam Wainwright will be seeking his first victory in nearly six weeks when the St. Louis Cardinals host the New York Mets on Thursday in the rubber match of their three-game set. The Cardinals went deep three times to stretch their home run streak to 13 games in Wednesday's 8-1 victory, which leveled the series.
Winless since tossing a three-hit shutout against Miami on July 16, Wainwright owns a 3-4 record and 5.17 ERA versus New York -- his highest ERA against any opponent with at least 10 appearances. Randal Grichuk has homered five times in 11 games since his recall from the minors while Stephen Piscotty has recorded four blasts and 10 RBIs in 10 contests for St. Louis, which holds a 1 1/2-game lead for the second National League wild card. Jay Bruce exited Wednesday's loss in the second inning due to a calf cramp for the Mets, who fell 4 1/2 games behind the Cardinals. New York has issues with its pitching staff, sending reliever Seth Lugo to the mound Thursday after Jon Niese lasted only four batters in the series opener and Jacob deGrom was knocked out after 4 2/3 innings the following night.
TV: 7:15 p.m. ET, MLB Network, SNY (New York), FSN Midwest (St. Louis)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Mets RH Seth Lugo (0-2, 3.04 ERA) vs. Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (9-7, 4.71)
Lugo will make his 11th career appearance and second straight spot start in place of left-hander Steven Matz. The 26-year-old Louisiana native was solid in his first major-league start, allowing three runs and seven hits over 6 2/3 innings in a loss at San Francisco on Friday. Lugo has yet to surrender a homer in 23 2/3 frames and is limiting the opposition to a .218 batting average.
Wainwright rebounded from a pair of ugly losses with a quality start last time out, but he remained winless in his last six turns after giving up three runs over six innings in a no-decision at Philadelphia. He was pounded for 13 runs over his previous two starts and was tagged for four runs and 11 hits in a no-decision at the Mets on July 27. James Loney has been a nemesis for Wainwright with 16 hits in 31 at-bats.
WALK-OFFS
1. Mets 2B Neil Walker will remain on paternity leave and miss the series finale.
2. C Yadier Molina is 6-for-10 in the series for St. Louis, which leads the NL with 177 home runs.
3. Niese will undergo arthroscopic surgery Thursday to repair a meniscus tear in his left knee.