Cardinals visit Oakland, aim to build on Flaherty's strong outing
St. Louis Cardinals (58-50, first in the NL Central) vs. Oakland Athletics (62-48, second in the NL West)
Oakland, California; Saturday, 9 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Dakota Hudson (10-5, 3.88 ERA) Athletics: Mike Fiers (9-3, 3.50 ERA)
BOTTOM LINE: St. Louis heads into the matchup after a strong showing by Jack Flaherty. Flaherty pitched seven innings, giving up zero runs on one hit with nine strikeouts against Chicago.
The Athletics are 35-23 on their home turf. Oakland has hit 173 home runs this season, seventh in the league. Matt Chapman leads the club with 24, averaging one every 16.6 at-bats.
The Cardinals are 27-27 on the road. The St. Louis pitching staff as a whole has an ERA of 4.04. Dakota Hudson leads the team with a 3.88 earned run average.
TOP PERFORMERS: Chapman leads the Athletics with 54 extra base hits and is batting .261. Matt Olson is 8-for-36 with three doubles, two home runs and six RBIs over the last 10 games for Oakland.
Paul Goldschmidt leads the Cardinals with 58 RBIs and is batting .259. Matt Wieters is 7-for-29 with two doubles, three home runs and six RBIs over the last 10 games for St. Louis.
LAST 10 GAMES: Athletics: 5-5, .187 batting average, 5.14 ERA, outscored by 19 runs
Cardinals: 7-3, .263 batting average, 3.66 ERA, outscored opponents by 10 runs
Athletics Injuries: Sean Manaea: 60-day IL (shoulder), Daniel Gossett: 60-day IL (elbow), Marco Estrada: 60-day IL (lumbar strain), Stephen Piscotty: 10-day IL (knee), Ramon Laureano: 10-day IL (hip), Josh Phegley: 10-day IL (thumb).
Cardinals Injuries: Jordan Hicks: 60-day IL (elbow), Tony Cingrani: 60-day IL (shoulder), Brett Cecil: 60-day IL (wrist/forearm), Marcell Ozuna: 10-day IL (hand), Tyler O'Neill: day-to-day (hand), Matt Carpenter: 10-day IL (foot), Yadier Molina: 10-day IL (thumb).
