Cardinals at Orioles
The St. Louis Cardinals hit the road reeling after dropping the final three contests of their seven-game homestand but quickly got themselves right again at the expense of the struggling Baltimore Orioles. The Cardinals will try to take advantage of the Orioles once again and clinch their three-game interleague series when they visit Baltimore on Saturday.
St. Louis is four games under .500 but remains in the thick of the race in the tightly packed National League Central and has a chance to build some real momentum on a six-game road trip that takes it to major league-worst Philadelphia following the series at Baltimore. The Cardinals wasted little time taking advantage of the Orioles on Friday, scoring four runs over the first four innings while cruising to an 11-2 win. Baltimore fell to 1-8 in its last nine games and is searching for signs of progress from a pitching staff that is allowing an average of 9.1 runs over those nine contests. The Orioles will try to coax a quality start out of Wade Miley on Saturday, while the Cardinals counter with the veteran Adam Wainwright.
TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), MASN2, WJZ (Baltimore)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Adam Wainwright (7-4, 4.73 ERA) vs. Orioles LH Wade Miley (2-4, 3.97)
Wainwright has been struggling a bit of late but managed to post a win against Philadelphia on Sunday after surrendering two runs on six hits and a pair of walks in five innings. The Georgia native had his string of four straight victories in which he allowed a total of one run come to an end at Cincinnati on June 6, when he was lit up for nine runs on seven hits and three walks in 3 2/3 frames. Wainwright, who will be facing Baltimore for the first time in his career, is 13-8 with a 3.33 ERA in 33 career interleague games (27 starts).
Miley followed his best start of the season - one run allowed in seven innings against Boston on June 1 - with two of his worst. The Louisiana native got knocked around for 10 runs and 14 hits in five frames combined by Pittsburgh and the Chicago White Sox in his last two turns. Miley, who has issued 36 walks in 65 2/3 innings this year, is 1-2 with a 4.13 ERA in four career starts against St. Louis.
WALK-OFFS
1. Orioles LHP Zach Britton (forearm) is set to begin a rehab assignment on Monday at Single-A Aberdeen.
2. St. Louis INF Paul DeJong, who is starting in place of 2B Kolten Wong (forearm), went 3-for-4 with a home run, three RBIs and three runs scored on Friday.
3. Baltimore OF Seth Smith (back) returned to the lineup on Friday after missing three games and went 1-for-2 with a walk.