Arizona Diamondbacks (8-11, fifth in the NL West) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (9-7, second in the NL Central)
St. Louis; Thursday, 7:45 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Diamondbacks: Humberto Castellanos (1-0, 3.00 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, eight strikeouts); Cardinals: Dakota Hudson (1-1, 3.95 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 10 strikeouts)
LINE: Cardinals -173, Diamondbacks +149; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The St. Louis Cardinals host the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday to open a four-game series.
St. Louis has a 9-7 record overall and a 3-3 record in home games. Cardinals pitchers have a collective 3.02 ERA, which ranks fourth in the NL.
Arizona is 8-11 overall and 5-7 in home games. The Diamondbacks are sixth in the NL with 17 total home runs, averaging 0.9 per game.
The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams.
TOP PERFORMERS: Paul Goldschmidt has four doubles for the Cardinals. Albert Pujols is 3-for-14 with a double and a home run over the past 10 games.
Daulton Varsho has four home runs for the Diamondbacks. David Peralta is 9-for-29 with two doubles, a home run and three RBI over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 5-5, .199 batting average, 2.59 ERA, outscored by one run
Diamondbacks: 5-5, .199 batting average, 2.73 ERA, outscored opponents by two runs
INJURIES: Cardinals: Dylan Carlson: day-to-day (toe), Jordan Hicks: day-to-day (right wrist), Drew VerHagen: 10-Day IL (hip), Jack Flaherty: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Alex Reyes: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
Diamondbacks: Sean Poppen: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Luke Weaver: 10-Day IL (elbow), Josh Rojas: 10-Day IL (oblique), J.B. Bukauskas: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by
