Cardinals and Astros meet to decide series winner

Updated Jun. 29, 2023 3:59 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Houston Astros (43-37, second in the AL West) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (33-46, fifth in the NL Central)

St. Louis; Thursday, 7:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: J.P. France (2-3, 3.54 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 42 strikeouts); Cardinals: Adam Wainwright (3-2, 6.56 ERA, 1.82 WHIP, 24 strikeouts)

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Astros -113, Cardinals -107; over/under is 9 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros meet on Thursday with the three-game series tied 1-1.

St. Louis is 15-23 at home and 33-46 overall. The Cardinals have the seventh-ranked team on-base percentage in the NL at .325.

Houston has a 43-37 record overall and a 21-18 record in road games. Astros pitchers have a collective 3.61 ERA, which ranks second in the majors.

The matchup Thursday is the third time these teams match up this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Nolan Arenado leads the Cardinals with 16 home runs while slugging .485. Brendan Donovan is 14-for-39 with a double, two home runs and eight RBI over the last 10 games.

Alex Bregman has 10 doubles, two triples and 11 home runs for the Astros. Yainer Diaz is 11-for-43 with two doubles and three home runs over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 6-4, .264 batting average, 4.81 ERA, outscored by four runs

Astros: 4-6, .257 batting average, 6.20 ERA, outscored by 15 runs

INJURIES: Cardinals: Nolan Arenado: day-to-day (back), Tyler O'Neill: 60-Day IL (back), Ryan Helsley: 15-Day IL (forearm), Packy Naughton: 60-Day IL (forearm), Wilking Rodriguez: 60-Day IL (shoulder)

Astros: Jose Urquidy: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Michael Brantley: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-Day IL (elbow), Yordan Alvarez: 10-Day IL (oblique), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.