Cardinals at Mets
The St. Louis Cardinals have rebounded from a disastrous stretch by playing their best baseball over the last 2 1/2 weeks. Manager Mike Matheny's club vies for its 14th win in 21 outings overall and fifth straight over the host New York Mets on Wednesday when they play the third contest of a four-game series at Citi Field.
Matt Carpenter ripped an RBI double as part of a four-hit performance in Tuesday's 5-0 victory, extending his on base streak to 21 consecutive games. The 31-year-old has scored six runs during his eight-game hitting streak and is 9-for-18 while crossing the plate five times versus the Mets this season. While St. Louis is attempting to climb back to .500 for the first time since June 2, New York has dropped three in a row and eight of 11 to plummet into fourth place in the National League East. Jacob deGrom will attempt to stop his team's slide on Wednesday as he carries a 6-0 mark with a 1.53 ERA in his past six starts, although he allowed a career-high four homers in the Gateway City on July 7.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, ESPN, FSN Midwest (St. Louis), SNY (New York)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Mike Leake (6-7, 3.14 ERA) vs. Mets RH Jacob deGrom (10-3, 3.48)
Leake is mired in a 1-5 mark in his last nine starts after receiving a no-decision on Friday following a two-run performance over five innings at Pittsburgh. The 29-year-old didn't do himself any favors with five walks in that contest on the heels of surrendering a season-high eight runs in his previous outing. Leake has struggled mightily when facing Lucas Duda, who is 6-for-8 with two homers and five RBIs in their encounters.
DeGrom's last outing versus St. Louis was the obvious outlier of his dominating stretch, in which has struck out 47 against just nine walks in 47 innings. The 29-year-old overcame a 26-pitch first inning en route to fanning 11 over eight frames of a 14-2 rout of Colorado on Friday. DeGrom was able to win his last outing versus St. Louis, improving to 2-2 in his career despite a 5.63 ERA while permitting the club to bat a staggering .465 against him.
WALK-OFFS
1. New York LF Michael Conforto had two of his team's three hits on Tuesday and has four in his last three games against St. Louis this season.
2. Cardinals 2B-SS Paul DeJong has tormented the Mets by going 11-for-21 with nine extra-base hits (five doubles, four homers) and six RBIs this season.
3. The Mets are 0-for-25 with runners in scoring position over the last three games.