Cardinals at Twins
A St. Louis Cardinals' offense that was just good enough during their season-high five-game winning streak at the beginning of the month slowed to a crawl last week against the Minnesota Twins and has yet to pick things up for the most part. The Cardinals try to break out of a 2-4 stretch and find a spark for their bats Tuesday when they visit the Twins in the opener of a two-game set.
After averaging 4.2 runs in sweeps of the Chicago White Sox and Chicago Cubs from May 1-6, St. Louis mustered only six hits while getting outscored 13-1 by Minnesota to conclude its seven-game homestand. The Cardinals followed that with a trip to San Diego, but it was more of the same outside of one nine-run outburst, as St. Louis scored a total of six runs in the other three games while splitting a four-game set with the National League West-worst Padres. The Twins' offense has also hit a bit of a dry spell of late, totaling one run in their last two games after stringing together 12 consecutive outings with at least four. Minnesota left nine runners on base in Sunday's 2-1 defeat at the Los Angeles Angels and tallied only four hits en route to a 1-0 setback versus Seattle on Monday.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, Fox Sports 1
PITCHING MATCHUP: Cardinals RH Jack Flaherty (0-1, 3.60 ERA) vs. Twins RH Jose Berrios (3-4, 4.50)
Flaherty will draw his third start of the season and first since an April 28 loss at Pittsburgh in which he gave three runs on four hits and four walks across five innings. The 2014 first-round selection is coming off a dominant outing at Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday, allowing one run on six hits while fanning 13 in 6 2/3 frames. Flaherty, who yielded one run and struck out nine over five innings against Milwaukee on April 3, is 4-1 with a 2.27 ERA in five minor-league starts this season.
Berrios was handed a loss for the third time in four trips to the mound Thursday in Anaheim, surrendering five runs - including a pair of homers - on seven hits in 5 1/3 frames versus the Los Angeles Angels. Since going 2-1 with a 1.63 ERA over his first four turns, the 23-year-old Puerto Rican has posted an 8.84 ERA during his slump, giving up at least four runs in every outing. Berrios is 3-4 with a 3.08 ERA in seven interleague starts entering his first-ever showdown with the Cardinals.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Cardinals have played in a major-league high eight extra-inning games (4-4), including three of their last eight contests.
2. Minnesota OF Eddie Rosario is batting .357 with seven doubles, seven home runs and 17 RBIs over his last 17 games.
3. St. Louis SS Paul DeJong has four RBIs over his last 16 games, all of which came in Friday's 9-5 win over San Diego.