Cardinals host Giants, look to build on Flaherty's solid performance
San Francisco Giants (66-72, third in the NL West) vs. St. Louis Cardinals (78-60, first in the NL Central)
St. Louis; Wednesday, 7 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Giants: Madison Bumgarner (9-8, 3.62 ERA) Cardinals: Michael Wacha (6-6, 5.07 ERA)
LINE: Cardinals -130; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: St. Louis heads into the matchup after a dominant performance by Jack Flaherty. Flaherty went eight innings, surrendering zero runs on one hit with eight strikeouts against San Francisco.
The Cardinals are 45-25 on their home turf. The St. Louis pitching staff owns a team ERA of 3.86, Jack Flaherty leads the staff with a mark of 3.14.
The Giants have gone 36-34 away from home. San Francisco's lineup has 151 home runs this season, Kevin Pillar leads the club with 20 homers. The Cardinals won the last meeting 1-0. Flaherty earned his ninth victory and Marcell Ozuna went 2-for-3 with a home run and an RBI for St. Louis. Dereck Rodriguez took his eighth loss for San Francisco.
TOP PERFORMERS: Paul Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals with 29 home runs and has 74 RBIs. Kolten Wong is 12-for-24 with three doubles, three triples, a home run and seven RBIs over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
Pillar leads the Giants with 57 extra base hits and has 76 RBIs. Brandon Belt is 9-for-35 with two doubles, two home runs and five RBIs over the last 10 games for San Francisco.
LAST 10 GAMES: Cardinals: 8-2, .267 batting average, 2.73 ERA, outscored opponents by 24 runs
Giants: 3-7, .230 batting average, 4.09 ERA, outscored by four runs
Cardinals Injuries: Jordan Hicks: (elbow), Tony Cingrani: (shoulder), Brett Cecil: (wrist/forearm), Lane Thomas: (wrist), Jose Martinez: (shoulder).
Giants Injuries: Reyes Moronta: (shoulder), Trevor Gott: (elbow), Johnny Cueto: (elbow), Steven Duggar: (shoulder), Pablo Sandoval: (elbow).
